Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy.

In the top of a double boiler, melt the chocolate. Add to the butter-sugar mixture and beat thoroughly. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg, until well blended. Fold in the peppermint and vanilla.

Line the pie tin with the vanilla wafer crumbs (buttering the pie tin makes them stick to the side a little better). Pour in the filling. Refrigerate for two hours.

* Decadent chocolate mint pie - One of the things that is memorable about Marshall Field's department store in Chicago is their "Frango chocolate mints." This pie captures the flavor perfectly. I got the recipe from Malcolm Slaney, who "found it in a cookbook when [he was] attending Kayak School in Oregon."

* This recipe fills a shallow 8 inch pie tin; add 50 percent to everything to fill a 9-inch pie tin.

* If you're not very good at pie crusts (I'm not), feel free to use a pre-formed graham cracker crust. The chocolate and mint flavors predominate, no matter what crust you use.

* This is serious decadence! The first time I made this, I stopped several times in disbelief of just what I was doing. Enjoy!

Calif., Usa