Dessert Report

Today's post is about the dessert I made because the dinners I made yesterday and tonight were both things I've made and reported on--pizza and stir fry. However, tonight's dessert was a thing born from necessity. The necessity to do something with the milk before it went bad.

     My mom buys Strauss non-fat milk. It's organic milk from a Northern California dairy where all the cows are happy California cows. They are grass-fed and pasture raised, so the milk is a little different from everyday milk (read expensive). Here's the thing about Strauss milk though. As the days go by, it starts to get sweet. There's a point, based on how sweet it tastes, at which I know that in another day or so the milk will go bad. That day was today. I didn't want to waste almost 3 cups of milk, so I knew I had to do something with it.

     Pudding! I like pudding. I even like the boxed stuff. Unfortunately, we didn't have any of the boxed stuff, so I was out of luck. But wait...people made pudding before Jello ever started boxing the stuff. What to do? Ah, the internet, I love you (even though sometimes you infuriate me.) I found a recipe for Chocolate pudding made with cocoa and cornstarch (I had both of those things!). It also called for sugar (check), milk (duh), salt, butter, and vanilla (just a little of the last 3).

     The recipe did take some effort, but it wasn't complicated. It just took some time. I am not renowned for my patience; I always want to hurry things up. This sometimes leads to unpleasant results when cooking. I managed to be patient this time, and it was worth it. The pudding came out creamy and chocolate-y with the added bonus of being low-fat and without any preservatives or weird food additives.