Bananas for Bunko!

Last night I got together with a group of girls to play...Bunco! What's that, you ask? Well, I had no idea, either. In fact, when Ryan asked me what it was, I told him it was either a card game, or dice game, but didn't know which. Well, it's a dice game, played with 12 girls. But I found out that, really, it's just a good excuse to get together, gab, eat and laugh. My friend from work, Anne, plays once a month with a group of friends, and asked me to join. I had a lot of fun, and it was good to be amongst some girls! Each girl brings a dish so the responsibility of feeding us all doesn't fall solely on the hostess. Well, I must have gotten some Southern fever, because I made homemade banana pudding, and was told, by true Southern women, that it was the best they'd ever had. Thanks, Paula Deen. And thanks to Anne, for the invite to play- I had fun and am looking forward to next month! In case you want to make (just ignore the amount of calories you'll ingest while eating), here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 bags Pepperidge Farm Chessmen cookies
• 6 to 8 bananas, sliced
• 2 cups milk
• 1 (5-ounce) box instant French vanilla pudding
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping thawed, or equal amount sweetened whipped cream

Directions

Line the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch dish with 1 bag of cookies and layer bananas on top.

In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix and blend well using a handheld electric mixer. Using another bowl, combine the cream cheese and condensed milk together and mix until smooth. Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture. Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended. Pour the mixture over the cookies and bananas and cover with the remaining cookies. Refrigerate until ready to serve.