@Consolation What ginger cookies do you use for the crust of the Black Bottom Pie?
@nottelling here on CC we are pluralistic enough to accept your point of view as well!! Although…I said as much about adding cinnamon on the brownie thread and was nearly ridden out of town on a rail. 
@MaterS I have not made the pie. If I were to do so, I would use the very thin Scandinavian ones.
@Notelling, I am totally with you. I much prefer tart fruit desserts to any others, as a rule. But I also have a thing for creme brulee. So right now, my dessert of choice is a vanilla-scented, rich and creamy panna cotta with a fruit sauce made with passionfruit puree, fresh berries, and as little sugar as I can get away with.
Grandmother Smith’s Pecan Pie
16 oz. box light brown sugar
1 melted stick of butter
3 Tbsp cornmeal
2/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups pecans
Mix all ingredients together and pour into 2 unbaked pie shells. Bake at 325 for about 50 minutes, or until set. (Doesn’t jiggle in the middle!)
Can add chocolate chips if you like that, but should reduce the sugar. I use Jiffy corn muffin mix in place of cornmeal if necessary.
Can hardly wait to get all of the reviews!
Well, i have 2 news bulletins.
First, I made Chef John’s Pecan Pie, using 2 TBS bourbon instead of one, and half and half instead of milk because that’s what I had.
There was too much filling for the pie shell, so I poured the excess into a small ramekin and cooked it in the oven along side the pie. Don’t know how the pie will be–although it looks fabulous–but I offered the ramekin to H with some whipped cream, and he devoured it. I tasted it, and it was a delicious salt caramel flavor, not the excessively sweet goop of memory. So far so good.
Second item: GF’s grandfather, who has been very ill for a long while, died this AM in France. She is leaving for France tomorrow morning. So much for Thanksgiving. We are in the process of deciding who will go where, and have decided to sleep on it.
Never a dull moment.
So sorry to hear about the death in the girlfriend’s family.
Rats about the grandfather.
@Consolation it’s always a joke that if creme brulee is on a restaurant menu I will order it. There’s something about the contrast between the crispy not so sweet caramel top with the creamy sweet inside that I just can’t resist. Generally I like pies better than cakes, but I don’t order them at restaurants, because except for Pie N’ Burger in Pasadena, I think most restaurants make lousy pies.
So sorry. But a great thread.
Add me to loving creme brulee, but I wilt for a good bittersweet chocolate mousse. Actually hard to find the more purist version here, everyone wants to put a silly twist on it. So, Consolation, if you want to share a recipe for that…
(Ha, I realize the irony in thinking twists on pecan pie are fine, but not the mousse Hmm.)
For me, picking a favorite dessert is like picking a favorite child. Can’t do it but I, too love chocolate mousse and creme brûlée. I’m more accepting of variations on creme brûlée than on mousse. One of the best creme brûlées I’ve had in the past few years was a Vietnamese Coffee Creme Brûlée at Meat + Cheese in Aspen. If you are ever out there, give it a try.
I also like a nice panna cotta – not too sweet – which, when you think about it, may just be a cousin of the cool-whip/ sour cream / jello concoctions described on the other thread.
Nah, not really! Just teasing @Consolation. 
I really hope you are able to have a joyful holiday with your son.
@lookingforward Here is my all time favorite chocolate mousse recipe:
http://vintagekitchennotes.com/2012/05/dark-chocolate-mousse.html
I realize this is a sidebar from the original pecan pie quest. Perhaps I will get a warning to stay on topic!
I have made pecan pies for over 35 years - I buy frozen pie crust and thaw it a bit and then bake it a few minutes to get it a light toasty color. For a 9 inch pie—I use:
1/2 cup of light karo & half dark
1.5 cups pecans (pieces not halves)- not toasted
4 eggs
1/2 cup butter - very soft/melty
1/2 cup light brown sugar
pinch or 2 of salt (1/8 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon (or more) or of vanilla
To make chocolate pecan pie,I melt better, sugar and 1/4 unsweetened cocoa and stir till dissolved - then let cool and beat in eggs lightly and other ingredients.
I mix most of the pecans in the filling but reserve some to sprinkle on top and I put a circle of pecan halves in the center. Bake at 325 degrees or so for 50-55 minutes.
It is a big hit amongst family members. Hope you all have a good Thanksgiving.
I’m so sorry about the GF’s grandfather’s death! What a sad update.
Perhaps predictably my favorite chocolate mousse recipe is the one in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. There are easier ones out there, but none better in my experience. I have always used Grand Marnier or another orange liqueur, as called for in the original recipe. I don’t know where the substitution of rum came from.
http://www.food.com/recipe/julia-childs-chocolate-mousse-240129
And it must be served with whipped cream to lighten the experience. 
Chocolate mousse was my brother’s favorite dessert. My mother got sick of making it, so she taught him to make it. At which point we got sick of eating it! (She taught him the Julia Child recipe btw. I don’t think there is a better one.)
Thanks, VMT and Consolation. I’ll try both. I tend to prefer the deep flavor of bittersweet and a thicker consistency (which I rarely find. So many come out somwhat like Cool Whip.)
I just actually looked at the recipe in @VMT 's link, and see that it comes from Maida Heatter. (I was initially put off by the “Vintage Kitchen” moniker. )
I have two of Maida’s books, including the one in question, and the recipes are all superb. I’ve been cooking from them since the 70s. That is a woman who really knows dessert! Although I haven’t actually made her mousse, I would be willing to bet it is delicious. You’ll never go wrong with Maida Heatter.
I strayed from Julia and made a chocolate mascarpone mousse several years ago that sounded like a good variation. Although I served it in a stunning-if-I-do-say-so-myself variegated white and dark chocolate band, the texture was very, very disappointing compared to Julia’s. I would not make it again.
You are correct Consolation. It is indeed Maida Heatter’s recipe. It’s a very traditional recipe, not too sweet and the perfect texture. I have never gone wrong with a Maida Heatter recipe.
For all y’all who make mousse - do you use pasteurized [canned] eggs? Eggs from known sources? Let your DH have a bit first to see if he gets Salmonella? Or some other plan?