My wonderful cousin, Vaughan, hosted a Friendsgiving Dinner this past Sunday. It was intimate, cozy and felt like the perfect way to draw together a group of friends and family. We all sat on cushions surrounding a coffee table brimming with cheeses, fig spreads and crackers. Sure, it was a few days shy of Halloween, but shouldn’t we be giving thanks everyday? It’s kind of an evergreen holiday…

Our family has a longstanding Banana Cream Pudding Thanksgiving Tradition, and I’m here to share a little family secret– that’s been spread far and wide. My mother, Vaughan and I always like to prepare the dessert, and Thanksgiving feels incomplete without it. For rich, cold and delicious Banana Cream Pudding, a palate cleanser, if you will, see below:

Mix 2 cups of sugar with 1/2 cup of flour in a saucepan. Add in 2 cans of 2% evaporated mix. Stir on medium until thick. (It may seem like it’s not happening initially, but it thickens very suddenly when it does.) Whisk 4 egg yolks in a bowl and stir evenly into the thickened sugar-flour-milk mixture.

Then, stir in 1/3 of a stick of cubed, unsalted butter and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. This should melt quickly and easily! Leave aside for 20 minutes.

In a serving dish, alternately layer 7 sliced bananas and 2 boxes of vanilla wafers. Pour your mixture in, add one final layer of wafers, and refrigerate for three hours.  Immediately prior to serving, add a layer of Cool Whip to the top.

Ta-dah! You’re golden. Happy Friendsgiving, Thanksgiving and any holiday in-between! You don’t have to go to Magnolia Bakery to make a killer banana cream pudding…

A much prettier pudding Vaughan made a few years back…