She was the first thing to cross my mind when I read about Kitchen Wench hosting a Food Nostalgia blogging event this month:

I don’t remember a whole lot about her, mostly blurry flashes and fractured memories. There was a cool morning at an outdoor craft market. She handed me a bright green helium-filled balloon. With one hand I held on to my balloon and watched mesmerized as it bobbed in the wind. With the other, I gripped her hand tightly out of fear that the balloon would make me float away. I have no idea how old I was – young enough to think that single balloon would take me away but old enough to have the memory.

I remember shucking corn on the back porch one late summer evening, the unforgiving heat finally yielding to a slightly cooler breeze that rustled through the small cornfield beyond us, the sunlight failing in the clear East Texas sky. The red-orange glow from the cigarette that Grandaddy rolled from fresh tobacco provided the only other light until the yellow porch light buzzed itself to life, the creak of his rocking chair, running around a yard full of giggling and shrieking children trying to chase down the magical “lightnin’ bugs” that were blinking around us. I remember snapping beans, shelling pecans, and having my short, stubby little arms buried in dirt up to my elbows trying to help the grown-ups harvest potatoes.

Like many of the amazing women that came after her, she was also fantastically creative. She made dolls in each of our images, crocheted mittens and blankets, stitched and embroidered beautiful designs on linens, and produced gorgeous quilts.

She had an infectious laugh and a crazy sense of humor – she blamed strange noises on frogs and dogs that were no where to be found. And one day I might be brave enough to tell you about her “newlywed pot holders,” that more than 16 years after her passing, made an appearance at my bridal shower (thanks, Grandma!). She told a hilarious first-time-camper story about being forced to tinkle in a coffee can. In her final months, she was in a hospital bed with Prissy, her black teacup poodle, always resting lazily on her belly. The cancer that had taken her leg would eventually take her on to heaven.

Granny, my great-grandmother (aka “Aunt Willie” to others), was a fabulous cook in her day. One of her nephews even eulogized “Aunt Willie and her chocolate gravy” at her funeral in 1991. Granny ate chocolate gravy for breakfast growing up, just as the four generations of her family have done since. It is called a gravy because of the consistency, not method (my granny’s recipe is not based on a “gravy” or bechamel method).

Chocolate gravy was a rite of passage – it was the first table food that most of us kids ate. We were dipping our bacon in chocolate 25 years before it was trendy! We started with a teeny bowl of 2-3 tablespoons of lukewarm chocolate gravy that, after seeing my nephew eat, I’m convinced it ended up mostly spread ear-to-ear and forehead-to-tummy. We all had our methods – my sister ate her chocolate gravy in a bowl, mixed with a biscuit torn into pieces. Just a little weird about my food “pre-touching,” I ate chocolate gravy spooned onto a saucer topped with a pat of butter to dip my sausage, buttermilk biscuits, and scrambled eggs into.

My mom would always cook chocolate gravy on mornings after sleepovers. It was sooo fun to see the look on our friends ‘ faces when they heard what was on the menu for breakfast – “Chocolate what?” We converted many a non-believer 🙂

These days, chocolate gravy isn’t the Sunday morning staple it used to be – it’s a super rare treat we see only see occasionally on holidays when we visit my parents unless my niece and nephew are in town. My husband – he’s got potential as a convert. I’ve made chocolate gravy two or three times since we were married and there has been a slight change. This last week, my “wanna try some?” was met with a polite “Nah, that’s okay” – a difference from the “Unh-unh” I got the first time I made it. Green stuffs first, chocolate gravy second – baby steps 🙂

Print

Granny's Chocolate Gravy

Chocolate gravy, a breakfast staple. Perfect for dipping biscuits, bacon, and sausage!

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 heaping Tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 Tbsp butter

Instructions

1. Stir the dry ingredients in a saucepan and get rid of any cocoa lumps with the back of your spoon - lumps don't add character to gravy... lumps add lumps.
2. Add the milk and stir.
3. Cook over medium heat and stir constantly until the chocolate gravy begins to boil.
4. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and butter.
5. Serve with buttermilk biscuits, scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage, and bacon (extra crispy for me!).

Notes

Yields: ~2 cups

Source: My Granny

Estimated time: 10 minutes