A Pudding Called "Tapioca"
“Although Mother never made me swallow ammonia again, she did make me drink spoonfuls of Clorox a few times. But Mother’s favorite game seemed to be dishwashing soap. From the bottle she would squeeze the cheap, pink liquid down my throat and command that I stand in the garage. ”
It's hard to make a book like this sweet. What Dave went through was horrific and no one, let alone a child, should have to go through that. So why did I decide to post about this book?
Because it needs to be talked about.
Because there are still children that live like Dave did, and, with everything else going on in the world right now, they aren't thought about as often as they should be—they aren't helped as often as they should be.
The U.S. has reported 4-7 kids dying every day because of abuse (https://www.childhelp.org/child-abuse-statistics/). Every day.
Dave was lucky enough to get out before he became one of those kids.
...It's hard not to want something sweet after reading this book, but it's also hard to want to eat anything.
To find a dessert to pair with this book, I had to go back to my childhood.
I have very clear memories of my dad and my grandfather eating something they called "Fish Eye Stew." It was disgusting. It was slimy and had what looked like eyeballs throughout it, so it was very easy for me to believe them. I never bothered putting it in my mouth to see what it tasted like.
I wasn't going to eat eyeballs.
I didn't start eating tapioca pudding, funnily enough, until after I started eating sushi. I ate fish eggs before I could stomach the idea of eating "fish eyes." And, years after poking a tapioca pearl for the first time, I found that the texture wasn't as terrible as I remembered it being.
I really liked the idea of making tapioca for this book. The main ingredient is milk, which is something most kids grow up drinking to make them strong. And Dave had some milk. On page four, we see Dave guzzling half of a bowl of his brother's leftover cereal milk, hoping that his mother didn't take it from him before he finished it. But it wasn't the milk that made him strong.
I wanted to cook it in a slow-cooker. I thought it fit to make a dessert that I had to walk away from and leave unattended for a few hours. There were several moments when I had to put this book down and walk away, and there were several moments where Dave was left on his own.
And, in the end, everything turned out okay.
Slow-Cooker Tapioca Pudding
-8 c milk (I used 2% because that's what I had)
-1 1/2 c white sugar
-1 c small tapioca pearls (NOT instant)
-3 eggs
-1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Add the milk and sugar to the crock-pot, and whisk together.
- Add the tapioca pearls. (You don't have to soak them overnight!)
- Cover and let it cook for the next 2-3 hours. You can stir every now and then if you want, but I didn't stir until the 2 hours were up, and it turned out fine. The pearls should be nice and slimy.
- In a separate, heat-proof bowl, whisk the eggs and the vanilla together.
- Next, you have to temper. I took a ladle, and, one scoop at a time, would transfer the tapioca mixture into the eggs, whisking afterwards to prevent the eggs from scrambling. I did about 5-6 ladles, but you can stop when your egg mixture is hot.
- SLOWLY pour the hot egg mixture back into the crock-pot. You want to stir the entire time you do this.
- Cook the pudding for another 30-45 minutes.
- Stir once more, and unplug the slow-cooker.
- Let the pudding cool (for a little over an hour), then move to a container or bowl.
As always, you can eat it warm or have it cold. It needs to be refrigerated though, so make sure you have room for it.
I decided to serve the puding in a really small cup because Dave was only allowed the smallest amount of food, if any, as a child.
Normally my family serves it with some whipped cream on top, but I felt that that would be too much for this book. I wanted to really focus on the slimy "fish eyes" that have most kids turning up their noses.
