My husband has been craving chocolate pudding. I have not been able to find a fair trade version of this favorite treat of his so I decided to make it from scratch. I have cooked for years and usually can cook about anything from a recipe but have never made pudding or seen it made from scratch. I found a recipe that talked about how easy it was to make with this recipe (should have known better). The recipe had three simple ingredients-whole milk, cornstarch and fair traded hot cocoa mix.
When I opened up the bottle of whole milk, it looked funny. I tasted it and realized that I had picked up buttermilk. Oh well, it can't make that much difference. I boldly went forward. Next, I sifted in the cornstarch (to prevent lumps) and then the hot cocoa mix. It looked like milk with brown specks in it. I cooked and stirred. The directions said not to worry that the chocolate would melt but it also said not to boil it but a few bubbles would be OK. The few bubbles came and it looked like thick milk with brown specks. I thought this must be what it looked like when it melted. I poured it in bowls and covered it with a towel to surprise my husband with after dinner.
We ate dinner and I brought the pudding in to surprise my husband. He looked at it suspiciously. Being an engineer he is always suspicious if it does not look like what he is used to eating. My daughters both took bites and didn't take any more.. They have been taught to not say they don't like something but simply say "No thank-you." Mary told me, "Mom, it tastes good but the texture is a little gritty." and did not take another bite when I asked her if she liked it. Makenzie said, "I'm full (translation-I don't like this.) Chuck took a bite and said it tasted bad and he wouldn't eat it. "You know", he continued to say, they make this great stuff that comes in a box and works everytime." (He is not into the fair trade things if it means giving up a treat he enjoys.)
In the meantime, I had taken one bite and then a couple more to put in a good effort. "OK", I said realizing I had to admit defeat when even I could not eat it, "My first attempt was not a success." Surely there is something that I can make from this. Chuck reminded me that we could just throw it out or feed it to the chickens but I was not ready to waste it and chocolate is not good for most animals so did not want to risk giving it to chickens. We dumped all of our "puddings" in a bowl and put it in the refrigerator.
Last night, I served coffee cake concoction swirled with the pudding. The girls ate it with gusto and loved it. Chuck looked at it suspiciously and ate a few bites. He said he would reserve his judgement until later. Later that night I caught him eating it heartily for a late night snack. "Not too bad when your really hungry."
I have not given up on making homemade pudding though. I'll just try a different recipe next time.
When I opened up the bottle of whole milk, it looked funny. I tasted it and realized that I had picked up buttermilk. Oh well, it can't make that much difference. I boldly went forward. Next, I sifted in the cornstarch (to prevent lumps) and then the hot cocoa mix. It looked like milk with brown specks in it. I cooked and stirred. The directions said not to worry that the chocolate would melt but it also said not to boil it but a few bubbles would be OK. The few bubbles came and it looked like thick milk with brown specks. I thought this must be what it looked like when it melted. I poured it in bowls and covered it with a towel to surprise my husband with after dinner.
We ate dinner and I brought the pudding in to surprise my husband. He looked at it suspiciously. Being an engineer he is always suspicious if it does not look like what he is used to eating. My daughters both took bites and didn't take any more.. They have been taught to not say they don't like something but simply say "No thank-you." Mary told me, "Mom, it tastes good but the texture is a little gritty." and did not take another bite when I asked her if she liked it. Makenzie said, "I'm full (translation-I don't like this.) Chuck took a bite and said it tasted bad and he wouldn't eat it. "You know", he continued to say, they make this great stuff that comes in a box and works everytime." (He is not into the fair trade things if it means giving up a treat he enjoys.)
In the meantime, I had taken one bite and then a couple more to put in a good effort. "OK", I said realizing I had to admit defeat when even I could not eat it, "My first attempt was not a success." Surely there is something that I can make from this. Chuck reminded me that we could just throw it out or feed it to the chickens but I was not ready to waste it and chocolate is not good for most animals so did not want to risk giving it to chickens. We dumped all of our "puddings" in a bowl and put it in the refrigerator.
Last night, I served coffee cake concoction swirled with the pudding. The girls ate it with gusto and loved it. Chuck looked at it suspiciously and ate a few bites. He said he would reserve his judgement until later. Later that night I caught him eating it heartily for a late night snack. "Not too bad when your really hungry."
I have not given up on making homemade pudding though. I'll just try a different recipe next time.
.bmp)
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