Dan's Pudding

 My son is dealing with lymphoma and food allergies. Not a fun combo. One of the few foods that's sitting well for him is pudding. Made from scratch to avoid the stuff he's allergic to. This is his recipe. It takes a lot of effort, mostly standing at the stove stirring and stirring and stirring and stirring..., but it's very tasty. And very rich, definitely not anywhere close to diet. And right now, any calories we can get in him are a plus. So it's worth the effort.

I just made a half gallon of the stuff. That should last him a few days. Maybe.

Dan's Pudding

2 c. cream (half and half or whipping)

1 c. sugar (organic cane sugar for him)

2 c. milk (2% or whole)

6 T. flour

1/2 t. salt

1 t. vanilla

1/4 c. butter

In a 2-quart saucepan, heat cream and sugar over medium low heat. Stir constantly until it comes to a low boil. Keep stirring for five minutes.

Mix milk, flour, and salt, whisk until as smooth as you can get it. Add to the cream mixture, straining through a fine strainer to get all the lumps out.

Stir constantly (I use a flat whisk). Keep stirring until it barely comes to a low boil. That's just a few big bubbles. It will thicken up some before it hits this stage. Once it's bubbling a little, stir over low heat for 20 minutes. Set a timer and just keep stirring.

Remove from the heat. Stir in butter and vanilla. Pour into serving dishes and chill. It will thicken up more as it cools.

Banana variation:

Chop up a banana or two and stir in with the butter and vanilla.

Makes 1 quart of pudding, which is anywhere from one really big serving to eight small ones.

Super Simple Spinach Dip

 I adore spinach artichoke dip, but the commercial ones have things that give me problems, like artichokes. So here's my take. It takes 3-4 hours, but most of that is waiting for the slow cooker to do its thing.

Super Simple Spinach Dip

1/2 c. diced onions, sweet preferred

2 T. butter

1 t. minced garlic

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese

1/4 c. milk

1/3 c. mayonnaise

1 t. ground black pepper

1/2 c. chopped dill pickles OR pickled brussels sprouts OR marinated artichokes OR 1/4 c. capers

3-4 c. fresh spinach (I like to use the baby spinach/chard/kale mix)

Dump onions and butter in small crockpot (2-3 quart size). Cover and cook on high for about 1 1/2 hours, until onions are starting to brown. Stir in garlic. 

Drop cream cheese on top, pour milk over. Don't worry about stirring it. Cover and cook for about 30 minutes, until cream cheese is hot through.

Add mayonnaise, pepper, and pickles. Stir thoroughly.

Coarsely chop spinach. Add on top of other mixture. Pack it in if you like lots of spinach in your dip. Cover and cook on low for about an hour.

Stir spinach into cream cheese mixture. This can get messy, just keep trying to get the spinach coated in the cream cheese. Cover and cook on low for another 15-20 minutes, until spinach is wilted and dip is hot through.

Serve warm or cold. Store in the refrigerator.

Makes 3-4 cups of dip.