Banana Pudding

. . . or 'Nanner Puddin' (just depends on where you live) . . .



I love to cook. I enjoy spending an afternoon puttering around in the kitchen preparing food for the day or week ahead. I don't get to putter as much as I used to; it's just not the same with a baby on your hip. But, slowly, I am getting back to cooking something that takes more than 30 minutes. Earlier in the week, I signed on to bring banana pudding and deviled eggs to Scott and Tonya's Indepedence Day Pool Party. So, I had the perfect opportunity to cook and putter.

I don't make banana pudding that often and typically when I do, I cheat by using Jell-O pudding instead of making my own custard. I know it isn't hard to make the custard from scratch; I've done it before. But, Jell-O sure makes it easy to just add milk and shake. And, Cool Whip does make a decent substitute for the meringue topping.

Inspired by watching Julie and Julia, I decided this banana pudding should be the real deal. I didn't even have my instant pudding in the house as a temptation. After getting Gavin down for his afternoon nap. I set to work on cracking my hard boiled eggs for the deviled eggs; then it was on to the pudding. Dave joked that I could combine the two into a delicious trifle much like the one that Rachel makes in the Friends episode (a layer of lady fingers, followed by ground beef, peas . . .), but I decided that Joey might not be present at this pool party.

Cooking really is therapeutic. I have nothing to focus on a the time, but the recipe at hand. Working to combine sugar, flour, egg yolks, and milk into a mixture without lumps, gives me a tangible purpose. Something my job often lacks. Cooking also reminds me to have patience. It seems like forever before the custard starts to thicken, the egg whites begin to stiffen, or the meringue begins to brown. But once the appropriate amount of time and energy have been given, the result is delicious.

There's still a little left in the fridge. Like Paula Deen, I think I'm going to go find my good friend, Mr. Fork.