Monthly Archives: June 2009

A friend and I were reminiscing about our growing up years and somehow the topic came areound to ffod. We began reciting our favorite comfort food desserts, and one that we both had passionately in common was banana pudding. My mom, even back in the day, was all about health food and natural cooking, so she rarely made desserts. That’s what grandmas are for. My grandma used to make the best banana pudding. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water and it makes me smile about how much fun we had at her house. She’s a southern cook and everything she made was flavorful and wonderful.

So, I’m in the grocery store and I decided to buy the ingredients to whip up some banana pudding to serve for dessert tonight, but to my horror, the recipe was not on any of the ‘Nilla wafer boxes that I found in the grocery store. Then it hit me. I pulled out my Palm phone and did a quick search for a recipe. I purchased the necessary ingredients and brought them home.

In case I have tempted you to whip up some creamy nostalgia, here are some links to several versions of yummy banana pudding.

Nabisco banana pudding recipe

Assorted banana pudding recipes

And, leave it to Paula Deen to come up with this over the top banana pudding recipe using Pepperidge Farm’s Chessmen cookies. Enjoy!

My memories of Michael Jackson go all the way back to when I was a little girl. My sisters and brother and I loved the music of the Jackson Five, and I remember watching their variety show that came on Saturday nights in the 70’s. ABC is my favorite song of his from those early days when he was young and adorable.

I was so sad when I heard about his death yesterday afternoon. In fact, at first when I saw the tweets about it on twitter I didn’t think that it could possibly be true, so I kept working.

All throughout my growing up years I enjoyed Michael’s music. I danced to his music at the club and it was part of the soundtrack of my life. When Thriller came out we watched in non-stop on Mtv. I think that I largely took his gifts and his talents for granted, and because he had always been there he would continue to be there.

When he was having all of his legal troubles I was embarrassed for him and I wondered why he kept making such poor choices. He was clearly plagued by many demons and he never seemed to be happy.

His death points out the fact that we as human beings often don’t show each other how much we appreciate each other until after someone dies. He was a fabulously talented man whose talents utterly transformed the world. His death is being mourned all over the world. Yes, he was troubled, but he had a huge, generous heart and his gifts to us will be his lasting legacy.

Godspeed, Michael.

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On Sunday I celebrated my 42nd birthday. I did most of my celebrating on Saturday at the Maryland Sheep & Wool festival. I had a great time shopping and hanging out with friends old and new. I met up with a new friend, Loren, who I’ve been chatting with online on Ravlery.com for the past year. She surprised me with a lovely gift of yarn for my birthday and some chocolate covered mints.

I also received a lovely bracelet, some delicious chocolates and other special treats. After I got home on Sunday evening I hung out with my girls and had a great time. Before I went to bed I checked my Facebook profile and found that I had two pages of birthday greetings. It was fun responding to everyone.

My birthday was relaxing and enjoyable. Turning 42 isn’t so bad.