Chocolate

My sweet husband and my sweet mom
 in mom's kitchen

When I was growing up my mom use to make this delicious treat for us. She would usually make it for breakfast but every now and then, she would serve it for dinner when we were having "breakfast for dinner". We just called it chocolate, plain and simple.

If I had to describe it to you, I would say that it's something like a hot, pourable homemade chocolate pie.  You know, the kind of homemade chocolate pies that your Granny or Grandma made. That may not sound very appetizing to you but let me assure you that if you are a chocolate fan of any kind, you will love this!

Mom also made homemade biscuits to go along with the chocolate. When those biscuits came out of the oven, she would butter 'em real good and that butter would just be oozing out the sides of those biscuits.  We'd take a biscuit or two, open them up and lay them on our plates, then spoon that chocolate over those biscuits.  Talk about good!  The only thing that made that meal any better was the glass of ice cold milk that we drank with it. 

I asked my mom one time where the recipe came from.  She said that she learned how to make it from my Grandmother, my Dad's mom. Apparently, that was something that could be made from the ingredients that they usually had around the house, things like sugar, flour, milk, cocoa.  During the depression years, most families had no money to spend on special treats and this was something that my Grandmother could make as a treat without going out and spending money for special ingredients.

Well, let me tell you - depression or not, this is a real treat. If you've never had it, try it. You won't be sorry! It's very easy to make. Even though my Mom and my Grandmother made it in an old cast iron skillet on top of the stove, I actually make mine in the microwave now. You don't have to watch it as closely as it cooks and it's less likely to stick and burn. I also serve it with hot, buttered biscuits but mine are the kind that come from the frozen foods section at Wal Mart. There are some things in life, to me, that just aren't worth the trouble of making when I can get them frozen and pop them in the oven. To me, good, frozen biscuits fit perfectly into that category.

My Grandmother made this for her family when my Dad was growing up.  My Mom made this for her family when I was growing up and I made this for my kids when they were growing up. As a matter of fact, I still make it for them and they're basically grown. Who knows, maybe they'll  pass it along to their kids when they have some. That's a nice thought...

"Chocolate"

1 1/2 cups sugar
3 T. flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups milk
1/2 stick butter

Mix sugar, flour and cocoa together well in a microwave proof bowl until you see no lumps of cocoa or flour remaining. Stir in milk and vanilla. Place bowl in microwave and cook on high for 3 minutes.  Take out and stir with a whisk well.  Cook for 2 minutes more, take out and stir well.  Cook for 1 minute more, take out and stir well. Continue cooking for 1 minute at a time and stirring until mixture begins to bubble and thickens. Make sure you stir well  after each cooking time to keep lumps in the chocolate from forming. You want the consistency to be very smooth.  When the chocolate thickens, add 1/2 stick of butter and stir until melted. Serve over hot, buttered biscuits.