It's in the Pudding

I have to say that pudding is my favorite treat of all time. My dad used to make cooked pudding for us when I was little. He would make it when we were all getting ready for dinner and would put it in a little dish in front of your plate at dinner. If you finished dinner quickly, your pudding was still warm (which meant that you most likely liked dinner.) If you didn't finish your dinner, you didn't get the pudding. I loved my dad's pudding, so I tried to finish my dinner. He made vanilla, chocolate, coconut, and banana. Often he would put a blob of jelly in the middle of the hot pudding. It would melt and run into the cracks of the surface of the pudding. I loved that!

Well now I make pudding for my children. They like it hot and cold and anywhere in between.
Sunday afternoon we were all wanting a treat and none of the usuals really sounded like they would do. Then we thought of good old vanilla pudding and we knew that was just the thing.

The recipe I use now is a combination of my dad's quickly recipe and my mom's cream pie filling recipe she got from her mom. It has all the flavor and texture I want in a pudding and the speed of my dad's "get it done" kind of cooking.

So for our Sunday evening treat we had vanilla pudding with fresh straberries, blueberries, and sliced banana. It was heaven!

Vanilla Pudding
5 egg yolks
3 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar OR 1/4 to 1/3 cup agave nectar (love it!)
1/4 cup corn starch
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp butter (option - I usually forget to add this)

I put the milk and egg yolks in the blender and blend well. This makes it so you don't have to strain the hot pudding for "egg boogers" later. Pour this into a good heavy sauce pan. Then add the sugar, salt, and corn starch. Mix well with a whisk. Turn on to med to med-hi heat on your stove top and cook, stirring constantly until it thickens. Remove from heat and add the butter if you are using it. Then add the vanilla extract. Serve now or pour it into a covered dish and cool in the fridge.