Thursday, July 14, 2011

City Series, Birmingham, AL: Banana Pudding

Ahhh...the southern classic, Banana Pudding.  The only problem was that I'm not southern and I had never made or eaten this classic.  Yet I was in charge of helping Melanie make it for dessert at a party hosted in our honor.  Yikes!

I used a Food Network recipe and it was a hit.  This is our masterpiece at the banana stage.  I knew that once it was coated in a blanket of meringue, it wouldn't look as pretty in a photograph.  So here it is so far: Nilla wafers, homemade vanilla pudding and bananas.

Our dear friends, Melanie and Jon (who now live in Birmingham, Alabama) wanted us to experience true southern hospitality during our stay with them.  They decided to throw a dinner party, serve "bar-b-que" (which means bar-b-qued pork in Alabama) and asked their friends to bring a southern dish to pass.  I tried sweet tea, fried okra, fried green tomatoes and homemade peach ice cream...and then banana pudding! 

What a night!  It was all delicious, of course, but what I loved most was seeing the smiles, hearing the stories and feeling so welcome.

It is a big deal when a friend moves far away.  You call.  You write.  And you can only hope that they will make friends as nice as these.  Good job, Alabama.

3 comments:

Broken Barn Industries said...

Oh, this post SO reminds me of my Mississippi-born Mama! You HAVE to try black-eyed peas with hamhocks, cornbread and greens if you haven't already. I have a great recipe if you'd like it. And oh, her fried chicken. I never learned to make it and now it's too late to learn from her.

Elaine said...

I grew up with banana pudding as it was my Mom's favorite dessert to make. My brother makes a great as well and I think he uses the recipe on the box of the Vanilla wafer box. I'm glad you got a chance to taste it's wonderfulness. :)

Anne Reeves said...

Thanks, Elaine! Ohhhh...Broken Barn, I'd love to try your recipe. You can email it to me at anne@anadesigns.com Thanks!