Banana Pudding night was an exciting event when I was growing up.  Mother made the pudding in a large red mixing bowl.  I think it was one from this set of nesting bowls in primary colors that she received as a wedding gift in 1956.  Over the years almost all of the red paint on the outside had worn off.  We still called it the "red" bowl even though it was really a "white" bowl with a tiny bit of red on the rim on one side.  I still remember the smell of it, and how we would all wait expectantly for the pudding to get out of the oven.  I remember the little wave like whips of meringue on the top would turn golden brown, and the mixture of warm pudding, bananas, vanilla wafers and meringue would be gone before it ever had time to cool.

This is Banana Mallow Pie which is NOT the same as Mother's banana pudding recipe.  I'm not sure she ever wrote that one down.  I was never a big fan of the meringue even though I thought it was very pretty.  After my brothers left home she started making this pie because she thought I'd like it more.  

I didn't have a deep dish pie pan when I tried to replicate this last week.  Aesthetically, after I removed the spring form things didn't go so well.  I had created a wall of wafers around the rim which doesn't show in this picture.  While I held my breath just after opening the latch, this all looked quite snazzy.  Sadly, it collapsed rather quickly.  So, looks wise, it was a bit of a disaster.  What it lacked in prettiness though, it made up for in taste.  My darling children saved me from having to look at it for very long.

If you click on the recipe link, you'll be able to see Mother's handwritten recipe.