Happy blogsday (Recipe: chocolate outrageous pie)
Today is my blog's birthday. One year old. If I'd planned better, I'd have started the blog two days later, on June 16, so Leopold Bloom and I could celebrate together. Happy Blogsday has a nice ring to it.
So, you get it now, don't you?
There is no such thing as a perfect pantry.
A pantry can be well-stocked, well-stacked, and well-rounded.
But it's always a work in progress, with new items coming in, and old ones discarded.
I've had so much fun opening the doors of my pantry. Thank you for peeking in! Your ideas inspire, amuse, encourage and teach me. I love the recipes you share, your wonderful comments to me and to each other, and your suggestions of new pantry items and sources.
A reader's comment led to the discovery that, yes, there are bookworms in my pantry; another reader has suggested an informal pantry exchange, so folks outside the US (or from one region of the country to another) could experience the joys of local favorites like Old Bay Seasoning, Miracle Whip, real maple syrup and New Mexico chiles. I'm working on that.
By the way, while you've been busy learning about ingredients, I've been poking around in the deeper recesses of the pantry. There are more shelves and cupboards, filled with what the Two Fat Ladies called, in a way that made it sound almost obscene, kitchenalia. My collection of more than 200 wooden spoons. Assorted cooking utensils (why does someone who doesn't measure have four sets of measuring spoons?!). Pots, pans, tagines, cazuelas. Blenders and processors. Mixing bowls made of glass, ceramic, stainless, and my newest passion — melamine bowls from the 1950s. A growing collection of Bundt pans and bento boxes. Skewers! Steamers! Strainers! Springforms!
We just might have to go there, one of these days.
Today, though, I want to thank each one of you for reading, sharing, commenting and laughing. You are my absolutely favorite ingredient in The Perfect Pantry.
(Here's where we met, a year ago.)
Chocolate outrageous pie
What better way to celebrate a blogsday than with something that's both chocolate and outrageous? I found this in a little black notebook of recipes cut out of newspapers and magazines, some as long as 25 years ago. I didn't note the source, so if you recognize this recipe, please let me know. All of the ingredients are straight from the pantry, as you can see in the photo. Note: this pie can be frozen.
Ingredients
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 squares unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
1 tsp pure vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp mint extract
4 eggs (I use large eggs)
1 baked 9-inch pie crust (I use Pillsbury, baked blind)
Whipped cream and shaved dark chocolate, for garnish (optional)
Directions
In the bowl of a Kitchenaid-type stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese together until fluffy. Slowly add the sugar and beat until mixture is creamy and sugar is dissolved. Add the melted chocolate and vanilla, and blend. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 4 minutes after each egg. Pour into baked pie crust and refrigerate 2-3 hours before serving. Garnish with whipped cream and grated chocolate, if desired.
Disclosure: The Perfect Pantry earns a few pennies on purchases made through the Amazon.com links in this post. Thank you for supporting this site when you start your shopping here.
Happy blogiversary, Lydia! I'm celebrating my 2nd tomorrow :) (Outrageous Chocolate Cake has been bookmarked!)
Happy Birthday! and many thanks for an informative year. I like the new "headliner" ( I don't know what they really call it). The drawing just fills in the year's articles.
congrats & happy blogsday!
Woo Hoo. Happy Blogsday to you. I remember when I discovered your blog it looked so professional right off the bat, I was very surprised to find out how new it was. Great job, and many happy returns of the day.
Happy Birthday. So glad to have found your blog!
Happy Happy, for sure! We're all so lucky you joined the blogging community, bringing your own special wealth of knowledge and inspiration and passion. May it ever be thus!
Lydia, I'm having a hard time believing your blog is only a year old...it's so mature for its age! :-) That pie sounds divine...really yummy. Thanks for sharing the recipe, and happy celebrating to you! I so appreciate all the wonderful information, stories and recipes that you share on the blog.
Happy Blogsday! Having seen first-hand how much goes into a blog, I am impressed how consistenly first rate The Perfect Pantry has been. I am so glad there's more to discover and we'll all have the joy of food ideas new and old presented with style and a wonderful sense of fun.
Love
Rupert
Happy Blogiversary! Yes, I thought you more older than 1 also...you seem to be such a grown-up!
I love the Two Fat Ladies and always watch the reruns. There's usually a marathon around Christmas that coincides with my baking. They were still current when we moved to Ireland.
Love that pie.
200 wooden spoons, Lydia? LOL! Do any of them get a workout in the kitchen? Best wishes on The Perfect Pantry's first birthday.
Happy Blog Birthday!
Congratulations, Lydia! I am SO glad you started this blog, it is a wonderful learning resource for me. And your kind, friendly, wise "voice" is an inspiration! May the perfect pantry live on!
Congratulations, Lydia!!! Perfect Pantry has opened doors to new culinary experiences. Of great value also are the connections to other fascinating blogs. One link takes me to another, and so on, till I have the sensation of swinging through the blogosphere as Tarzan in the jungle. One of the best things about the many wooden spoons in your kitchen is that they can be used in actual cooking. I don't know where I got the idea that wooden utensils were not to be stained by coming in contact with food, but I still feel liberated when I pick one out of your fabulous selection and use it!!
Happy Blogday Lydia. Thanks for dropping by my site. I'll be back to read more of yours.
Buon compleanno to your blog, Lydia! All the best in the year to come!
Pille, congratulations to you on your blog birthday, too!
Pauline, the blog banner is always fun to fill -- and I have Shawn to thank for that!
Shawn (yes, the same one who designs my blog banner), thank you so much.
Kalyn, your blog was one of the first food blogs I read, and I continue to be inspired by it.
Erinn, I'm glad you found your way here. Thank you.
Alanna, thank you! Along with Kalyn's blog, yours sets the standard and the rest of us are just trying to keep up.
Genie, many thanks. Now, if only I could get my garden to grow as beautifully as yours....
Rupert, for your constant encouragement and support, a thousand thank yous.
Katie, thanks so much. I remember the first time I saw the Two Fat Ladies, with Clarissa dancing around someone's kitchen with a chinois on her head, singing "If I only had a heart" from the Wizard of Oz! I laughed and laughed.
Susan, I lied. It's probably way more than 200 spoons...and every single one of them gets used in the kitchen.
Rachel, thank you!
Nupur, I learn so much about Indian cooking from your blog. Thank you for visiting my pantry!
Lucia, I'm so happy to point the way to a few of the many wonderful food bloggers out there. Every day I find someone new -- and some days, when I'm very lucky, they find The Perfect Pantry. Thanks for being a Ninecooks cook!
Barbara, thanks for visiting!
Ivonne, grazie. Your blog is one of my favorite reads.
Happy blog birthday Lydia! Knowing you and your blog is such a great pleasure!
Happy Bir---um, Blogsday to you Lydia! It's always a pleasure, always fun and almost always almost X-rated and always-always done with such a sense of humor, that I laugh out loud at times! You add a great amount of knowledge with such finess and make one feel at home while reading your great readings!
ALWAYS FUN AND INFORMATIVE...love to you and thanks for sharing.
To paraphrase Owl,
Hipy Papy Bthuthdth Thuthdda Blogday!!!
(apologies to AAMilne for the word 'blog')
Congratulations.
A pantry is a work in progress - thanks for letting us in for the last twelve months.
Happy blog birthday, Lydia!!
I'm such a huge fan of your beautiful pantry. Glad I found you!
O Happy Day is exactly right. I have been an avid, although silent, reader for almost the whole time this blog has existed and can only hope I live long enough to try all of your recipes that I've carefully bookmarked. Thank you for increasing our knowledge along with providing untold amounts of inspiration.
Happy 1st Birthday! Your chocolate recipe sounds outrageous and fab!
I'd love to see pics of some of your kitchen collections :)
Congrats on the one year mark! It's hard to believe that it's been that long, isn't it?
Congratulations and many thanks for sharing your knowledge. I love having coffee with you every morning, a “virtual cup of coffee” that is! Cheers!
for a perfect Bloomsday repast, check out "The Joyce of Cooking!"
http://www.amazon.com/Joyce-Cooking-Drink-Joyces-Dublin/dp/0882680811/
Anh, I've loved discovering your blog, too.
Pam, thank you so much. I do try to be at least PG-rated at all times!
Marcia, you were, I think, my very first Pantry reader -- thanks for adding to the celebration!
Lucy, hope you'll stick around for more fun ahead. Thanks for visiting.
Patricia, I always love reading your blog and I'm so glad I found you!
Jane, thank you for sending greetings today. So glad to know you're enjoying the Pantry.
Kelly-Jane, I promise there are photos of the deep recesses of my pantry. One of these days....
Brilynn, I can't believe it's been a year -- and that so many of my favorite bloggers like you started their blogs right around the same time. Was there something in the air in June 2006???! Congrats on your own one-year birthday.
Kathy, welcome back, and thanks for visiting today. Your blog is one of the classiest out there -- I love it.
Gary, I'm thrilled to know of this book! How entirely perfect for Blogsday! Thank you so much. (By the way, I believe you have the only ukulele blog I've ever seen!)
Happy blog birthday, Lydia. Now I can sing "Happy Birthday" as loudly as I want because no one will hear me! Ummm...I think those dogs howling just heard me. Wishing you many more years for your sake and ours.
Hippy Happy Birthday to the Perfect Pantry! It is perfect!!!:) Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!:)
HBD Lydia and I happen to know that you have a wonderful pantry. You are the only person I know who I could partner with to create an impromptu and delicious SIGNIFICANT HOLIDAY meal when we wrongly assumed something would be open and we could escape big cooking - just for once!
xo,
Happy happy first blogiversary. I enjoy reading and am also surprised that this site is only 1 year old.
Lydia, congratulations on your one-year milestone! Reading your blog is like a journey of discovery in the cupboard. I always look forward to seeing what you'll pull next from the pantry!
Lydia Congrats for all "the growth" in your first year. Your site is one of my favorites and this pie...!
Happy Blogiversary
Susan, when you're back in RI for a visit, we'll sing together! Thanks for your good wishes.
Valentina, thank you -- it's only perfect when you are enjoying it.
Mary, I love improv cooking with you, and I'm inspired by some of your pantry creations. Here's to many more enjoyable gatherings in your kitchen or mine. xo
Mary, thank you so much. I love your blog!
TW, I feel the same way when I read your blog -- I always learn something from you.
Callipygia, many, many thanks.
Joe, thanks for visiting today!
How terrible of me, I realised that although I read your blog everyday, I rarely leave a comment: I usually have to run to the kitchen and put into practice what you have just blogged about!
Happy blog anniversary!
Happy blog-versary, ninecooksdottypepaddotcomslashperfectpantry :) And many happy returns to come, cheers !:)
Helen, many thanks! I'm always bookmarking recipes from your blog, too.
MW, I'm giggling! Thank you for teaching me so much about Asian cooking.
Happy blog birthday! Two birthday's each year can only be good. Whens the party?!
On Bloomsday- there is a special breakfast, readings and walks around Dublin to celebrate today, I would love to know what they are serving at that breakfast.
Laura, thanks for visiting today. I'm going to check out the book Gary recommended in the comments above -- I think that might give some clues about Bloomsday specialties.
Happy birthday to you blog, Lydia! I am sorry I was on the road that day. But, I did have dessert at lunch in your honor (hey, it went on my expense account!).
Mimi
I've been so busy with some personal problems that I haven't visited many of my favorite blogs--so I'm sorry I didn't wish you A Happy Blogday sooner. I was talking to another blogger recently about how I love your blog. I always enjoy each post and I think your idea of the pantry theme was brilliant! Happy Blogday!
Mimi, merci, merci. I hope you had something chocolate and outrageous at lunch!
Sher, thanks for stopping by to wish me a happy blogsday. Your recipes inspire me.
Happy Blogsday Lydia! What a fab cake to celebrate with!
Very happy returns....and here's to many more!
Ann, thank you. I think every pantry should have the fixings for a chocolate outrageous dessert!
Karen, thanks so much.
Congratulations, Lydia! I'm so behind on my reading and belated - way to go!
Catherine, thank you. I think you were one of my early readers. I've enjoyed learning more about vegetarian cooking from your blog.
Happy Blogsday, Lydia. I really enjoy reading about what you've got in your pantry, and how you use it. Usually I am with you 100%, but celery seed? Not so much. I've gotten behind in my blog reading of late and found a treasure trove here to wallow in.
And my blog is just two days older than yours. :)