Thursday, May 21, 2009

Chocolate Cake Pudding

It's pronounced "pudn." I always feel a little funny spelling out pudding because it sure is not how I pronounce it.

Mama's chocolate cake pudding is the answer to everything. She would whip it up without warning at any time. We never really knew when we were going to have a bowl of it, still warm, with evaporated milk poured over it. You can't imagine how good it is.

I used to cook a lot for fun in my young adult years, but somehow I got away from it once I became vocation director and had to travel so much. When I went off to school at University of Dayton, I got back into cooking as recreation. Once I made loaves of pumpkin bread for every one of my twenty or so classmates.

But what became my favorite was Mama's chocolate cake pudding. The ultimate Cottingham comfort food. Even more so than red beans and rice, which of course is very nourishing and comforting but... it's not chocolate. I made it alot while I was in grad school. Shared it with friends, especially with Mom's Ladies, a faith sharing group I belonged to. Iserved it as birthday cake once, still warm from the oven, and the birthday candles sort of melted into it. Live and learn.

I have made it a few times since I got here to Trinita. Because Olivia does not like coffee, I even made it once without coffee, but I will never do that again. Even though the coffee is not a major player, it really is not right without it. Like Tang compared to fresh orange juice.

Tonight, we had our third Mission Planning Council meeting, as we continue preparing a capital campaign for Trinita. I am very aware that our Council members all have jobs and families and they do not need to be hanging out at Trinita on a week night until all hours, so I keep a sharp eye on the clock to make sure we end by 9:00. But tonight, I kept looking at the clock and thinking... at 9:00, we can eat the cake pudding! That was my real motivation for keeping the meeting moving at a brisk pace.

It is all gone now. Dang. Next time, I'm making a double batch.

3 comments:

Olivia said...

Hey, I like Tang!
Good luck with the capital campaign!!

annegirl said...

Hi Deb! I've been following your blog for a little while now...it made me smile to remember the "pudn" you made for one of our moms ladies meetings. I hope all is well with you!
Annie

Theologian Mom said...

Well, I make pudn frequently, and always in your memory. Can you believe my husband prefers it cold? Of course, the problem is that if he wants to have it cold, he may not get it at all... you know what I mean!