Lessons from A Banana Pudding!

I could not resist a little fun on today's blog post!  I had created another newsletter layout but the weather did not cooperate for me to take a picture.

The Story
As the oldest child in my family I was given the scared trust of helping my mother make homemade banana pudding.  By helping I mean stirring the pudding really really really fast on the stove.  I heard the words a 100 times "Stir it faster or it will burn!"  I also had the responsibility of making the meringue.

You have to know I hated making Banana Pudding.  That's putting it mildly.  Since I married I have not made a banana pudding from scratch.  My husband loved the pudding mix from the box so there were no complaints. 

One thing I forgot to mention... I love my mom's banana pudding, my kids love grandma's banana pudding, and my grandchildren love giggy's banana pudding. 

So after 33 years of marriage I decided this week to make a banana pudding from scratch!

Remember as an impressionable child I learned all the tricks to make a delicious pudding.  This is what I learned:

• Stir fast making sure you get the bottom of the boiler very well.
• How to crack and separate an egg
• Be careful not to get even a half a drop of egg yolk in your whites
• You have to beat the egg white just the right amount...not too little, not too much
• Add your sugar very slowly...have patience (I'm a kid!)

I never appreciated these lessons until this week standing over my own stove making mom's homemade banana pudding.

Phase One...gather your supplies
Vanilla Cookies (to have it just right you need Nabisco cookies)
Sugar 3/4 cup
Flour 2 tablespoons
Milk 2 1/2 cups
Eggs 4
Vanilla Extract
Banana

Phase Two...the pudding

• Mix together the sugar and flour
• In either a double boiler or to stir faster a non-stick boiler; over a low heat; add your milk
• Stir, Stir, Stir,
• Beat your egg yolks and take a little (teeny tiny) of the hot pudding and put it in the eggs.  Do this s-l-o-w-l-y until the eggs are warmed.
• Add you eggs to the pudding on the stove s-l-o-w-l-y until thicken
• Pour you pudding into the dish your husband has thrown all the cookies into that you have to rearrange one handed because you have the pudding in your other hand.  Yikes I forgot to add...slice your banana and spread on top of the cookies.

Phase Three...the meringue

• Beat your egg whites until, well you just had to be there
• Add s-l-o-w-l-y 1/4 cup of sugar..remember have patience and go s-l-o-w-l-y.
• just as your egg whites peak into this creamy concoction add less than a 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tarter and 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Phase Four...all together now

• put your meringue on the top of the pudding, using your spatula go round the top just touching the meringue and pulling your spatula up s-l-o-w-l-y (well not to slow) and make little peaks.
• bake in a 325 degree oven for around 10 minutes or when the meringue is just lightly golden.

my daughter-in-law Vanessa

Phase Five...let's eat
Absolutely my favorite part.  Here's the good news:  It was just like my mom's.

Lessons Learned

• It's okay to teach your children to cook, even under extreme objections.
• Be patience.
• I love my mom

What has all this to do with scrapbooking?  I think the biggest lesson learned for my scrapbooking is to have patience.  Patience to learn all the things you want to know.  Patience in getting your photos organized or your scrap space organized and even patience in finding time around those little adorable children (that you are going to teach how to make a banana pudding!  Have patience with your layout and taking time to enjoy the process and you will love your end results.  Remember it's the journey not the destination that is the most important.

By the way, I called my mom and told her thank you.

I will announce the winner of the Giveaway/RAK.  So you still have today to go to THIS POST and leave a comment.

Gratitude List

1.  my mom

2.  lessons from my childhood

3.  hard decisions that end wonderfully

4.  good friends

5.  God's lessons for me, even when I don't want to learn them