Throwback of the Day, where I post some old random picture from the past and share a story about it.
Thanksgiving memory: My grandmother’s corn pudding
Thanksgiving was always a very big deal in my house, growing up and into my first marriage. There was always a great deal of food, that included the traditional fixings like turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and so on. I would always overeat so that I could get a taste of everything that was on the table, even if it meant undoing a button on my jeans to finish it. My mother used to say that “my eyes were bigger than my stomach.”
All the Thanksgiving selections were, in general, favorites, especially the candied yams with marshmallows. But, the one thing that I remember being my most favorite, and it still is, to this day, was my grandmother’s recipe for corn pudding. I could never get enough of it, even as leftovers, in the days after the holidays.
I love the smell of it. The cinnamon sprinkled on top. I love the sweetness of it, with the sweet corn and the milk and eggs baked around it. It came out looking and smelling like a cake, but when it was served, it fell apart so nicely on the plate and blended nicely with the turkey and the cranberries or mixed in with a little mashed potatoes with gravy. (I’m getting hungry for some, just thinking about it).
I tried to get the recipe for it from my mother, once, but the only thing that she would tell me was milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and eggs. I had to dip into my own cooking experience to concoct my own recipe, instead. It turned out just as good. So good that when I began taking it to potlucks, I had to cook up two or three batches because I wanted to keep a batch at home, and one batch would not go very far because every one at the potluck always wanted seconds.
We aren’t that big on holidays in our home and we don’t have any close family or friends, nearby, so we choose a simple, non-traditional, but special, Thanksgiving meal. My partner and I, bust our humps almost every day of the year and we don’t get much in terms of vacation days, so instead of spending one of our few random days off, cooking and cleaning, we have a low-key meal and celebrate Lil’ Man’s birthday, instead.
The only thing I miss in our low-key observance is my grandmother’s corn pudding. But, I may have to step up my game, just a little bit, so that I can enjoy it and share it in the very near future.
Diva's Laundry Service 