Chocolate Sirup [sic]

You know the night before the diet begins and you decide to disgrace yourself  really live it up? For me, that was last night. Not only was I going to indulge in vanilla ice cream with salted peanuts, but my sundae would also feature homemade chocolate syrup.

The only recipe I could easily find in my collection was for this almost dietetic depression-era sauce. Well, better than nothing. And it was pretty good, but hardly the butter and cream infused chocolate sauce of my dreams. Heck, one can even enjoy this sauce without breaking the diet! (For a slightly more indulgent chocolate sauce, click here.)

It's very simple to make, about ten minutes start to finish. Start by placing cocoa powder, sugar, salt and water in a saucepan.

Stir until smooth, and continue cooking (and stirring) for five to seven minutes.  Remove from the heat and add vanilla.

Pour over ice cream. Add peanuts and enjoy -- for tomorrow there will be carrot sticks.

The recipe is from a Texas estate sale; this particular entry is from the grandmother of the family. I'll bet it dates from the Depression or World War II, when food rationing was in effect.

I followed the recipe exactly, except I only made half.