Today is my 19th birthday, a whole new year on this planet full of new experiences, people, places, and adventures. It is all so exciting and refreshing. Its odd how how short years become as you grow older and things get busier.  Its also funny to look back on birthday wishes, as a child i would ask for things such as bikes, ponies (Which I actually got one year, thanks dad!), and toys, but this year I wish for happiness and clarity.

As I get older the sense of mortality is something I am coming to terms with. In light of that realization I’ve started spending more quality time with my friends and family. If you know me well you know how much I love my Nanny and how much I have learned from her over the years (expect a blog post about that soon). Well last week she asked me what kind of cake I wanted for birthday, and me not being a huge cake person asked for a chocolate pie. Let me tell you this woman loves me, she made me not only one chocolate pie from scratch but three!! I sat in the kitchen as she finished up the first two pies, and when she started the third one I asked her if she would teach me how to make them just like she does.  Of course she agreed, we made the final pie and cleaned up and then she agreed to let me share the family recipe  with all of you, but I think a bit of backstory is important.

This chocolate pie recipe is originally my great great grandmother,  Naydine Robertson’s.  Naydine was the mother of my great grandpa, John Robertson. This recipe is published in the Cherry Mound Gourmets, a cook book that was published by the local home demonstration ladies club. My aunt Betty, John’s sister, gave this to my nanny many years ago and today she shared this chocolate pie recipe with me and now I am sharing it with all of you.

Naydine Robertson’s Chocolate Pie

you will need:

2 jumbo eggs

2 cups of sugar

2 cups of milk

3 tbs of butter

3 tbs of self rising flour

3 tbs of unsweetened cocoa powder

“A good squirt” of chocolate syrup

1 tsp of vanilla

1/8th or a “good shake” of salt

1st. separate your eggs reserve your whites for meringue and add your yolks to the pot

2nd. lightly beat the yolks

3rd. measure the dry ingredients and mix them in a separate bowl

4th. add the dry ingredients to the eggs and mix while adding in your milk

5th. move mixture to the stove top and cook until thick while stirring continuously

6th. once thick add your butter, sugar and Hershey syrup and mix well

7th. set aside and cool until while you make your meringue

Meringue Recipe

2 egg whites

5 tbs of sugar

1 tsp of vanilla

1st. beat egg white until light and fluffy

2nd. beat in sugar 1 tbs at a time

3rd. add vanilla

4th. beat until stiff peaks form

5th. spread over the pie and place in the oven at 375 or until browned

6th. let cool (if you can wait) and enjoy

Take some time to enjoy genuinely present time your friends and family. Tell them how much you love them, play a game, sing a song,  bake a pie and share some laughs. These are the memories you will share as time passes.

Sincerely, d.h.

P.S. The album suggestion for this post is Petaluma by This Wild Life