Labors of Love

When I was seven years old, my family moved to Switzerland for my dad’s job. Growing up overseas, we only got to come back home to the US once a year. After a couple times of trying to fly home to the Midwest for Christmas, we decided to skip the winter weather delays and visit over the summer instead. One of the things I always looked forward to was my Grandma Doris’s chocolate pie. That was my dad’s favorite, so she made sure to make it at least twice every time we came to visit. I loved walking into her little kitchen with the rays of sunshine beaming in through the curtains above the sink and finding a chocolate pie waiting for us. Despite living in a country that was known for its phenomenal chocolate, there was something special about her chocolate pie made with Hershey’s cocoa powder.

Years went by and I remember my dad making comments about trying to make Grandma’s “famous” chocolate pie, but the filling usually ended up soupy or the meringue ended up too stiff and rubbery. It always tasted great, but when the consistency was off, he would use it as topping for ice cream instead. In my late twenties, I decided to give Grandma’s recipe a try. My first ten times or so times ended up just like my dad’s: too soupy, or the once or twice that I got the filling right, then the meringue was terrible. I put it away for about five or six years and then revisited trying to master it in my early thirties. By about thirty-seven, I had gotten to the point where I could make it right a little over half of the time, but I had not yet figured out what, specifically, I was doing differently those times that was making it sit up correctly. I tried whole milk and skim milk. I tried jumbo eggs and regular eggs. I tried the deep-dish pie crust and the regular crust. I tried pouring the filling into a still hot pie crust and an already cooled pie crust. Even with trial and error, I struggled to pinpoint what was happening, making Grandma Doris’s pie that much more magical.

One thing that I did realize early on during my trial-and-error phase was that about 80% of the time, I forgot to put the darn vanilla in! The recipe calls for cooking the filling on the stove over medium heat, and then right before you pour it into the crust you add the vanilla – simple enough. Too many times I would realize right after I poured it in that I had forgotten the vanilla, so I would pour it on the top and swirl it into the filling after it was already in the crust. It sort of worked, but the vanilla would run to the edges of the crust and start to soak in. More times than I would care to admit, I didn’t remember until the meringue was on and it was browning in the oven, so there was no way to add it at that point. Fortunately, it did not ruin the pie when I would leave out the vanilla. The vanilla just made the texture a bit smoother and added a hint of sweetness.

I tried so many things to remind myself of the vanilla. I would leave the bottle out on top of the recipe. I would set another timer on my phone. I would leave it by the crust. And my favorite was when I put the vanilla bottle in the prepared pie crust so that I would have to physically move it in order to pour the filling in, and I still forgot it! Oof.

About four years ago when I was rereading the recipe and troubleshooting the consistency of the filling, my eyes caught the words of her recipe again. It said to stir the filling over medium heat. I thought back to all of the times I had made the pie and how long it would take me to make the filling. The next time I set out to make the pie, I adjusted the gas burner down about a number and a half from where I would usually would have it set. As I stood there stirring, I could feel my knees getting tired. It was taking a lot longer than normal and I had yet to see even one bubble. I considered turning up the heat, but instead grabbed a chair from the breakfast bar and sat there slowly stirring. When the first few bubbles popped to the surface, I got excited thinking we were almost ready (for the vanilla!) and to pour it into the crust, but I glanced back at the recipe and decided to wait for a rolling boil. Fortunately, that time I actually remembered the vanilla, and got it in the crust and started on the meringue, after which came the true test of patience: I had to wait overnight to cut it and see if my revised methodology had actually paid off.

Over the years, my dad had found that being overeager meant that his pie would become ice cream topping if it didn’t have adequate time to cool in the fridge. Since I usually make my pies at night, it was easier to ignore the temptation to dig in because I went to bed after putting it in the fridge. The next day, I excitedly cut into the pie and took my first bite. The pie tasted like Grandma’s! I was blown away at what a difference it made to cook it slower, longer, and let it cool for longer. I made a mental note as to what I had done differently, since I wouldn’t dream of writing on the handwritten recipe she had mailed me more than a decade prior. It’s been folded and has some signs of being used in the kitchen, but I would never write on it. Each time I get it out of my recipe card box, it makes me smile and think of her.

A few months later, in February 2019, my grandma passed away. With her living seven hours away, I never got to make the pie for her to try. My dad’s birthday is at the end of April, so that year I chose to make him a birthday pie instead of a birthday cake. I worked diligently the night before, making sure to really take my time on the filling and the meringue, and my daughter was there to remind me about the vanilla, just in case I forgot… The next day when my dad took his first bite, he looked up at me with eyes full of emotions and said “It tastes just like mom’s. Grandma would be proud,” with a nostalgic smile. My heart swelled and we all savored our special reminder of Grandma Doris.

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Life Lessons Learned from Making Grandma’s Chocolate Pie

Patience

The most important thing I learned from making the chocolate pie was patience. Trying to hurry the process along may get you to the end faster, but with mixed results. With a little patience, it may take longer to get there, but in the end you will be happier with the results.

Practice

As with most things, you probably will not get it perfectly right the first time you try. You need to persist and keep trying and tweaking until you get it right and you are satisfied with your results.

Labors of Love

Sometimes the simple act of preparing someone’s favorite meal can mean the world to them. I have other things I bake for loved ones that likely hold the same place in their hearts as my Grandma’s pie does for my dad. I cherish those recipes, like my banana bread, and I can feel the love every time I make it.

Following Instructions

By not paying attention to the small details my results were not as I had hoped for. If the recipe says medium heat, it means medium heat. Slowing down to follow all of the instructions is key.

And of course, don’t forget the vanilla.