Readers’ Write: Four banana puddings
By Yvonne Gale
Covered-dish suppers are a Southern tradition in most rural churches. Sometimes the church ladies have imagined Jesus saying: “Blessed are the ladies of the church, for they have to cook for all the dinners that the men plan.”
Plates of fried chicken, chicken and pastry, creamed corn, butter beans, potato salad and casseroles become “uncovered” when the aluminum foil, Saran wrap, or cloth towels come off the dishes. Chocolate and lemon meringue pies, coconut cakes are the usual temptations on the dessert table.
For a few Methodist congregations, banana pudding became the featured dessert because these congregations “miraculously” found out about their minister’s passion for this Southern treat. There were four banana puddings prepared for a Father’s Day covered dish supper at one church some years ago,. Here are the stories behind how those puddings arrived at the church on this particular Sunday.
Mrs. Lucy was 62 years old and was sitting with her husband Raymond watching television Saturday night. She couldn’t decide if she were going to make her pudding before she went to bed or get up early in the morning to bake it. Her husband had tried to persuade her to make her famous carrot cake, but she told him that she was making a banana pudding for the Reverend. Raymond, grumbling, had replied, “Why is it that the preacher always wins out when it comes to dessert selections?”
Mrs. Lucy response was to smile and to pat Raymond on his head. She went to bed and got up early to make her pudding. She always thought that her meringue was the prettiest of anyone else’s, but then she reprimanded herself for her pride.
Another lady who was going to whip up a banana pudding was Carolyn, age 24. Carolyn was a newlywed, and she loved experimenting in the kitchen. Se had never made a banana pudding until six months ago. She discovered that it was a fairly easy dessert to make except for that darn meringue. Carolyn had almost lost her religion the first time that she had whipped up the eggs to attain a fluffy texture for her meringue. After three tries she had gone through more than a dozen eggs, and her husband Sam was not too happy when he found no eggs in the refrigerator the next morning for his breakfast.
Carolyn made her banana pudding Saturday afternoon. Personally, she loved eating banana pudding right after it came out of the oven, because she didn’t like to see the bananas turn brown.
No one knew that the dessert baker in the Judd Family was Foster, age 78. Since his wife Thelma was such a good cook, everyone assumed that she was the one who made the cakes and pies that arrived at the church. Now Foster sometimes had a love/hate relationship with the church. He was not very social, and he did not like it when Thelma would come home in tears about someone’s feelings being hurt at a Board meeting or at the Women’s Society. Some Sundays Foster went to church, and some Sundays he went fishing. Thelma mentioned that she wanted Foster to make a banana pudding for the preacher for Sunday. Foster’s reply had been, “The preacher doesn’t need a banana pudding or any other dessert; he is getting fat.” Needless to say, Foster went on to make the banana pudding. He never could say no to Thelma.
The fourth pudding came from the Miller household, which housed seven children, ranging from 15 to 2 years old. Nannette Miller, age 42, had purchased the vanilla wafers and bananas three times in preparation to make her pudding. Twice the children had raided the wafers and bananas even after being told that the items were for Sunday. Not one child had confessed to indulging in the forbidden items or to disobeying their mother. The final purchase of wafers and bananas was hidden in the master bedroom until baking time.
Nannette sent her husband Glen to church with the children and decided to stay home to make the pudding. She snugly thought about how her pudding would still be warm at eating time. She hoped that the minister would think that she was in the nursery since she was not in the sanctuary.
Sunday came, and it was time for the covered dish supper. The preacher, of course, had made the rounds to survey the spread, especially the dessert table. He smiled when he saw four delectable-looking banana puddings set out. He knew that he would have to sample each of them, so that he could tell the cooks how much he enjoyed their puddings. Maybe if there were some left, one of the cooks would offer to let him take home some leftovers.
After a sweet, but short blessing, everyone headed to the tables laden with food. As the minister sampled his first banana pudding, he reflected on some of the disadvantages and advantages of serving as a minister. There were calls in the middle of the night, consoling grieving and sick parishioners, or trying to keep peace in the congregation when disagreements arose. As he heaped another serving of banana pudding onto his plate, he smiled: “Seminary school never mentioned the perks of cover dish suppers, especially sampling banana puddings.”
Dessert Recipes with Bill & Sheila
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