Banana Pudding

• Thinking about what to cook for a Father's Day dessert, I decided to try banana pudding. This recipe is from my friend Ginger, but it also makes me think of our friends the Sara and Brad when we have this, because Brad likes his banana pudding without the bananas.  Then it makes me think of Candace, who uses the Not Yo Mama's Banana Pudding recipe from Paula Deen, and it is mighty good, too!  

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• 1 box vanilla pudding
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup milk
• 8 ounces sour cream
• 1 container cool whip
• 1 box vanilla wafers
• bananas
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• Mix the milk and pudding mix.
• Mix the sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, and cool whip.
• Stir together with the pudding. 
• Layer with vanilla wafers and bananas.
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•  Now, I've made banana pudding plenty of times in Mississippi, but I have not made it in Peru.  Sometimes finding ingredients here is not easy, but I thought surely I could make this work.  And I think it worked - but this is how:  I had to make my pudding homemade.  They do sell packets of vanilla pudding here, but, evidently there is a problem right now with the pudding company and there was NO vanilla pudding mix in Plaza Vea (our store sort of like Wal-Mart - except the check out line takes ten times longer, I PROMISE).  The homemade pudding was not difficult and turned out just fine, and was easier than going to the other grocery store to look for the pudding mix.  We don't have a car - so a quick trip to the grocery store really isn't possible.  Then I had to make my own sour cream, because they don't sell sour cream in Peru.  To do this, you mix heavy cream with vinegar and let it sit for a long time and do something scientific.  Then, there is no cool whip, so I whipped heavy cream to make the whipped cream.  They do sell some little packets of "chantilly" that you can make sort of like cool whip, but the cream is better.  And they don't have vanilla wafers either, but I used a similar cookie that is very pretty too.  And actually, I didn't have to be the one to make the sour cream or the whipped cream, because we have sweet Taylor living with us this summer, and I taught her how to do that part.  I'll write about her later!  Just a little info on how I cook here!