My Grandma's Gift

"Have seconds," my Grandma would urge. And I always did.

Her table was set with the most delicious food. As a young child, when I would come visit during summer, her table held seasonal favorites like zucchini bread, watermelon, orange jello salad, and blackberry pie. I remember dinners outside on her back patio. The snapdragons in bloom. The corn on the cob piping hot.

But my favorite times with her were during my college years, when I would make the four hour trek from Provo to Idaho Falls, ID to spend a precious weekend with her. She spoiled me, and I loved it. Little peas and potatoes in white sauce, a Hormel ham baked until jerky dry, homemade macaroni and cheese, and if I was lucky (which I often was) chocolate icebox dessert.

I hadn't thought about chocolate icebox dessert in a long time. And I hadn't made it for years. Then a few weeks ago my Uncle Lee mentioned it on facebook, followed by a comment from my cousin Nicole.

I immediately put in an amazon.com order for vanilla wafers (since there are none here at the stores in Jakarta). The vanilla wafers arrived a few days ago.

I opened my recipe book and made the dessert. And I thought of my dear Grandma who always encouraged me to have seconds (and thirds), and had an incredible way of making me feel loved.

Here's her recipe:

1 cup butter
1&1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 box vanilla wafers
1/4 cup water
4 squares of Bakers semi-sweet chocolate (or 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips)
4 eggs, separated

Separate egg yolks from whites. Beat whites until stiff and set aside. In mixing bowl, cream together butter, powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Set aside. In pan, mix together egg yolks, water, semi-sweet chocolate, and granulated sugar. Bring mixture to soft boil, stirring often, and cook until thickened. Remove from heat and add creamed sugar and beaten egg whites.

Spray bottom of 8X8 glass dish. Cover bottom of dish with a single layer of vanilla wafers. Cover the wafers with 1/3 of chocolate mixture. Repeat three times so there are three layers of wafers and chocolate. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours (overnight is even better). Serve with dollop of whipped cream. Chocolate heaven!