Grasshopper Pie and Cough Syrup

The other day while trolling through the recipe archives (and they are considerable) looking for the Lorna Doone recipe, I came upon the recipe for Grasshopper Pie. My mother's friend Susan used to make this about a million years ago when we lived in a distant land called Delaware.

I was so excited to make this, I made a special trip to the store and was so thrilled to have no problem finding the elusive Chocolate Wafer Cookies. If you have never used these, they are jet black and very thin. Apparently you can make quick ice cream sandwiches with these, although I have never tried it. I was sure I had the required Creme de Menthe and Creme de Cocoa, since we purchased these grudgingly about 20 years ago. The problem with these purchases being, you only need 1 Tablespoon of each and the bottles are huge. Therefore, figuring out who inherits the bottles becomes an issue.

I was so excited, in fact, that I failed to check and make sure that the dreaded bottles were still in our possession. When I returned home, put all the groceries away, dealt with Thing Two (nursed her and got her ensconced on the table in her bouncy seat) and dealt with Thing One (he wants a car each and every time anyone leaves the house). Got the cookie crust made and proceeded to check the liquor cabinet, there was none to be found. THE BOTTLES WERE GONE!!!!

Naturally, I accused my mother of throwing them away. I will call her The Pitcher, so named because she dearly loves to throw things away. She has been known to throw away birthday money (cash and checks), magazines that she herself wrote SAVE on, etc.

Long story short, Mr. Smith was wonderful enough, to go to the store, with Thing One in tow and fetch new and wildly expensive bottles of said liquor. His saintliness is on par with my father (The Monkey) who will go on the wildest of goose chases if there is the faint hope of homemade baked goods.

Poor Mr. Smith, going shopping with Thing One is always traumatic and involves the purchase of car related items (magazines, Matchbox, etc.). After all that, Mr. Smith sampled the fruit of his labor and started to gag, he rushed to the fridge to get some Cran-Grape to stop said wretching. He said it tastes like cough syrup (Nyquil I believe) and vowed to never let it cross his lips again. My grandfather, on the other hand, said he had never tasted cough syrup that tasted this good. I guess, it all depends!

16 Chocolate Wafer Cookies, crushed fine

5 Tablespoons melted butter

25 Large marshmallows

2/3 cup milk

1 Tablespoon green creme de menthe

1 Tablespoon white (clear) creme de cocoa

1 cup heavy cream, whipped

Mix crushed cookie crumbs and butter. Line a 9 inch pie pan with crumbs. Reserve about 2 Tablespoons for topping. Chill.

Melt marshmallows with milk. Cool. Add creme de menthe and creme de cocoa and fold in whipped cream. Pour into crumb crust and sprinkle with reserved topping. Chill overnight or for several hours to set.