Updating yet again as we are coming up to Grandma’s 100th birthday in just two weeks! (I originally posted this in 2006, when our son Mack was still with us and 2 years old helping in the process. Now our daughter is nearly through college and Grandma is about to hit a century! We remain blessed.)
This treat has been a staple in our family my whole life, for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Google will tell you there are a variety of recipes out there, but I have never met anyone else who knew of this treat. I am proud to call it our own. Enjoy!
Great Grandma McNamara’s Date Nut Tapioca Pudding*
Description:
They say it’s a salad, but it tastes a LOT like a desert to me!
Ingredients:
4 C Water
1 1/2 C Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp. White Sugar
3/4 C Tapioca
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1 C Chopped Nuts (optional, but then it is only a Date Salad!)
1 1/2-2 C Dates
Directions:
1) Boil water, Brown Sugar, and White Sugar
2) Add Tapioca in above, cook till thick.
3) Add Vanilla, Nuts, Dates
4) Chill, top with Whipped Cream and dot with Maraschino cherries.
5) “Serve in a beautiful crystal bowl,” Mae E. McNamara
Number Of Servings: A bunch.
Preparation Time: 2 hrs w/ help from toddler
*At the dinner table Great Grandma told us that the recipe is, in fact, from an aunt, and Mom said that she has since found it in an Amish cookbook. Given that Great Grandma’s father was a German baker it is likely that there is a common heritage.
4 thoughts on “Happy Holidays! With Date Nut Tapioca Pudding”
The recipe sounds wonderful! How about a whole section on cooking in ancient and modern times? When the Israelites were wandering in the desert, what did they really eat? And has anyone tried to revive the cuisine of ancient times? I’m aware only of cook books that date from the early modern period.
Thanks John! You asked for it and here it is, from Archaeology:
Cooking Ancient Recipes
In our November/December issue, Julie Powell takes on the challenge of ancient cooking in “The Trouble With Blood.” Here we give you this modern chef’s adaptations of the Maya, Mongolian, and Mesopotamian recipes for the food she prepared.