THE BEST BANANA PUDDING

If it's not the best it is close......

1 14oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups ice cold water
1 3.4oz. pkg. instant vanilla pudding
3 cups heavy cream
1 12oz. box Nabisco Nilla Wafers
4 cups sliced ripe bananas

On medium speed of electric mixer, beat together the sweetened condensed milk and water until well combined, about 1 minute. Add the pudding and beat well, about 2 minutes more. Cover and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours or overnight, before continuing. It is very important to follow this step.

On medium speed of electric mixer, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the pudding mixture into the whipped cream until well blended and no streaks of pudding remain.

To assemble, select a large wide bowl, preferably glass with a 4 to 5 qt. capacity. Arrange 1/3 of the wafers to cover the bottom of the bowl, overlapping if necessary, then 1/3 of the bananas and 1/2 of the pudding. Repeat the layering twice more, garnishing with additional wafers or wafer crumbs. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow to chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours-or up to 8 hours, but no longer! before serving. It will break down on you and cry if you leave it any longer than 8 hours and we wouldn't want that to happen now would we?

Growing up as a child in my grandparents home in Newland where Sugar Mts. Nursery is now, I was blessed to have a grandmother who was one of the best cooks in this country. She fed multitudes of people from all walks of life from an old-timey wood cook stove and a newer electric oven, though she prefered the wood stove. There was an old-timey icebox refrigerator as well in the kitchen and a newer electric one in the dining room off from the kitchen and that is where Saturdays boiled custard banana pudding got stored until Sunday lunch. I'll never forget peeping inside of that refrigerator for a look at that beautiful concoction in a big glass bowl. How I lusted over that succulent custard. But it was against her strickest rule to dare even think about digging into it with a spoon before its time came to show its stuff at the big dining room table after church on Sunday. Precious memories still linger in my mind.