I am wondering if any of you southern cooks might have a recipe for "real" banana pudding - not just using instant pudding, etc.

Last Friday, I joined my sisters and niece in traveling to Arkansas for a family reunion on my father's side of the family. We spent four of the most delightful days getting to meet and know blood "kinfolk" we had never met before. There were about 5 cousins and an aunt who we had met many, many years ago (55 to be exact!) when our family made one trip down there - I was only ten at the time, so my memories were foggy to say the least.

Now, those four or five cousins and aunts have extended to be 45 cousins, 2nd cousins, nieces, nephews - and my sisters and I had the weirdest feeling that deep in our hearts and souls, we had known these people all our lives even though we had just met. It was a beautiful feeling of enveloping love and open-armed acceptance to the four of us, and I'm still filled with a feeling of joy at having experienced this connection to my family. My mother's side of the family has now dwindled to just one 98 year old aunt, so my sisters and I have been feeling a bit orphaned. Then a few months ago, we got a call from one of the cousins asking if we'd be interested in this reunion of my father's family. How grateful I am that we all decided to go there and meet our new extended family.

To get back to the banana pudding, one of the events was a luncheon after church on Sunday, where my 85 year old aunt made her "famous" banana pudding, and when I asked her for the recipe, she just laughed and started rattling off all these ingredients. I asked her if she could write it down, but she said that she doesn't write much anymore, so I don't know if I'm ever going to get this recipe or not! Everyone said that hers was a bit different in that she has always added a can of crushed pineapple to her recipe, and she also told me that in addition to milk/eggs/cornstarch, etc, she had thrown in a package of instant pudding. So who knows what that recipe is!! Anyway, maybe some of you southern cooks could provide something close to that recipe. I know that banana pudding is a traditional dessert down south, but hers was especially good.

Thanks for any help anyone can give me.

Love, June