Some days it is easier to the Thankful for our Blessings than others.  Wednesday night brought one of those opportunities.  Discount groceries and ‘day old’ sections of the Supermarket are favorite places for me. Yes, that does indicate that I am easy to entertain; but that’s another Blog.  Regardless, at the Sunflower there was a huge sack of bananas marked down to a dollar.   They were fine.  When I got home Holly smiled & said that not only would there be enough for a baked one to go with our pork chop that night, there would be plenty to make some muffins & deliver them to the gathering family of one of our favorite community leaders who had gone on the day before.  Several more would be left & that would mean Holly’s favorite- Virginia’s Banana Pudding.

Here is where I begin to count my blessings. One on the top of the list was having a Mom who, among other things, never wanted to be remembered for a “clean house” or her cooking.  Who cares about a clean house!  Everyone cares about good cooking, so she did not get that wish, which takes me to my 2nd great blessing.  Good Luck strolled by, & I found a girl to marry who adored my Mother as much as I did, & found ways to connect to her in some things that I never would.  Consequently, my Mother lives on.  Holly & I have her close-by many nights, even as we remember her cooking.  I can see her puff up now, little regard did she have for being teased.’

At this point I have to say that my Sister & her husband still have Virginia living with them too.  I don’t even have to ask, but our Mother entered their conversation Wednesday night too.  Expand this bubble to include all our children.  They live with her too, every day, in countless ways.  In my memory abides the picture of my Elizabeth smacking her lips over those thin, crispy biscuits covered with creamed chicken.

Some people never die, even if one thing that keeps them alive is their Banana Pudding.

Virginia’s Banana Pudding

Bananas                            4,  (Nice & Ripe)

‘Nilla Wafers                     1 Box

Whole Milk                        2 Cups

Sugar                                1 Cup

Eggs                                 3, Separated

All Purpose Flour              2 T, Heaping

Vanilla Extract                  2 tsps

In a 2 Quart, oven proof dish (white ceramic soufflé bowl).

Method:

Preheat oven to 400º F.

In one sauce pan mix well the egg yolk, sugar, flour, & vanilla.

In a 2nd sauce pan, heat the milk to just before boiling point.

Stir in 1 Tablespoon of the hot milk to the egg mixture to temper the mixture.

Stir in another spoon full, then slowly add the balance of the hot milk, stirring well so it won’t lump.

Cook mixture over low heat until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

In the oven proof dish, place one layer of wafers along the bottom and side. Add one layer of bananas in the bottom. Pour over half of custard. Then add a layer of wafers & bananas & over that pour the rest of sauce.

Holly seems to end up with more layers than Va did so she just tries to remember to pour the custard over the wafers & bananas somewhere in what she thinks is the middle! Also, she says that Virginia never used the entire box of wafers, but then acknowledges, “I can’t remember, and it did not matter to her anyway”!  Such was Virginia’s style.

Whip eggs whites, gradually adding 3 Tablespoons of sugar, to stiffen.

Spoon the egg whites over the pudding & brown in a 400 degree oven.

Watch it, since it only takes a FEW Minutes!