Rice Puddling

The midsummer blues have settled upon me along with the hot, humid, and lazy days of a Memphis summer. In just a few short weeks my "real life" will resume and I needs to savor the freedom that summer offers. Unfortunately I have already began to stew over how I have spent my summer and what I will do with my remaining time. I have barely scratched the surface of my "to do"list. I know that I will not elicit sympathy from those who work at year-round jobs, but most teachers have experienced what I am going through at this moment. But while I have the time I will continue to cook, bake and eat my way through the rest of these weeks while squeezing in a few home improvement projects just to ease my conscience. I often feel the need to prove that I have been a responsible contributing member of society during these two months off, while in reality I revert back to my childhood summers and usually just enjoy not having too much of a routine.


I recently had a craving for Rice pudding and since my mpm's stomach is always acting up I thought this might be a good change of pace from the baked custard that I have been making for her. Usually I bake my rice, but I was running short on time so I prepared the rice on the stove top. I made the Rice Pudding using a recipe from the cafeteria manager at the first high school I taught at more than 20 years ago. Wow! I am old. The food was really good. Really! One of my friends got the recipe from Mrs. Klinke, the kitchen manager, and pared it down for the home cook.

Rice Pudding

2 tbsp. butter - melted in 8x8 baking dish

Mix the next 4 ingredients in a mixing bowl.
3 eggs (lightly beaten)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 and 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Add the next 3 ingredients to the mixing bowl along with melted butter from baking dish
2 cups warm milk
3/4 cup cooked rice
1/4 to 1/2 cup raisins ( I use golden raisins)

1 or 2 tsp. of cinnamon sugar (optional)

Pour mixture from bowl into the 8x8 baking dish used to melt the butter. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top. Set in a pan of hot water "Bain Marie".
Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until set around edges. The middle may be a little shaky, but will set up.

It's great when still warm and even better the next day with berries for breakfast.

Also, if you have a little time to spare you might want to improve your vocabulary and donate rice at the same time by visiting the Free Rice website.

Hamster for dinner tonight?

Our first family pet was a fish. Low maintenance, cheap, and a short shelf life. Nevertheless, I thought my daughter's Beta fish would never die. Finally, we went on vacation and my mom kept it. When we returned home it died a few days later. How can I ever thank her enough? It's just that the water would get dirty and I always had to clean it. We kept it in the kitchen so it became part of my duties. Finally, when the kids were 7 and 12 we caved in and Santa brought a Carin terrier to come live with us. My husband works at home and Holley became his "duty". It's a miracle that Holley and my husband both survived her "house training". My usually calm partner became like the voice of God talking to Moses while scolding the puppy for soiling the Oriental. Her ears would become pinned to the side of her head and we would all cower as he shamed the poor pup. Of course, hubby bonded with the dog and loves her more than just about anything, maybe even us? When the neighbors care for her while we are on vacation he hounds me to call Kathleen and check on the house and Holley "the light of his life".
Holley has been our only pet for the last 6 years until my daughter got a bee in her bonnet so to speak. It came upon up so quickly we were totally caught off guard. All of the sudden she kept her room neat and even began to do her own laundry. I didn't even know she could turn on the wash machine, much less throw in her clothes and even use laundry detergent. What was going on? Then she hit us with a load of bricks. She had prepared a power point presentation with a voice over and a binder on the subject of "The Habits and Diet of Hamsters and the Responsibilities of Hamster Ownership". She could talk on great length of the proper bedding, diet, climate, and housing for a hamster. A list of items necessary and the costs were posted on the outside of her door. If this was a school subject she definitely would excel in it. At last, I weakened and took her and a bevy of wide-eyed teen aged or near teen aged girls to Petco to buy the "rat". One her friends had supplied her with quite a few items from her newly deceased hamster. We brought the little thing home and she came to live in a cage with the best food and bedding available. Her bed is a lovely green pair that looks like a hobbit might me at home there also. At night we could hear the whirr of her running on her wheel if we forgot to close the playroom door.
Daughter forgot to mention that they poop every other minute and the bedding and their dinner often ends up on the carpet along with a couple of poop pellets. Yuck!!! There "Hammy the Hamster" lived during the cold winter months until my friend Dani gave me a wonderful idea. Having lived in El Salvador and Guatemala during her childhood she just happened to mention that their gerbils lived outside in their cages all year long. Aha! Wouldn't Hammy be happier out in the sultry summer heat of our Southern climate. I could plop that hamster outside on the screen porch for a summer vacation. Let her get a taste of the real world. The only worry was how would Holley take to the hamster. It was love at first sniff. Up to the cage Holley trotted and began that soft whimper that she uses to tell other dogs that she is ready to play. They actually rubbed noses and Hammy didn't try to nip at her like she did to me when I put my finger in the cage. Hamsters are still not high on my list, but I do enjoy watching her come out at about 5 in the evening and enjoy our company as we sit on screen porch and wait for dinner with a cocktail. I wish!!! I am busy making dinner, but we do enjoy eating on the porch and watching the pooch and the rat interact for a while.
Both the pets and the family eat well. Hammy eats a mixture of dried corn and nuts. While Holley who has allergies has been eating a dog food that is made of salmon and sweet potatoes this month. Last night my parents came over and we had the standby for when they visit - salmon. Not the same that Holley has. We had salmon with a citrus sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, and sauteed organic baby spinach. My husband is in charge of the salmon and I make the citrus sauce.

Buttery Citrus Sauce for Fish
Ingredients:
• 1½ cups orange juice
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice ( I use lemon if I don't have a lime)
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 2 Tablespoons shallots, minced
• ¼ cup (½ stick) chilled Challenge
European Style Butter, cut into 4 pieces ( I use my butter from Costco. European butter has more fat and costs more.)
• 4 (6-oz.) pieces of salmon or halibut fillets
• salt and pepper
OPTIONAL GARNISH:
• 2 Tablespoons chopped parsley and orange
segments (1 orange with peel and white pith
removed, segmented)
Instructions:
Boil orange juice and lime juice in saucepan until reduced to approximately ½ cup, about 10 minutes. Boil wine
and shallots in another saucepan until wine is reduced to approximately 3 Tablespoons, about 3 minutes. Add
orange juice mixture to wine mixture. Add butter pieces, one at a time, whisking until melted. Remove from
heat. Season sauce with salt and pepper. Spoon over cooked fish and garnish as desired.
Yield: 4 servings
Source: Recipe developed by Challenge Home Economist for print ad photos.
You can find more great recipes at www.challengedairy.com.