Simple, Satisfying Banana Pudding

I desired banana pudding recently, and not having a dearly beloved banana pudding recipe in my background, I was left to search the internets and my cookbooks. 

Seems to me, banana pudding lovers have a favorite recipe, usually an ancestral one, and mighty strong opinions on the subject.  I simply wanted to use up some brownish bananas that my family was ignoring.  I wanted something fast and delicious using what I had on hand, so I mashed up a few recipes. 

But the recipe turned out so well, I'm making it again on purpose and sharing it with you!  Maybe this is the start of a banana pudding loyalty in my family?

Thrift at Home Banana Pudding

Make pudding.
In a saucepan, over medium heat, heat until steamy hot:
1 cup cream
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt

Meanwhile, beat well in a glass measuring cup:
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. cornstarch

Pour a little hot milk into egg mixture, whisking.  This tempers the eggs.

Now turn heat to low.  While whisking milk mixture, pour egg mixture into the saucepan slowly.  Whisk continuously.  When the egg mixture is totally whisked in, turn the heat up to med-low and whisk continuously until it comes to a slow boil.  Allow to boil 3-5 minutes, still whisking. Should be quite thick, basically pudding, after the boil.

Take pan off heat and add 1 tsp. vanilla.  Set aside for about half an hour which allows it to cool a bit.

Assemble. Lay 3-4 graham crackers in bottom of lightly greased 8x8 dish or equivalent. Slice a banana over the crackers.  Add another layer of crackers.  Pour the still-warm pudding gently over the top layer. Cover. Refrigerate for several hours - best eaten within 24 hours because the bananas will inevitably turn brown.

Notes: Use 2 cups half-and-half in place of milk and cream.  I'm sure you could double this recipe.
You could add some nutmeg somewhere. . . or use chocolate graham crackers or Nilla Wafers. . . or put whipped cream on top. . . or what else?  Are you a banana pudding fan?  How do you like yours?

Bright Things I Made

I recently spent hours uploading 2018's photos to Shutterfly, partly to make a surprise project for someone who is probably reading this blog post.  So that's a secret.  But it's so trippy to zip through a year in photos - the events I've forgotten, the details, my children who used to be small, the things I've made.

So here are some things I made that I fully intended to blog, to put on The Record.  Bonus:  they are bright! Perfect for winter when we must make our colors while the natural world sleeps in grey, white, and brown.

I made a new batch of handtowels and aprons (Simplicity 1221) for a shop that promotes young Mennonite makers (I am still young, see). 

I am particularly proud of that little zing of yellow rick rack with the calico and gingham.

 Also, I love yellow and pink together, particularly these strong shades.  I didn't have enough for the belt, so I pieced together the feedsack calico.

I love mixing fabric so much that I like to piece even the toppers for handtowels. Also, I have not forgotten that I owe my readers a handtowel tutorial. 

Also, I made a beautiful cake for Christmas day; well, it's presented as two rectangular cakes.  It's the petit fours cake from Smitten Kitchen Every Day: Triumphant Unfussy Favorites. 

There was some difficulty and swearing involved as is normal for fancy cakes, but oh my word, this cake was beautiful in every respect.  Those are almond paste holly leaves and berries that I colored and formed with my own stained fingers.  On top of ganache, which covers a triple layer of delicious almond cake sandwiched with raspberry jam. So, so delicious.

Hope your winter day has some brightness in it!  Around here, it's terribly cold and I just found out that school is canceled.  This is frustrating to a person like me who makes it a priority to get proper clothing for my family so they can get fresh air in any weather. I'm sure I'll be sending them out to sled!

Gingerbread Cookies and Snow

I made the gingerbread dough and turned it over to Ben and Genevieve, who fought over it and cut out cookies.  I helped Phoebe cut out a few cookies, too.  Genevieve was so excited to do these cookies, even though she doesn't like them all that much, because she says they are Christmas at our house.  I guess we have traditions now!

This year, I tweaked the recipe just slightly and they got so good!  Plus, the kids did the cookie decorating, too, and landed on a genius flavor combination.  Genevieve made a simple powdered sugar frosting for the cookies and sprinkled crushed candy canes on top. Pow! The spicy cookies plus the sweet frosting plus the sharp peppermint:  so delicious.

Gingerbread cookies and snow - so festive! The children even had a two-hour delay and sledding out of the snow, so they were thrilled.

Gingerbread Cookies - from Colonial Williamsburg, tweaked a bit by me
Stir together in large bowl:
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Stir in:
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup melted shortening
1/2 cup heavy cream (or evaporated milk)
1 cup blackstrap unsulfured molasses
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
2-4 drops food-grade lemon essential oil (or 3/4 tsp. lemon extract)

Stir in 1 cup at a time, mixing after each cup:
2 cups whole wheat all-purpose flour
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Dough should be stiff enough to handle and not too sticky - may add up to 1/2 cup of flour if needed.

Roll to 1/4" thickness on floured surface.  Cut into shapes. Place on silpat-lined baking sheets (or greased). Bake 375 for 10 minutes, just until top springs back when touched.

Little Mocha Oreo Cheesecakes

I used my husband's birthday to make little individual cheesecakes.  He does like cheesecake, but I'm not sure how he feels about Oreos.  I can tell you the children love Oreos, but I don't necessarily. However, these little cheesecakes turned out quite delicious.

My in-laws gave us a package of Oreos some time back, and I stuck it in the back of the pantry because why.  Because I don't buy Oreos, and I don't know how to just hand out Oreos to a hungry kid?  Because Oreos are boring?  But if I use Oreos as an ingredient, nay, as a crust for a little mini cheesecake?  Now that's more enticing.

When I was buying my two blocks of cream cheese at market, I mentioned to the friendly girl who tells me about her new puppy that I was planning to make these little cheesecakes.  She immediately remembered her mom making such cheesecakes, but mocha flavor.  I took note.

I can't even link to the recipe I used because I combined several traditional recipes after googling "individual Oreo cheesecakes."  And no way was I going to crush up Oreos and bake them with butter first to make a crust - people, please, I have a toddler who was thrilled to drop whole Oreos in the bottom of the muffin papers, taking bites occasionally while saying in her serious, sweet voice, "We are not eating dem - we are just putting dem in dere."

I divided the cheesecake batter in half.  To one half, I added a hefty teaspoon of instant decaf espresso powder.  To the other half, I added crushed Oreos.  Then I layered each batter on top of the Oreos in the muffin cups. Bake them, chill them, done.

Now I have a whole bag of little candy canes that my children picked off the ground at the park one night in somebody's terribly misbegotten idea of a fun holiday activity for children.  My children know me well enough to know they were never going to eat more than a few, but what in heaven's name do I do with all these boring, plastic-wrapped stupid candy canes? 

Aunt Nancy's Typical Southern Peach Cobbler

Aunt Nancy is legendary for this cobbler in our family, but when I asked her where the recipe came from, she said it's all over the South.

I know two versions of it in the North.  One is found in More with Less, with no butter (Yankees are no fun), and the other was my childhood church cookbook and had the butter, but less fruit.  I like Aunt Nancy's the best.  The fruit to buttery-moist-crumb-part is about equal, and that's how I like it.

If you bake it long enough, the edges darken and crisp from all that butter.  Aunt Nancy loves me enough that she gave me that special edge when we were in NC.  

This is Phoebe's photo-face.  She thinks she's smiling.

Also, isn't that tablecloth great?  Years ago, I stashed it with my fabric with the idea of making a skirt, but I just absolutely love its grooviness in my summer dining room.

Aunt Nancy's Typical Southern Peach Cobbler

In a 9" baking dish, melt:
1/3 cup butter (I put it in the oven while the oven is preheating)

Peel and slice (I chop):
5-6 peaches to yield at least 4 cups

Lay them on the melted butter.

Separately, mix:
1 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk

Pour batter gently and evenly over the fruit.  Some of the fruit will float and some butter will be up there, too.  That's just right.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour, until beautifully golden with obvious bubbling and juice action from the fruit.  Serve warm or room temperature.

Notes:
1. Aunt Nancy said you can use anywhere from 1/4 - 1/2 cup butter.  Obviously a Southerner would go for the full stick.
2. I used half whole-wheat all-purpose flour.  You can get this from McGeary Organics and it makes the perfect texture for chemically-leaved baked goods.
3. I cut back the sugar a little because I'm not Southern.
4. You can use other fruit besides peaches.  I added some sad raspberries and 2 black raspberries from my new backyard bush.
5.  Aunt Nancy has baked this at higher temperatures or reduced the time or changed the pan size or otherwise fiddled with the chemistry.  Good news: the cobbler is not fussy!

"French" Fruit Tart

The Frenchiness here is of the 1980s variety, that was meant to make something sound fancy.  The original recipe was on the back of the Bisquick box, so we can all predict the results, right? But no.  This is a perfect trifecta of flavors and textures: salty/buttery crust, luscious middle with the best of cream cheese and heavy cream, and whatever wonderful perfect fresh fruit is in season on top.

And look, the ingredients are simple, practically pantry staples, and the method is also very simple.  I mean really.  This is me raving.  I highly recommend that you make this tart!

The only downside is that it is best eaten several hours after it is made, or possibly the day after for particularly smitten eaters.

"French" Fruit Tart - adapted from a recipe I found on The Kitchn

Make the tart crust.
Cut together:
1 cup all-purpose flour (I use up to 2/3 WW pastry flour)
1/3 cup butter
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
Press mixture into 9 or 10" tart pan or pie pan.  Prick bottom with fork.  Bake at 425F for 10ish minutes.  Set aside to cool.

When the crust is cool, whip in a mixing bowl:
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Add and beat to soft peaks.  Do not overbeat:
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Dollop and spread filling in crust.  Top gently with fresh sliced berries or other seasonal fruit, arranged in a pattern or sprinkled over in a single layer.  Brush with some melted apple jelly or simple syrup (I use simple syrup - heat together 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water until dissolved, then cool and keep in fridge).  Sometimes I don't bother brushing anything on the fruit.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before slicing and serving.

This tart really needs a better name.  Suggestions?

Old-School Cocoa Puff Bars

Once upon a time, I was a student at a very large Mennonite high school.  Later I was a teacher at this same school.  I ate in the cafeteria and those cooks did a pretty good job, better than other school cafeterias I've eaten in (but not as good as Mennonites at home).

They served a dessert called cocoa puff bars and I loved them. I can't actually now recall which lunch the bars went with, although I have never forgotten the green beans with the mac and cheese, the flabby pizza, and hot sauce with the Vietnam fried rice.

I remembered those bars a month or so ago and suddenly realized: I could make them!  And eat them again!  But alas, a Google search showed me that there are several versions of cocoa puff bars around (one, oddly, with a ganache topping; these are cocoa puffs, people, and they are not gourmet).

So I emailed the head cook of this Mennonite school, and she sent me the bulk recipe in pounds.  She said she had to hunt for it in an old file, which makes it sound like cocoa puff bars are no longer on the menu and I feel sorry for the current students.

They are super-simple to make and the cocoa puffs give a delicious crunch in the rich peanut-buttery goo.  If you can ignore the questionable nature of the puffs (what, exactly, are they?), these bars are wonderful.

I've made these bars twice now, and both times I finished the box by dumping the cocoa puffs into a finished batch of chocolate buckwheat granola with a fierce ironic glee. Health food: meet strange food!  Wheeee!

Cocoa Puff Bars, the old-school Mennonite version

Heat together (I do this in a large pot):
1/3 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey

Stir to melt.  Turn off heat and add:
1 cup chocolate chips

Stir again.  Fold in:
7 cups cocoa puffs

Press and smooth mixture gently into lightly greased 9x13 pan. Cover. Cool to room temperature. Cut into bars.

Apple Pie Biscuits

This is a lovely autumn breakfast when the mornings are cool and you crave doughy apple-y things.  I followed Joy the Baker's method, but I used angel biscuit dough that I had in the fridge already and I didn't bother with the eggwash/sugar/cinnamon on top.  The apple pie filling took literally 5 minutes to make because there's only one apple to peel and dice. 

I didn't cut the biscuits as small as she did, and then, later when the house was quiet, I poured some butterscotch sauce over the last one and that was amazing.  

I do adore that butterscotch .  We poured some over wacky cake last evening with raspberries from our friends' garden.  A delicious way to say good-bye to the raspberries now that the apples are here.

"Very Frenchy"

These are sleep shorts, made with seersucker from an old duvet cover.  The running stitch is purely decorative, just to "de-sweetify" the shorts as Rebecca says. Or to "Frenchify" them, as I thought of this quote from my favorite Frances Parkinson Keyes book.

". . .then a pink silk muslin dress, with a knot of black velvet on one shoulder, and a black velvet sash, made from an old 'sacque' of her mother's, carefully steamed, pressed, and recut - she had read in the 'Symposium of Styles'  - which her friend Mabel Buck loaned her from time to time, since she could not afford to subscribe to a fashion magazine herself - that 'a touch of black was always very Frenchy.'"

Queen Anne's Lace by Frances Parkinson Keyes

Two pairs of my sleep shorts finally shredded into rags this June, ironic given my sleep deprivation, so I really needed these shorts.  And the running stitch and the tiny little photo shoot were very satisfying to my creative soul.  I may not be able to satisfy my need for sleep right now, but I can satisfy my soul little by little.

And, related, a French fruit tart which I'm sure the French would never recognize.  It's delicious and very simple. Besides jam, this was the only thing I did with strawberries this year other than eat them fresh with every meal.

Genevieve Makes Candy Bars

In the spirit of helpfulness and I'm-so-grown-up-compared-to-this-wee-little-sister, both children have been cooking up a storm.

They made Saturday morning pancakes all by themselves after I talked through the recipe with them the night before.  They frequently fry eggs for themselves for breakfast.

And Genevieve lobbied to make candy, most particularly pulled taffy, by herself.  I had enough spirit to say no and enough spirit to say yes when she found the "Candy Bars" recipe in Mennonite Country-Style.  Then I promptly lost my temper when she asked a question about butter. Once the peace was restored and I went out to the sofa where I belonged, she quite handily turned out these delicious bars.

The recipe note says that they taste like "the O'Henry bars" which I have never eaten or even seen for sale, so I'm assuming that's a rather vintage candy bar and I like the recipe all the more for it.

The bars themselves are buttery and crunchy on the bottom with that delicious peanut-butter chocolate layer on top.  They are pretty difficult to cut nicely, especially if you are  sleep-deprived and desperately in need of calories (hangry) from feeding a chubby baby.  Great food to have around the house!

Candy Bars - tweaked a bit from Mennonite Country-Style

Stir together until thoroughly mixed:
2/3 cup melted, salted butter
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
4 cups quick oats

Press mixture in bottom of 9x13 baking pan to form even layer.  Bake at 360 F for 12 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

When cool, melt over low heat on stove or in microwave:

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Add 1/2 cup coarse or chunky peanut butter.  Stir well.  Pour and spread gently and evenly over bottom oat layer in pan.  Allow to harden in refrigerator.  Cut into small bars - they're rich!  Makes 2-3 dozen small bars.

Notes:

1. Genevieve used homemade peanut butter, which is coarsely ground.  I suggested that she could add some chopped peanuts if she wanted to approximate chunky peanut butter.

2. I think some or all of the corn syrup could be replaced with honey, although the flavor will change and I'm not sure honey would keep the flexible-yet-firm texture that corn syrup seems to give.  Corn syrup is the standard ingredient of all old candy recipes.  I welcome your thoughts and suggestions here (although I'm not opposed to a bit of corn syrup in homemade recipes because we're not eating much commercially processed food in this house, the problematic source of corn syrup in the American diet).

3.  The obligatory baby Phoebe photo.  One week old here, and getting ready for her first bath (she was insulted).  Phoebe is very alert and communicative, so much fun.  Photo by Genevieve.