Nostalgia Part #1 - Banana Pudding

We all have those dishes that you remember loving from you childhood, the ones that when you eat it today still take you back.  Well banana pudding is one of those for me.  So in a conversation with a friend I was shocked that she had never had it.  "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED" (for all my HIMYM watchers). 

Now I've made banana pudding before, instant pudding, cool whip, bananas and the all important Nilla wafers but I wanted to take this opportunity to do something different...dare I say it...make the pudding from scratch. So I tried calling my grandma because she use to make some great banana pudding but unfortunately she wasn't home.  So I looked around on web and found this recipe for making it.  Turns out making pudding isn't that hard just labor intenstive, lots of stirring.  However, the end product came out great.  My friend really liked it and the pan I made for work was gone in about an hour...that's good right? *smile*  Here's a picture of a personal one I made for Quinn.

So if you're craving something from your childhood or just want to try something new give it a shot.  And hey if it doesn't come out great, just make sure to buy a box of Jello Instant Vanilla pudding as a back-up. *smile*

Just a quick note regarding the recipe.  I did alter a few things.  The recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups of sugar, that seemed like a lot so I used 1 3/4 of a cups and actually think I could have cut it a little more.  Also I bought some banana extract and sprinkled some on the Nilla wafers to let them absorb the flavor before layering the pudding.  Lastly, after I sliced my banana I squeezed some lemon juice on them.  I saw this tip on another recipe and thought it sounded like a good idea to maybe counter some of the sweetness.