'Chess Pie

When Mom used to make Chocolate Chess Pie, I was always puzzled by the name.  I asked her once why it was called Chess Pie, because it was all one color, not a checkered pattern (I was pretty young when I asked.  Cut me some slack).  She told me that it was something baked by settlers, and they didn't always have fruit to put in the pies, so they made this out of relatively common ingredients that everyone had handy.  When asked what kind of pie it was, they'd respond, "oh, it's 'chess pie."

I'm pretty sure she made that up, but who cares?  It's delicious.

1.25 C sugar
1/4 C cocoa
1/4 C melted butter
2 eggs
10 T (5 oz) evaporated milk
1.5 t vanilla
1/8 t salt

5 oz evaporated milk.  Who wants to measure that 1 Tablespoon at a time??

Combine first three ingredients in medium bowl.  Add eggs, beat well.  Blend in last three ingredients.  Pour into unbaked pie shell, and bake at 350F 35-45 minutes.  Serve with whipped cream, ice cream, or coffee.  Hell, serve it with cognac.  Trust me--people dig this pie.  It doesn't really matter what else is on the table.  I served it on the same night we celebrated the Chief Taster's last school loan payment, and I think she liked it even more than the far more complex fish stew.