I have also attempted to make Nathan's favorite birthday treat, courtesy of Grandma Jean's recipe, Banana Split Dessert. Luckily, it is one of those 'no bake' dessert, considering the weather in New York has been disgustingly humid and sticky. Every year, Nathan looks forward to having this dessert at his Grandma's. Since he won't be making it to the LBC this summer, I thought I would surprise him with one. My version, however, did not quite turn out like Grandma Jean's. First of all, my normally-sleeping angel, Annabelle, decided yesterday of all days, she would ONLY nap in my arms. Typically at nap time, I dance her to sleep to music until she gets really tired and then do the quick pass off into her swing, bouncy seat, or into her crib so I can maximize nap time to get things done. Yesterday, not so much. As soon as her heavy eyelids closed I went for the quick pass off. I snuck away only to hear a wail not a minute later - she was on to me. She began giving me the one-eyed pirate glance just to check to make sure I was still holding her. Somehow between my five attempts to put her down I managed to Cuisinart the graham crackers together with the melted the butter, press it into the pan, slice the bananas, spread the ice cream, and make some real-estate in the freezer. It was the chocolate sauce topping that threw me for a loop. According to the recipe I had to "cool the melted chocolate sauce for 15-20 minutes stirring constantly until it was a pudding-like texture." Would I really have 15-20 minutes before my little one-eyed pirate awoke? Plus would I have time to clean the kitchen and hide the evidence of the surprise before Nate got home from work? I decide to chance it. Once I got to the "cool" stage I started stirring, realizing the sauce was not really thickening. Did I really have to "constantly stir?" Hoping no, I left the sauce alone and began the dishes. After a few minutes of dishes, I ran to check on the baby, then back to the sauce for a stir, then back to the dishes. This continued until the dishes were done. The sauce was still not thick. I was running out of minutes. Hmmm. Perhaps it was too hot in the kitchen? I took the sauce pan into the living room and stood in front of the AC unit stirring. Still not thick. Baby stirring. I am stirring! Maybe if I threw it in the fridge for a few? Put it in the fridge, went to tend to the baby, forgot about the sauce! Luckily, even after 45 minutes the sauce seemed okay. Still not 'pudding consistency' but not ruined despite abandonment and not constantly stirring. I let it sit out to bring it to room temp then poured over the ice cream which seemed to melt on contact. The ice cream lava-ed up into the sauce making a tan mess - not at all like Grandma Jean's dark brown chocolate layer I recalled from banana split desserts of the past. Thankfully this dessert also calls for a Cool Whip topping which will hide my tan mess. Phew! Hopefully it will taste just as good, even with the layers somewhat melded together. As I went through my banana split dessert drama I could not help but picture Grandma Jean making this dessert in kitchen in Long Beach while tending to all six of her kids. There I was, sweating it with just one! Moms of many never cease to amaze me. Anyway, wishing Nathan the happiest. We love you very much! XO!
P.S. This is one of my favorite pics of Nate as a little guy. I am guessing he is about 2 here and sporting some stylish bangs.
1 comment:
:) I remember when Brayden would do the same thing. Do you have a sleepy wrap? I would put him in that and he would sleep for hours while I made dinner and cleaned. Hope Nate had a great birthday. Ruby now shares it with him. ;)
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