Homemade Vanilla Pudding and a trip to the dentist

Two nights ago, I came home with half my face numb. I was not a happy camper. It was a prescheduled trip to the dentist. I knew what I was getting myself into. I even made a crockpot full of crab and corn soup to eat when I got home. (Which by the way, I forgot that corn, even when slow-cooked for eight hours, still involves chewing!) So after I slurped as much as I could with the functional side of my mouth, I was still hungry. My sister, with whom I was chatting with online since I couldn't really talk, suggested yogurt or pudding. I wasn't in the mood for yogurt, but pudding sounded amazing. Unfortunately, I didn't plan for a pudding craving, so I didn't have any pudding packs in the fridge, or instant pudding mixes in the pantry. So I did a little searching on the internet, and it turned out that I had the makings of homemade yogurt right in my cabinet. I picked this recipe from Allrecipes, because it seemed the least complicated to make. After doing a little more digging in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, I learned that this recipe, which does not contain eggs, is more like a blancmange. Whatever you call it, it was tasty.

So the next time you find yourself craving pudding (or half your face is numb), you may have the makings of a nice homemade pudding right in your kitchen cabinets.