Chocolate Meringue Pie and Thanksgiving

My Thanksgiving break was wonderful, albeit too short. Although, can any break be long enough? I did accomplish quite a few tasks while off!

Matt and I:

Fixed the fence, yes it might look a little red neck but it's not ours so we can't just install a new one, we have to modify the existing one. At the end of the day though Cajun is NOT escaping again! He is less than pleased about this. 

Painted and redecorated the bathroom. Total cost: $0. I used paint, rugs and shower curtains we already had. And it looks so good in there! I painted it a fresh light blue and used a shower curtain that has green, blue and brown in it. I have a green and brown rug down and I am just so happy with the way it turned out. Before it was just kind of depressing. 

Decorated for Christmas! Including lights on the outside of the house. First time as an adult doing that. Man lights can get pricey! (And you need a ladder which isn't cheap. Thankfully our Lowes lets you 'rent' one I think there is a different term for it, but it's the same idea.)

Had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends! 

Got most of our purchases done for Christmas gifts. We didn't have much to buy because I had so much already between buying throughout the year and making gifts. But, now we are basically done :)

Relaxed a lot together. We watched a few movies, slept in, read in bed with the dogs, and just relaxed. I miss getting to go up to the store and eat lunch with him. Can I be a stay at home dog mom please?

One of my favorite things from Thanksgiving was my Chocolate Meringue pie. SO GOOD! Here is the recipe and some pictures if you want to try it out :)

Chocolate Meringue Pie 

Serving Size: 1 Pie

Total time: 2 to 4 hours (not including keeping pie in fridge for 4 to 6 hours before making meringue, I just did this two separate days)

Ingredients:

Pie Crust (store bought or use the recipe from this post). Bake according to directions.

Filling:

1 box chocolate pudding

1 cup milk

1 8 oz block cream cheese

1 tablespoon sugar

Meringue:

3 eggs

3 tablespoons sugar

cream of tartar if have on hand (I did not)

To make filling: blend cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. In separate bowl mix pudding with milk until well incorporated. Add pudding mixture to cream cheese, blend until well incorporated. Pour mixture in to pie shell. Let chill in refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours (or overnight like me). 

For meringue: Whip egg whites until double in size. Add sugar and continue whipping until stiff peaks form. Arrange on top of pie. Bake at 325 degrees until meringue light brown. Let cool and keep in fridge until you serve.