By February break. The kids are home and the house is loud and the quiet that I've grown accustomed to since they both started school is replaced by the specific volume of two children who have been freed from educational obligation. Mason set up a "research station" at the kitchen table (magnifying glass, rocks, notebooks). Lily set up a "horse stable" in the living room (every stuffed animal arranged by size, all of them "horses" regardless of species). They coexisted peacefully for approximately forty-five minutes before territorial disputes erupted.
I took them to the Idaho Museum of Natural History on Tuesday. Mason was in heaven — dinosaur bones, mineral displays, geological exhibits. He took notes in his notebook, actual notes, with headers and bullet points, at seven years old. Lily was interested in one thing: the horse skeleton in the mammal exhibit. She stood in front of it for ten minutes and said, "That horse is naked." I mean — she's not wrong.
We drove past the ranch on the way to Twin Falls that weekend. Not the ranch — the land that was the ranch. It's been sold three times since Dad sold it, and now it's a subdivision. Houses where cattle used to graze. Driveways where corrals used to stand. I drove past and didn't stop, because stopping would mean looking at what's gone, and I don't want to look at what's gone. I want to look at what remains: the recipes, the stubbornness, the knowledge that you can build a life from dirt if you work hard enough and don't give up.
Mom and Dad are fine. Dad is seventy-one and slower. Mom is sixty-nine and as fast as ever. She made us lunch — chicken salad, homemade bread, cookies. She held Lily on her lap and listened to Mason's museum report and she was, as always, the center of everything, the axis around which the Dawson family spins.
I made banana pudding this week — a Southern recipe from Tanya at book club. Vanilla wafers, sliced bananas, homemade vanilla pudding, whipped cream. Layered in a dish and chilled overnight. It's not ranch food. It's not Idaho food. But it's wonderful, and the kids ate it with the dedication of people discovering religion, and I added it to the collection because the collection is always growing, always expanding, always making room for one more thing.
The banana pudding Tanya brought to book club started me thinking about the desserts that don’t come from anywhere in particular — not from the ranch, not from Idaho, not from anything I grew up with — but earn their place in the collection anyway, the same way this prune whip did. It’s old-fashioned and unassuming and the kids approached it with the same wide-eyed dedication they gave the pudding, which is all the endorsement any recipe really needs. Some things you keep because they’re yours; some things you keep because they’re good — and the collection, as I keep telling myself, always makes room.
Closest to Mom’s Prune Whip
Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 2 hr 20 min (includes chilling) | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 1 cup pitted prunes, cooked and mashed (or 1 cup prune puree)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 cup sugar (for meringue)
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- Chopped walnuts or pecans, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare the prune base. Combine the mashed prunes, 2 tablespoons sugar, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Stir until smooth and well combined. Set aside to cool completely.
- Whip the egg whites. In a clean, dry bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer on medium speed until foamy. Gradually add the 1/4 cup sugar, one tablespoon at a time, increasing speed to high. Beat until stiff, glossy peaks form.
- Fold together. Gently fold the cooled prune mixture into the beaten egg whites in three additions, using a wide rubber spatula and a light hand to preserve the volume. Do not overmix.
- Whip the cream. In a separate chilled bowl, whip the heavy cream and powdered sugar together until soft peaks form.
- Layer and chill. Spoon the prune meringue mixture into individual serving glasses or a medium serving dish, alternating with dollops of whipped cream. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight, until set and chilled through.
- Serve. Top with additional whipped cream and a sprinkle of chopped walnuts or pecans if desired. Serve cold.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 210 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 12g | Carbs: 26g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 45mg