Indian Pudding Reverie

My favorite dessert on earth is an old New England classic, Indian pudding.  Way back in my racing form days, I used to make it frequently, but since these days consuming any dessert requires doubling my time at the gym, it's a rare occasion.  The pudding is composed primarily of cornmeal, molasses, and milk, so as desserts go, it practically qualifies as health food, and with the arctic temperatures we've been having, last night was time.

I had fun comparing my mother's timeworn recipe with the one in Fannie Farmer's 1896 Cook Book, received earlier this year as a gift from a thoughtful friend.  The two recipes are nearly identical, probably no surprise since my mother was born not far from Fannie's Boston just a couple of decades after Fannie published her book.  For comparison, I checked the recipe in Yankee magazine's Favorite New England Recipes and also the one from Durgin Park, a restaurant that has been in Boston's Quincy Market since the dawn of time, and horrors, both of those included eggs.  I'm glad Fannie and my mother were on the same wavelength, and their Indian pudding last night transported me back in time to a classic New England setting.