Tuesday, April 13

Searching for My Husband's Happy Place

good memories - martha mai's chocolate pie


The first time I met my mother in law was a year after I was married.  She was persuaded by my husband to make her special chocolate pie that he loved and hadn't had since he was a teenager.  He just went on and on about how special this pie was and how much he loved it.  That's the last time his mother ever made it for him.  Now if you ever saw my husband drool over food and savor every bite of something he loves, you would think that she would have given him the recipe since she lived so far away and he deserved to have it.  Instead I have spent 30 years of my marriage looking for that darned recipe.  I have 3 daughters and they have tried as well.  Everytime we make it there's something just not right.  Of course, there are memories involved with this pie so you understand that it's hard to recreate someone elses memory.
I started trying more recipes and found that I really had great success with Emeril Lagasse's recipes (although I do not enjoy his cooking show so much).  So for our 33rd anniversary I tried Emeril's recipe for chocolate pie.  I was pretty sure this was going to be the one, it was brazen of me to even try this recipe on a special occasion where there would be onlookers if he was disappointed.  We dressed the table pretty and took pictures because the pie was indeed beautiful.  But how would it taste?  Praise the Lord and let the angel's sing!  I had found the pie!  The look of happiness on his face...old memories and new ones of family and love in a single bite.  It's amazing that there is so much emotion in a dessert...in making it and eating it.  He found his happy place, his favorite childhood memory in this pie that I made for him and now it is our happy place, our happy memory.


See more beautiful desserts at ... 




  

3 comments:

  1. Beuatiful photo and awesome story!!!

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  2. It is very beautiful. I love the story that goes along with it! I am so glad you finally found the pie. This is the worst thing to be looking at today when I am STARVING. Oh my goodness. Everything looks so amazing! : )

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  3. That's such a lovely story and very similar to one my mother told.
    My father used to go on and on about his mothers special casserole. So when Grandmother was staying with my parents not long after they were married, my mother asked her " How do I make this casserole - whatever I do it's not quite right".
    Grandmothers reply was beautiful I think she said to my mother "Grace, when I was making casseroles for Gerard he was a starving young man and anything tasted good!!!
    I thought that was so diplomatic.
    Please come over and visit my blog, it's only 3 weeks old so there's not much to see as yet but it will grow in time.
    Like you we're empty nesters and I'm getting very interested in photography too!!
    Shane
    Auckland, New Zealand.

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