Every Which Way But Mousse

By Al Horn

Many of you may have noticed that candy and decorations have been out for Halloween for some time now. Many of us baby-boomers remember as kids that stores didn't put these things out until Columbus Day when we were in grade school. Nowadays it seems like merchants are trying to get a bigger jump on holidays each year. I suspect that when my grandchildren have school-age children of their own, they will see merchants pulling Independence Day materials off the shelve one day and be putting Halloween candy up the next. Such is the way of the modern world. We now live in a prepackaged society. Don't get me wrong. I have found many of these conveniences to be nice to have around. At the same time, I often think back to simpler days.

As a child I spent the usual amount a time around my grandparents. The ones living closest we saw once a month or more while the one's in Arkansas we saw a week or two during the summer and at certain holidays. Both of my grandmothers were great cooks. It seemed like they could take flour, salt, and pepper and make a meal out of most anything. My grandmother in Hermann, Missouri was the practical one. Sometimes I think it was because she had to be. She helped to run a farm and didn't have a lot of extra time in the kitchen. She made good, nutritional, food that tasted good while occasionally finding time for such things as pies and cookies. Eating at her house was always a treat. The best cold fried chicken I have ever eaten came off of her wood stove.

My grandmother in Arkansas had a little more time on her hands. She still tended a garden but found time to get into the kitchen for baking. My mother kept a close eye on us kids when we went there for Christmas because we were always given free access to the large tins of cookies and candies that could be found there. My grandmother made magic happen with chocolate. At a time when flour, sugar, and salt were bought in large bags, she always bought cooking chocolate in large quantities. There was a practical side to this. When I was a child it was not unusual to get homemade treats at Halloween. Popcorn balls and marshmallow bars were a treat you don't see anymore because of safety concerns.

As a child, my southern grandmother baked all year. Her candies were made to last. I was eleven or twelve years old when I discovered why she kept so much paraffin on hand. It didn't matter. A little wax dropped into a pan of cocoa and she could produce a wide variety of treats. We had chocolate covered raisins, peanuts, coconut, cherries, and my favorite, peanut butter. I don't think there was anything she couldn't fix with a little bit of chocolate. In addition to those nice little finger treats, she made chocolate pies and puddings. I'm not sure but I think she even made Jell-O using chocolate. Of course she didn't confine chocolate to confections; there were practical applications as well.

Breakfast might consist of pancakes or waffles that contained fruit of the cocoa bean. A treat that my mother and many of my aunts still serve is chocolate gravy on biscuits or white bread. As a child I didn't care about how good it was for me. I just knew it tasted good. My brothers, sister and cousins will testify to that. When it came to feeding the pack that descended on her house at holidays, nobody left unhappy. We never left empty-handed either. A care package of goodies would last a week or two once it got home.

As I look back on those times, the only thing I don't remember her making was a good chocolate Mousse. I don't know if she thought it wouldn't be filling enough to take the time to make or if she didn't care for it herself and as such didn't bother. It's probably just as well. I have been less than satisfied with some of the homemade chocolates I have tasted in recent years (my wife is one of the exceptions). Had she made Mousse for us as kids, it would have just meant more disappointment.