Banana Pudding

For this year's birthday party, the thought occurred to me to make banana pudding. I had never done this before, but that was slim deterrent. I am a huge fan of this traditional southern dessert which is basically an american-style trifle. We used to have it all the time when I was a kid, and it's a perennial favorite. I didn't really know where to start with getting a recipe, and I didn't really have time to survey the literature or call Mom about it (it was late when I had the idea), so I decided to turn to my ever-trustworthy copy of "The Joy of Cooking" which provided a great recipe including making the pudding itself from scratch. The kicker was that I was provided the option of making a meringue topping or one from whipped cream. Being the unabashed high-risk cook that I am, I elected to go for the meringue. Never mind I had never made meringue before. I didn't realize what an involved process this was. However, I read the 'about meringue' section in "Joy" and soldiered on ahead. The result was, if I say so, pretty outstanding. It was beautiful, and it got hoovered within minutes of being cut...very satisfying. There is one thing that I would add to the 'Joy' recipe, however: booze of some kind...maybe bourbon or brandy.