Pudding Odyssey

Cooking is no labor for me, so to celebrate Labor Day today, here in the US, I made the roasted banana pudding that Cooking Light published recently. Halfway through, I smeared some pudding on a Nilla Wafer cookie, and let me just say: yummy! I can't wait to try the finished item at my annual Labor Day party today. Here's my almost step-by-step photos to show you all the creamy pudding goodness.

Roasted bananas cooling off prior to slicing. They look just like the roasted bananas in the magazine. How did I manage to do it right? And without setting off a smoke alarm?

The bananas that were roasted for smashing into the pudding. I actually discarded the banana on the left when I opened it up, as it wasn't all creamy and white like the other. Maybe it was too ripe to be roasted? Look at that messy banana goo.

Eggs and sugar--recipe life insurance for deliciousness.

Look! Pudding happens! See my whisk blur in this action shot of my wrist dexterity. Note clean stove top--I spent two hours cleaning counters and the stove top and the microwave the day before. Which is why I had to undertake the pudding odyssey to make it all dirty again. Too much cleanliness inhibits my creativity. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

The pudding chills, defying the laws of physics, in an ice bath on my kitchen counter. Blogger makes me sigh again in frustration.

Luckily, pudding, by its very nature, is able to withstand gravity and survive sideways suspension, as documented in the above photo, to emerge in creamy splendor. See those little roasted banana slices peeping out? See the thick layer of faux whipped topping (this culinary odyssey did not involved whipping cream from scratch this time; it was a lazy odyssey)?

Dig in!