I make dynamite chocolate pudding, if I do say so myself. I start with the recipe from Jane and Michael Stern's (no relation) classic, "Square Meals." I make a couple of alterations due to impatience and necessity: I use 2% milk instead of light cream, as light cream is something I don't keep in the house, and I cook in a saucepan directly on the burner instead of a double boiler because cooking pudding in a double boiler takes forever. Then, when the pudding is cooked (the recipe having been doubled because I love it so), I add half a pound of best-quality dark chocolate, stir until the chocolate is melted and the pudding is smooth, stir in a splash of vanilla, pour it into whatever container I want to serve it from, press plastic wrap over the surface to keep a skin from forming, and retire to the living room, where I will lick the pan, whisk, silicon spatula, and whatever other instrument has been made to taste like chocolate heaven.