If it weren’t for my friends, Sarah and Denise, I would be a more responsible person but with those two in my life, they are so convincing that I cannot be the person I know I should be! 🙂
Sarah is an excellent cook and she’s always making me eat things I know are so wrong. She’s the one who has been my friend since first grade and oh, my . . that’s 60 years we have been leading each other down the wrong path. Thank goodness, except for a few years, neither of us did really bad things! 🙂
Denise . . I can’t remember when we first became friends but if I had to guess, it would be in the early 90’s because I met her through our mutual friend, Sheryl. You’d think Sheryl would be a bad influence too but she has always been the voice of reason . . not that I listened to her because, if you’ve raised teens, you know doing the wrong thing is more fun than doing the right thing!
Seriously we are all good people and we don’t do bad things but I want to buy and make every crafty thing Denise makes and I want to cook everything Sarah makes.
It’s been a couple of years Sarah has been telling me about Paula Dean’s Banana Pudding recipe. I’m not much of a banana pudding fan but this past week, Sarah twisted my arm and made me do it. Actually, I put the things I needed on my grocery list, then when I wasn’t talking to Sarah, I came to my senses and took it all off the list but then she made me put it back on.
I think I don’t like banana pudding is because I’m not crazy about vanilla wafers. To me, they just seem fake. They aren’t really a cookie and they aren’t a cracker . . they just don’t fit in any category and it almost seems like someone was trying to make something really good and it didn’t work out right but no one wants to admit it and if it wasn’t for banana pudding, vanilla wafers probably wouldn’t even exist.
When Sarah told me the recipe uses Chessman cookies instead of vanilla wafers, I was thinking I might try it but when she said sweetened condensed milk . . I wanted it right then.
What’s not to love? You don’t even have to crumble the cookies!
I made half a recipe and this is probably 3/4 of the recipe too much. This is not a recipe I’d make for just the two of us but if you want to serve an impressive dessert or a potluck or for company . . this could be it.
This recipe is everything and more that Sarah has said about it. It is so good but it is so sweet and so rich. I need to find someone who wants half of this pan of pudding. Otherwise . . I’m going to eat it all . . maybe tonight!
Carol says
this is the recipe I got in the 80’s and my boys requested it often for their birthday. I do not like bananas (don’t even want to smell them) so I was never tempted. It’s a family favorite still 25-plus years later. I do use vanilla wafers, tho.
Deb says
Aww looks delicious but I think you are wrong about the vanilla wafers. I buy them almost weekly. They are one of my favorite snacks. I can eat plain but usually put peanut butter on them. Not as sweet as a cookie but sweet enough to satisfy a sweet tooth and then you add crunch. Nothing better. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your story.
Joan says
My niece made it 2 years ago for a family reunion. It was so good! It just makes so much! Yum
Susan Nixon says
I like vanilla wafers. I eat them all by themselves. I use them in banana pudding, too. Especially warm banana pudding – yum, yum, yum!
Nelle Coursey says
This sounds really good. I use the recipe for vanilla pudding in the Better Homes and Gardens plaid cookbook. Then I add bananas and vanilla wafers, layered of course. I even use Stevia (or something like that) instead of sugar. Tastes just as good! No one can tell the difference!
Jill McCaughey says
Well, I can see why Paula Deen was diagnosed with diabetes, and had to change her whole life…but it still sounds good as a “once in a while” dessert. Not growing up in the South, this wasn’t something we had in our home, but I have been to pot luck suppers where the pudding with vanilla wafers was brought—and topped with whipped cream, too.
Would love to see you doing more quilting again—just sayin’. Thanks for your blog, I follow it every day.
Joyce says
Since I don’t like bananas very much, this one does not tempt me, although I would eat those cookies…LOL I’m always thankful when the bakers on our staff (other than me) brings banana bread, because then I’m not tempted to eat any! Pretty much any other type of “bread” and I can’t resist.
Sheryl says
Oh my goodness! I never thought I was reasonable in any sense of the word! Lol. I’m sure Donnie doesn’t think so. 🙂