"Both versions were much better than any prepared pudding I've eaten." One night when I was about seven years old, I broke out in an inexplicable rash. As I sat soaking my itchy skin in the tub, my mother made me go over—in painstaking detail—everything I had eaten that day, from the bowl of Cherrios for breakfast to the bologna and cheese sandwich for lunch. The only thing even remotely out of the ordinary I had that day was chocolate pudding, which my mother had prepared as a special treat. Please, I remember thinking, don't let me be allergic to chocolate pudding. We never did figure out what caused that mild rash but I'm happy to report that it wasn't...
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Last Friday, Great Britain's Daily Telegraph reported that "sales of custard over the last six months have increased by 20 per cent compared to the same period last year." The global financial crisis has reached a frightening crescendo, and consumers are attempting to "ward off the economic crisis with nursery fare from their childhood." What's true in England is also true here in the United States: the popularity of cheap, comforting foods such as boxed macaroni and cheese and instant chocolate pudding is on the rise. More people are cutting back on food costs by staying home and cooking for themselves, and the meals they are making are often composed of bargain staples and pre-made ingredients. But just because...
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