The other Cinco de Mayo

I had almost totally forgotten, as Sparky's school had a whole week of Cinco de Mayo celebrations, but this year the 5th of May happens to fall on the first Saturday of May...to those of us with roots in the Northern Kentucky area, Derby Day. Of course, since I'd forgotten completely until I turned on the TV and saw horses, I had to make up a Derby Day dinner fast, fast, fast. I ran down to the Dominick's, picked up a slab-o-ham, canned biscuits and instant grits along with nuts and chocolate chips.

Like many 30-minute meals, it looked better than it tasted - but it was sort of a traditional Derby Day dinner: Ham with gravy, biscuits, cheese grits and green beans. After I started eating, I commented to the 'spouse in one of those you-know-you're-an-lthr-when moments: "I don't want to post this picture because this just doesn't taste very good."



But of course, nobody at our house really cares about Derby Day dinner - what they're looking for is Derby Pie - for the uninitiated, basically a pecan or walnut pie with chocolate chips. I made one of each, to compare - but we ate the pecan before the camera came out. This looks pretty good, but since we ate two whole pies in very short order, I can attest that they tasted even better. The walnut, below, was the clear winner.


A really easy pie that's a showstopper; the recipe reminds me of pound cake:

1 uncooked deep dish piecrust,
1 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup
4 eggs
1 cup pecans or walnuts
1 cup chocolate chips
2 tbsp of bourbon
1 tsp vanilla extract.

I usually spread the chips and nuts in the bottom of the pie shell, put everything else in the blender, blend and pour over. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes; it's done when the top is crusty and brown and settles a bit, and a skewer comes out chocolatey but clean.