Monday's Menu

One thing we've discovered since moving here is that the Rugrat loves yogurt. McDonald's, in particular, has a yogurt and fruit parfait that she likes a lot -- like "pass up the french fries to eat it" a lot. Then, shortly after we got all settled in, we found some pudding parfait kits for a ridiculously cheap price that we grabbed. So I made some pudding parfaits. Strawberries went on sale about the same time and the Rugrat got some home made yogurt and fruit parfaits as well. So we were on a parfait kick there for a bit.

Around the same time, I realized that I didn't really have any cups/dishes that worked well for individual desserts like puddings or ice cream scoops, etc. I was in a local thrift store and saw these then:
They had the right color sticker to get them half off too. So I ended up paying like twenty cents a piece for these. And they are perfect. I grabbed a fifth that didn't match anything and was sitting there waiting for someone to appreciate it. But its close enough to count.

The other night I tried this recipe and got to use them. It's a basic old-fashioned pudding. I think it's a good thing to know how to do some of these kinds of recipes even if you don't really plan to use it a whole lot. The techniques can help you to make more complex recipes. And having the experience of having made it under your belt can help you to identify when something starts to go wrong in a more complicated recipe. Plus, you never know, you might decide you prefer it to a little box made with gelatin. My family did. Hubby automatically said "pie" with a gleam in his eye after tasting it.

I substituted cocoa and oil for squares of unsweetened chocolate. If you decide to omit the cocoa and oil and use the squares, I highly recommend grating the chocolate and keeping a very low heat until it melts.

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Pudding

1 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
6 Tablespoons cocoa
2 Tablespoons oil
2 egg yolks
2 Tablespoons butter/margarine
2 teaspoons vanilla

In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in milk, cocoa, and oil. Cook over low to medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk until mixture thickens. In a small bowl, beat egg yolks. Spoon a small amount of the thickened hot pudding in and mix together with egg yolks (temper the eggs) then blend together quickly with remaining pudding in saucepan. Cook two minutes more. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Pour into bowl or serving dishes and chill until firm.