Peppermint Pie: The Family Dollar Edition

Lord, I love me some Christmas. I am full hog embracing that this year. I introduced Howard to the amazing Muppets Christmas Carol, which he has since been obsessed with (to my joy). We've been listening to a lot of "It Feels Like Christmas" lately. In the spirit of the season, Howard and I went to the Brown Elephant to buy used ornaments, picking through other people's abandoned mementos. Tonight, with the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas playing, we made a peppermint pie. There are a few variations on this pie, including this one from Rocky Mountain Cooking, which uses Oreos for the crust and booze!

I thought it looked tasty, but it was completely different from my recipe, so I just opted with the Good Housekeeping version. I had to buy actual peppermints, which our grocery store doesn't carry, so I ventured across the street to Family Dollar, which, if you haven't been, is a similar to a post-apocalyptic nightmare:

"Excuse me, where are the peppermints?" 

There, a very well-dressed, nicely-coiffed young man (however, milksop is the description that comes to mind), younger than me, lingered over a junky children's toy. Like he was considering if it would actually make his niece happy, or maybe if it would just suffice.

How I feel about picking out your Christmas presents at Family Dollar:

For some reason, peppermints are super hard to find. I circled the war-torn Christmas candy stand, finding a lot of bubblegum-flavored candy canes, OLD-FASHIONED HARD CANDIES in a tin, and most horrifyingly, what they call a "fruitcake."

Who I imagine eats Family Dollar Fruitcakes: 

#fuckyeahsaturdaynight

I approached an employee, who was in the midst of the Sisyphean task of stocking and organizing Family Dollar. Wiping away sweat and maybe tears, she immediately located and delivered me a bag of the much-needed candies, which Howard later hammered on our kitchen floor:

Inspired by Rocky Mountain Cooking, I did make the crust out of Oreos, which is great! It looks pebbly and tastes...like buttery Oreos. Which of course is delicious.

The pie itself is very fluffy, pretty-pink and peppermint. It's great for this time of year and would also be a sweet Valentine's Day treat.

Worth it.