#pieformikey

Chocolate cookie crust, melted chocolate, and chopped peanuts.

I’ve never met Jennie Perillo. I follow her on Twitter and have shared a few back and forth messages over the past six months. The beauty of social media – and there is something beautiful about it, I promise – is having the opportunity to connect with people you may never meet in person. For instance, Jennie resides in Brooklyn, and I am inDenver. We are not exactly neighbors.

Earlier in the week, Jennie posted that “he was gone” and her heart was shattered into a million pieces. I knew she meant her beloved husband, Mikey. I didn’t know if that meant he left…? Did they have a fight? Jennie’s a strong, smart woman, I figured she and her husband would be able to work things out.

A day later, she posted this http://www.injennieskitchen.com/2011/08/one-last-dance.html, a sweet and short video of a father dancing with his barefoot daughter in the kitchen. And that’s when I knew what happened.

Mikey had died of a massive heart attack. He was young, a father of two young girls and the husband of a woman who adores him. I was at a loss. I’d never met this woman. I couldn’t bake lasagna and take it over to her house. I felt truly helpless. I left her a message on her blog, offering my condolences along with hundreds of her readers and fellow food bloggers.

This morning, I was scrolling through my Twitter feed when I kept seeing the hashtag #apieformikey. And then I found her touching post – a humble request. For all of us wanting to help Jennie, she asked us to make her husband’s favorite dessert, Creamy Peanut Butter Pie, the one she promised him she’d make soon and kept putting it off. They have two young daughters and worked full time jobs. Mikey’s pie wasn’t a priority. Spending time together was. Go read Jennie’s post today, recalling her last date with her husband.

Jennie’s recipe: http://www.injennieskitchen.com/2011/08/for-mikey.html

And if you have time, make the pie. Share it with those you love. Raise a slice to Mikey.

A note: I don’t have a springform pan, so I used a regular pie plate. I also have a weird “thing” about stuff on top of a cream pie. I just like to have the crust and the filling. Read through Jennie’s recipe, if you want to add the melted chocolate to the top of the pie, by all means, please do so. Enjoy.