Peanut Butter Cream Pie - For Mikey

This morning, I read about "Peanut Butter Pie Friday" and it broke my heart.  After crying for a bit, I decided that I needed to participate.  Two years ago, my husband woke up unable to walk, having suffered a stroke during the night, and it was one of the most terrifying events in my life.  I was so scared I would lose him, and I still am, though he has healed completely, and is well medicated and closely watched now.  My heart goes out to Jennie of "In Jennie's Kitchen," and her family, and though I don't know her and had never visited her food blog before today, I wanted to add to Mikey's memory, for my Mike.  So here is my version of Mikey's favorite Creamy Peanut Butter Pie. The loss of a loved one is a great fear of so many, but we must also remember that we need to live, as fully as we can, every day.

One chocolate cookie pie crust

2 oz (1/4 cup) chocolate spread (like Nutella)

4 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

2 cups whipped topping

Place chocolate spread in prepared cookie crust.  Carefully spread evenly over the bottom of the crust with a knife or offset spatula.  Don't use a spoon, it will pull your crust up and make a terrible mess, trust me on this one.

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, peanut butter and powdered sugar.  If you have an electric mixer, by all means, use that.  I happen to be in a place with no modern kitchen utensils, so all of these directions are written assuming you have nothing but what a bachelor who is uninterested in cooking might have in their house.   For instance, I had to mix this in an 8x8 inch baking pan because there are no actual mixing bowls available.

Add milk, vanilla, and lemon juice to your peanut butter paste. Mix thoroughly until smooth and creamy.

Mix in 1/2 cup of whipped topping. This is to lighten the filling- no need to be careful about it.

Fold in the rest of the whipped topping by hand, careful to mix fully but gently to keep it fluffy.

Pour filling into to crust and garnish with whipped topping and/or a drizzle of more chocolate spread. Or even some cute mini nutter butter cookies!

Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.