Hasty Chocolate Pudding

It has been SO HOT here.  The temperature today is forecast for 107, right now it's 105 and I'm positive it's going to hit the mark.  It wouldn't be so bad if our main ac was working.  Trouble is the fan blades on it were broken during a hailstorm last year and we haven't been able to find anyone who carries it.  It seems they don't manufacture the part anymore.  So far we've had no luck online finding one. And no luck finding anyone around here who might have a used one either.  Anyway... I'll stop whining now!


One thing that we don't do much of in the summer (air conditioner or not) is much cooking in the house.  The only real exception to that is when I make bread.  I'll stay up late in the evenings after it cools down and then bake enough for the week and freeze it for later on.  Most of the time though we cook on the BBQ pit, or on the propane burner I use for my canning. We did fire up the wood stove we found this spring.  Mars cooked us a big pot of beans and made tortilla's to go with it. He cooked those on the wood stove too. 
Oh and of course there is the microwave.  We tend to use that alot in the summer as well.  I'm always on the lookout for new things to do.  Especially when it comes to desserts.  I love to bake but other than bread (which is a necessity) I'm not going to fire up the oven in the summer time.  We also love desserts around here.  The problem is that there aren't a whole lot of desserts I've found to make during the heat of summer.  So when I saw this recipe on All Recipes   (I just love that site!)I just HAD to try it.  Boy oh boy am I glad I did!  This is super easy and only takes a few minutes to prepare.  The only problem is.... it doesn't last long around here.  So I thought it would only be fair to share it with you here.  

Hasty Chocolate Pudding
Ingredients
    1/2 cup white sugar
    1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
    3 tablespoons cornstarch
    2 cups milk (sub 3/4 c powdered milk + 2 cups water)
    2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions
    In a microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa and cornstarch. Whisk in milk a little at a time so the mixture does not have any dry lumps.
    Place in the microwave, and cook for 3 minutes on high. Stir, then cook at 1 minute intervals, stirring between cooking times for 2 to 4 minutes, or until shiny and thick. Stir in vanilla.
    Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding to prevent a skin from forming, and chill in the refrigerator. Serve cold.

Really simple to make and it doesn't heat up the house.  Oh, it doesn't hurt that it's really good too!  I've made it a couple of times and have had to double the recipe just to see if it will last two days.  Does it?  Sometimes!
     ~~~~~~  Hey ... I'm Just Sayin' ...  ~~~~~~