Ouma knew how to ~~feed an army~~ prepare a feast for a crowd with very little money. She never hid any money under the mattress, but saved pennies in an old biscuit tin hidden right at the back of the top shelf in the pantry. No child had any chance of reaching it, even though some of the cousins and my brothers were real rascals. I'm sure if they were left to their own devices for long enough, they would have found a way to get hold of that. A penny could get you a handful of sweets or bubble gum back then!
Those pennies came to the rescue for those big family gatherings, and bought enough ingredients for Ouma's Sago Pudding. That is what I am sharing with you as my response to Promp 6 of The Silverbloggers Chronicles, that goes like this:
A Recipe for a Memory: What's a recipe that is tied to a powerful memory?
Share the recipe and the story behind it.
All that is needed for Sago Pudding is milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla essence, and sago of course. Oh, and Cinnamon to add a bit of spice.
Sago pudding was a favourite for special family celebrations or a big Sunday lunch.
Mom followed in Ouma's footsteps and often made it for us at home. We all loved it, except my one brother, who, just like some of the cousins, said it looked like frog eggs!
I went on to make it for my own family, and both hubby and our two sons couldn't get enough of it. Hubby especially. Since he was diabetic, I used to add sweeteners when making the pudding, but sprinkled extra sugar and cinnamon on top for the boys and me. The hubs was quite happy with just a sprinkling of cinnamon on top, always craved anything sweet, and the sweeteners alone did the trick. Not for the boys and me!
The Recipe - quantity can be increased to feed ~~an army~~ a bigger crowd
Bring to the boil:
* 1 litre fresh Milk
full-cream, no one's watching their cholesterol when we're celebrating, are we?
-
200ml Sugar
or use sweeteners, but really, a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, right! -
5ml Vanilla Essence
you can omit, but we all need a little extra flavour in our lives -
Pinch of Salt
salt brings out the flavour in everything - hence the phrase - women are the salt of the earth. Agreed, ladies? -
A dollop of Butter
for extra creaminess
Add sago, lower heat and stir continuously till sago turns ~~into frog eggs~~ translucent
* 200ml Sago, rinse in water & drain
Beat egg yolks, quickly beat into milk mixture
Beat egg whites till stiff and fold in
* 4 extra-large Eggs, separated
straight from the hen, you have to separate them, but don't let her see you do it!
Sprinkle cinnamon on top, place lid on, and leave to stand
* Cinnamon
gota add a little spice!
I made the sago pudding shared in my first image, a long while back, using larger sago balls. Not quite as big as tapioca, but it clearly shows why some small, and even some of the big kids, still see the translucent little balls of Sago as frogs' eggs;) This was tonight's pud, just the two of us; my one staff member and I! He also likes it.
When the family gets together, we wait for those who say they don't eat frog eggs as there's more for us then. This dessert is so light and fluffy that there's always space for another helping of Ouma's delicious Sago Pudding!
How about it, guys and dolls, tell us all about your secret recipe for a special memory. Looking forward to that!