Banana Pudding

Banana pudding is simply vanilla pudding on top of Nilla wafers and sliced bananas.  Simple but haaamazing. To make vanilla pudding, follow chow's recipe but times kajillion:

In a sauce pan, whisk:

• 1 cup sugar
• 6 T cornstarch
• 3/4 t salt

Then add a little bit at a time and whisk in:

• 9 egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 6.75 cups whole milk

Put the saucepan on medium heat and whisk often until it thickens and starts to bubble. This will take awhile (I started to freak out because it was taking forever), but be careful: it will thicken very suddenly. Once this happens, turn down the heat to low and stir constantly with a rubber spatula. Scrape the bottom and sides constantly. It's done when it makes visible ribbons on top. Turn off the heat at that point, and stir in:

• 1 stick melted butter (1/2 cup)
• 2 T vanilla extract

Line the bottoms of a couple of big baking dishes with a single layer of Nilla wafers followed with a single layer of sliced bananas. Pour the pudding over and cool in the fridge. Let sit for a couple hours so the pudding can soften the cookies.