Chocolate Cream Pie

(Continued journal entry from a year ago- January 2010)
“Monday morning, our bags were packed and the younger kids were set to stay here. B, W and I began our easy road trip to Spokane. We were scheduled to see the doctor in the afternoon. He would at that time let us know Tuesday morning’s surgery schedule for the biopsy. The biopsy would need to be “open”, meaning a large incision in his leg to remove a piece of this bone tumor. We felt prepared for the course ahead- as much as possible.
We arrived early and transitioned from the aches of a long sit to a chair in the waiting room. I watched other patients come in and wondered what their stories were. I thought about the possible friendships that would be formed with other families with similar plights. B distracted himself with his cell phone, a new one he received for Christmas.
Before too long, B’s name was called.” (To be continued)

Unfortunately the surgery was risky; it required a large incision near vital blood carrying veins and a major artery. I remember I was grateful for the calm and resolution I felt. I had packed a large sack lunch of sorts and had plenty of snacks as well. I was unsure how long the appointment would be. We were unfamiliar with the town we were in, where the hotel was, or the options for restaurants. We also needed to wait to receive instruction on any special dietary concerns for B for pre-surgery.
I have always been one concerned about where my next meal will come from. (Almost freaky like.) When it comes to food, I don’t like uncertainty.
I left for college unable to cook anything. I played sports throughout high school, all four seasons. There wasn’t much time to learn how to cook. Unfortunately, there was no room in the dorms for a late sign up my freshman year. I lived off campus in an apartment with 5 other girls and grocery shopped for the first time in my life. I stuck with cold cereal, and frozen french fries my first semester. My roommates taught me how to make chocolate chip cookies. You can imagine how well that “diet” worked out for me.
It wasn’t until a few years later that I worked at a pizza-pasta restaurant that I tried my hand at cooking. We didn’t own a computer, I knew nothing of search engines or allrecipes.com, so I did a lot of experimenting with flavors to try and imitate dishes served at the restaurant. My favorite thing to try and copy was the desserts. As a waitress, I sold a lot of pie- because I loved the pie! The chocolate pie was firmer than the pudding texture Mom made on special occasions. Long after my last tip was collected, I came across this recipe that took me back to the pies at the restaurant.

Chocolate Cream Pie
1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
12 oz. softened cream cheese
½ cup sugar
¼ cup soft butter
12 oz. Cool Whip
1 packaged Oreo crust.

Melt chocolate chips and stir until smooth. Set aside to cool.
Beat together cream cheese, sugar, and butter until creamy. Blend in chocolate.
Fold in Cool Whip. Fill Oreo crust with chocolate cream mixture. Refrigerate until firm. Serve chilled. Garnish with Chocolate Glaze.

The cream of this recipe can be used interchangeable in many recipes and compared with lighter versions such as here and here.

Funny-- that as I sat in the waiting room, on a critical trip to the doctor I was momentarily consumed with the fear of where my next meal was coming from :)