Books & French Silk Chocolate Pie

Books are a lot fun. My Grandpa Glen sold books for a career. My Grandma Bodell read them like they were candy. At any given time there were at least 5 books being read by her on her nightstand. We have the "library bus" (a.k.a. The Library Book Mobile) that comes once a month. I can request up to 15 books per library card. We have 2 cards which equals 30 books. Mr. Wade knows when we are coming because we get a whole plastic book bin from the library for our family. The books are checked out for a month!

The books I have listed have touched me in some way. I thought I'd share.

Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick
 
I really enjoyed this book and what I learned from its pages. What I found that was most interesting was how the purpose changed and how the generations changed. It is a think and contemplate book. This is the beginning of the United States of America. The United States did just start in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence. Many experiences and people shaped how this nation came to be.

A lot of people have become descendants of the original Mayflower have filtered through the United States. We come from that stock too.

The Thanksgiving Bowl by Virginia Kroll Illustrated by Philomena O'Neill

This is a darling book about how a family celebrates what they are thankful for with the tradition of the yellow bowl. The bowl blows away and gives service throughout the year. At Christmas my Grandma Bodell would do a similar task instead of what we were grateful for it was was what we could give to Jesus Christ throughout the coming year. Every person put their gift in a sealed envelop.

All New Crafts for Thanksgiving by Kathy Ross

If I ever get around to making a fun craft this book is fun of ideas.

Thanksgiving in the White House by Gary Hines Illustrated by Alesandra Wallner

Thanksgiving was established on the last Thursday of November by Abraham Lincoln. The story tells of his son, Tad, and what Tad did in the White House. All the events take place around Thanksgiving in the book but the author states that not all the events actually happened on Thanksgiving. But they did happen.

Rivka's First Thanksgiving by Elsa Okon Rael Illustrated by Maryann Kovalski

Rivka's family comes from Europe and has escaped pogroms and persecution. Rivka was born in the United States and learns about Thanksgiving. It talks about how the United States is a safe-haven for all peoples. She helps her community learn about what Thanksgiving is and eventually celebrate. It touched me because I hope that United States will always be a land of hope.

All books were got from our public library. This is the first time I've made this pie and will need to experiment some more to make it better. Here is the first version.

French Silk Chocolate Pie
Source: Handwritten Grandma's recipe box
Ingredients:

1 baked pie crust
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 sq chocolate, melted & cooled or 1 tablespoon baking cocoa
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs

Cream together butter and sugar. Blend in chocolate and vanilla.

Add eggs one at a time beating 5 minutes after each addition. Turn into pie shell. Chill in refrigerator.

Notes:
The filling only fills about 1/2 of the crust. I made a second filling and added more chocolate. The filling is perfect for a tart pan size. If you are planning on using a 9-inch pie pan, you will need to double or make two separate fillings.

After I had made the pie, I thought how to make the pie better. If a layer of filling (raspberry, strawberry, blueberry) is added in the middle layer, it would be pretty and compliment the chocolate as contrast in flavor.