I went into the kitchen to smell a flavor full aroma filling my nostrils. The casserole was in the oven and my brothers and sisters were sitting at the table, anxiously awaiting the dinner to come. The casserole we had was delicious. It was a shepherds pie casserole with mashed potatoes, ground beef, corn, spices, and cheese. The table was filled with small talk about the day and for school the next day. It was a Sunday and my family came together to enjoy a meal. After the casserole, we all had the family’s signature chocolate sauce topping on ice cream.

When looking across the table I could see excitement for the dessert was mutually shared. This completed the meal for this night, a special ending to a day. Those special ingredients, cocoa, sugar, salt, vanilla, milk, makes such a great combination for dessert. It tasted of creamy cocoa also with the coolness of the ice cream in contact with my tongue. It was a cool fall night with a pleasant and non-threatening atmosphere in the dining room.

I asked my mom when she had chocolate sauce for the first time, she said, “I walk into the dining room, all my family members around. We eat a dinner of lentil soup with bread on the side. Conversation and chatter fill the dining room table. My younger sisters start to bicker back and forth and, like usual, my mom tells them to cut it out. My older sister explains what she has to do tomorrow after school.

My mom tells us that every Sunday we will have a tradition of having a family recipe of chocolate sauce with ice cream for dessert. She explains how her mother would do the same thing with her family on Sundays after mass and an early dinner.

I’m sure my grandmother remembers the first time enjoying the recipe, the flavor, the smell, the setting, a time she would never forget. Even my mom’s great-grandmother most likely experienced the same feeling we all have with the first time having chocolate sauce. Considering she created the recipe in the first place.

Chocolate sauce took my mind off of problems I would face, give a much needed break from the day, maybe even the rest I really needed. Having it on Sunday gave a good end to a week, but also a great start to a new one. When I had the chocolate sauce for the first time, I was blown away by the taste. The chocolate with the ice cream adds a sweet flavor to the mix. It is a cool summer night with a breeze filling the hot and stuffy kitchen and dining room. I will never forget the first time experiencing this, the smells of the kitchen to the smiles and laughter from my family members around the table.”

My first time having the chocolate sauce was special because it had been handed down in my family for about one hundred and seventy years. The original recipe can be linked back to my great-great-grandmother. Nearly one hundred and seventy years ago. I’m sure when it was first created the ice cream and taste would have been much different. Mom then said, “Our ice cream tasted much different back in the day, more creamy. For my grandmother and your great-great grandmother they would have had to make the ice cream from scratch, slow turn it.”
In a sense, when I have chocolate sauce I am connecting with my past. That connection is always a good thing to think about when eating the treat. The most important part is that the sauce brings my family closer together to enjoy a small treat and discuss our lives together.

My mom also said, “ Whenever we have chocolate sauce as a family it always brings me back to the first time, but also gives me memories of my mom and dad. I was sad when they both passed but I know they were great parents and memories like the one on Sunday will always be a reminder of them.”

This cool fall night will be one to remember later and to pass onto my family in the future.When my great-great grandmother first created the recipe she probably had the idea in mind for future generations to use as bonding time, a conversation starter, and to enjoy it. As it has been so far, chocolate sauce will be the choice of dessert on Sundays from here on out. Keeping the recipe in the family but also bringing the ones we love under one roof.
Key:
Imagery
Insight
Energy
Tension
Pattern