Fattening Friday: Graduate Degrees & Strawberry Pudding

Hey there! Tomorrow is Friday. Wow. So before I get to the part where I talk about food and ingredients and cooking, I would like to tell you a personal tidbit. Get food out of your head for a second. 

Education is really important to our family, so I'm going to brag a little bit and tell you about a few new degrees I have been awarded. You see, Landon had reflux, so back in 2011 I received my graduate degree in spit up. I mastered the 8 outfit change day, the midday bath, the four loads of baby laundry in one day, and aced my final in how to remove spit up stains. Being the overachiever that I am, I am now on day three of my doctorate in vomit. That's right... VOMIT. Is this too personal? Because I'm not good at vomit and Landon has a stomach bug. I need to talk about it with you. I NEED to put it out there in the internet world. Here Internet, have this. I don't want it back. 

"Sorry for Vomiting (SFV)" Love, Landon

I can count on one hand the amount of times that I have thrown up in my living memory. I try to avoid it at all costs. Now I have a tiny person not eating anything, but if she happens to eat a bite, she voms. And not on the tile floor either... she hits a rug EVERY time. Watch out sports world, this kid has aim. And can anyone tell me how to make a baby drink pedialite? Why do they make something for  babies that babies won't drink? I can already tell, this degree is going to be tough. And it's only just beginning. Ok, I'm done with vomit talk and throw up stuff. Take a deep breath, cleanse your mind and clear your head. We need to talk about food.

Strange enough to make you forget all of the above?

Earlier this week my Uncle passed away. I've been thinking about him and it brought back a lot of great memories of growing up and visiting my dad's side of the family in East Texas. Everyone in the family cooked. I would wake up to the smell of my Grandpa frying breakfast pork chops while my Grandma started mixing dough for biscuits. They had a beautiful garden full of fresh vegetables, peas, and beans. There were at least two pies, strawberry pudding, and sometimes a cobbler every time we came for a visit. My Grandma whipped her pie meringue by hand using a dinner fork. I didn't associate my Uncle with food until after my Grandparents had passed and I got to see him cooking more often. He would mix up dirty rice for a family gathering and made chicken and dumplings just like my Grandma. People who like to cook for others are people who like to put people at ease. He was that kind of guy to me. Someone who always wanted everyone to be having a good time. He will be missed, but I have some pretty wonderful memories including one of my 200+ pound Uncle doing a flip off the diving board into the pool in blue jeans. He had a lot of fun and was well loved.

Uncle R with my cousin V

I wanted to take this occasion to share a family recipe. "Family Recipe" is code for "not healthy." I was thinking about all of the great things that my grandparents introduced me to, that my Uncle loved to cook, and that my mother has perfected for when I crave them. The truth is, I have never personally cooked them. When I make collard greens I chop them and do a saute steam in a measured amount of EV Olive Oil with garlic. That is not the way it is done in East Texas. My regular diet doesn't allow room for Hot Water Cornbread, fried until it is nice and crispy on the outside, but soft and warm in the middle. If I put up a pot of beans I usually do black beans with brown rice. I don't put up peas with bacon fat in a cast iron pot that has been flavored for 20 years. Maybe Fattening Fridays will become a thing and you can all sit back while I learn how to cook all of that and put on 10 lbs. There is always a place for comfort food. 

Grandma J

What I do know is my Grandma's strawberry pudding recipe. It is completely not good for you with the exception of the strawberries. It is so sweet you might get a cavity when you eat it. I actually cut the sugar in half from the original recipe. My Grandma didn't keep recipes, she cooked from memory, so in order to get this I had to sit her down in my parent's kitchen and have her supervise me. I'm glad I did. She passed away shortly after. If there is one thing that reminds me of my East Texas family, it is good Southern comfort food, fudge pie, and strawberry pudding. 

This is one I made in May about to go in the refrigerator to set. 

Ingredients: 

4 eggs

1 C Sugar
1/2 stick of butter
2T Flour

1C Milk (I use whole milk, this is not the time for health )
1T Vanilla
2 boxes of Nilla Wafers (I always get two just in case the first box runs out) 

2 plastic crates of strawberries, thinly sliced

I use a 9 X 13 inch rectangular pan but you can use any size. Grease your pan with butter and begin by placing a layer of nilla wafers on the bottom of the pan. Then you will line wafers or sliced strawberries along the walls of the pan so the entire pan is covered. 

Layer strawberries and wafers back and forth until you reach the top of the pan or your desired layer level. Layer liberally, but not so tightly that the pudding won't be able to get through the layers. 

In the same pot you will use on the stove (these are exact instructions), mix the flour and the sugar together. Add the eggs and stir well. I use three whole eggs but just the yolk of the fourth egg. I think it really adds to the custard. Place the pot on the stove over medium low heat. Add Milk. In a separate dish melt the butter and then add it to the pot. Add Vanilla. 

Stir mixture constantly as it cooks and thickens. It takes some patience to get it just right. Make sure the fire isn't too hot as it will burn the bottom of the pudding. Continue to stir scraping the thicker pudding from the bottom of the pan. 

Once the mixture has gained some thickness, but is still runny, pour half of the pudding over the pan of nilla wafers and strawberries. You do this so "it will run through the bottom and make the wafers soft and soupy." Don't skip this step. Trust me. Continue to cook the remainder of the pudding until it has reached standard pudding consistency. Pour the remainder over the pan. Refrigerate (I prefer to leave it overnight) until it is set and enjoy!

Tastes amazing with a cold glass of milk and even better during the summer when strawberries are in season. 

Do you have a food that reminds you of your grandparents or relatives? Just spending time thinking about my family made me realize how many of our good memories have to do with the smells of food cooking, the delivery of frozen greens and peas from the garden, the taste of meringue pinched from the top of a pie in the refrigerator, or taking a bite of leftover Hot Water Cornbread on my Grandparents back porch while a George Strait cassette played. Those are the kind of moments we all need to slow down and remember more often. 

Have an amazing weekend!

-RT