Christmas pudding
Howard Mahan's mother used to make suet pudding with a caramel sauce. The sauce was served hot over the steaming pudding.
"The memories of this dessert are wonderful," said Howard Mahan, 85, of Spokane.
The recipe for this dessert is among the many 3-by-5 recipe cards that once belonged to his mother. Mahan shared it with Too Many Cooks after seeing this story in The Spokesman-Review.
Instructions are scant. For more about suet pudding and how it comes together, see Jonathan Brunt's story using the above link. Or, check out this recipe from Dorothy Dean and The Spokesman-Review archives.
Don't want to use suet? Here's an alternative recipe.
Suet Pudding
From Howard Mahan of Spokane
1 cup suet, chopped fine
2 1/2 cups dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup molasses
1 1/2 cups raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon baking soda (dissolved in a little hot water)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
Steam about 3 hours.
Note: There no instructions on how to put all of this together.
Mother also made the following sauce: Caramelize 1 cup sugar with butter (the amount of butter is unknown). Add 2 cups water. Thicken with corn starch. Add a little vanilla to the sauce. Serve hot.