So we got your attention?

It’s been a while since we posted about chocolate gravy from Camp Lookout. Several people responded, saying they have great memories of chocolate-infused Southern breakfasts. We reached out to three of them to find out more.

Click here for the chocolate gravy recipe.

Soppin’ chocolate

“My grandmother used to call it ‘soppin’ chocolate,’” said Bernice Howard. Bernice said her grandmother, Ethel Bobo, used to make biscuits “as big as your hand” in Cordova, Alabama.

Then she buttered the biscuits and “sopped” them with chocolate gravy. “She melted a whole stick of butter in the gravy so it was super, super rich,” said Bernice. “It was always a treat.”

Bernice, who is a member of First United Methodist Church of Maryville, Tennessee, said she carried on the tradition by making chocolate gravy twice a month on Saturday mornings for her own three children. Her daughters now do the same for their children.

Appalachian Christmas

LeRae Edwards Collins wrote to say, “Chocolate gravy tastes like Christmas to me!”

LeRae grew up in Haysi, Virginia. Her grandparents lived in Breaks, Virginia.

“My papaw learned how to make chocolate gravy in the Navy during World War II,” she says. “I don’t ever remember him cooking anything except chocolate gravy on Christmas morning, and it was delicious. Of course, he didn’t follow a recipe so my mom started shadowing him to learn how to make it. She’s carried on the family tradition since he’s passed.”

Now a member at Fountain City United Methodist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, with two children of her own, LeRae said chocolate gravy “is one of my favorite Appalachian family traditions.”

School surprise

Corrina Sisk-Casson wrote to say, “When my son was in the 4th grade, his teacher made it for her students when they did exceptionally well on big tests.”

So we asked Corrina to tell us more, and she said her son, Ben, is now a rising seventh grader. His fourth-grade teacher’s name was Mrs. Southerland.

“She made homemade biscuits and put the gravy over it. The first time, Ben came home with the recipe memorized and made me go to the store to buy the supplies and then we had to make it for dessert that night! He begged for it often. … Shhhh, if he found out that it would be great on ice cream, too, I’ll be making it all summer.”

Corrina is a member at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in Johnson City, Tennessee.

Thank you all so much for sharing! You may reach me directly at annettespence@holston.org.

Chocolate photo at top of page by stux–12364