Rice Pudding ~ Everyone Could Use Some Right Now.....

 Okay, I know some of you are just going to say "Yuck",

but bear with me, and believe me, even people who don't

like pudding will think they've hit the jackpot when they

taste this.

 Yesterday, I gave you a recipe for Peanut Butter cookies.

Today, it's Rice Pudding.

I guess you could say I'm into comfort food lately.

I really think we could all use some of it, with

everything that's going on these days.

 This is the dish, still in the water bath.  I couldn't wait for

it to cool off before I "got me some".  The little

liquidy stuff, from the milk, will not be there if you

let it cool off before you take some out of the dish.

Here it is in a little dish.  I apologize for the photos. 

All taken in incandescent light.  It's night-time, you see,

the best time for comfort food.

And I must tell you, any Swede will tell you they

love Rice Pudding.  Or at least that it was served

at church suppers and at home during the Christmas holidays.

You can even eat it for breakfast.

~~~

You probably have all the ingredients to make this in your cupboard

right now, but I'll make a great suggestion and tell you to buy

Jasmine Rice for this recipe.  It is the perfect rice because it's

tender and not chewy. But you can use what you have.

~~~

For my recipe, you'll need 1 cup cooked rice, so do that first.

I use the boil and drain method of making rice.

Place more water than you need to make rice in a saucepan,

get it to nearly the boiling point, then put in 1/2 cup (jasmine) rice.

Stir rice a few times after you put it in the pan to keep it from sticking,

then cook at medium heat till soft.  Then drain it through a sieve or strainer when its done.

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Coat a baking dish with nonstick spray.  (You could probably use a smearing of butter if you don't have the nonstick spray.)  Set dish aside.

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In a separate bowl, crack two eggs and lightly beat them.

Then add 1 1/2 cups milk.  I use 2%.  You can use whole milk too.

Keep in mind that if you use skim milk, the pudding will turn out more watery.

Now add the rest of the ingredients:

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup raisins

the rice

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Mix together well, then place in the baking dish.

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Place the baking dish in a pan of warm water,

then place in cold oven.

Set oven temperature to 300 degrees F.

Once it is up to the temperature, set

your timer for 1 1/2 hours (90 minutes).  Yeah, it takes

that long!  You bake this slow so the eggs will set

and make this great tasting, custard-like dessert.

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Remove pan from oven - carefully. 

I like to leave my dish in the pan with the

water til it cools off.

~~

Some Swedes I know like a little almond extract in their pudding.

And they love cardamom. 

And there's a little tradition of placing an almond in the pudding.

Whomever gets the almond in their pudding, means they'll have

good luck. 

~~~

I wish you all some good luck for the rest of this year,

and good health too!

 

BB



Peanut Butter Cookies ~ The Best!

Mmmmmmm.......scroll past photos for recipe!

Press a criss-cross mark in unbaked dough,

using a fork.

Done!

 ~

Sometimes, you just need a good peanut butter cookie.

This recipe is a common one, it's been around a long time.

It's my favorite one because it actually TASTES like

peanut butter.  Plus they're so easy to make, and you probably

have all the ingredients in your cupboard already.

~

1 cup granulated, white sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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Mix all ingredients together well.  You won't need a mixer for this. 

 They will easily mix by hand with a sturdy, large spoon.

Form into 1 inch balls of dough.  This will make 24 cookies.

(My balls of dough were a little bigger than 1 inch, so

I only got 18 cookies.)

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Place them onto ungreased baking sheet.  I have found that

ALUMINUM pans are best for baking cookies.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F, and bake

for 10 minutes. 

~ 

****NOTE:  you will have to adjust your baking times to YOUR oven.  Every oven seems to be different.  I found that 10 minutes wasn't long enough in my oven.  I bake mine for 19 minutes.  That gives me a nice, light brown bottom on the cookie, and a firmer cookie. I suggest setting your timer for 10 minutes, then keep adding more time as needed until baked to your desired "doneness".****

~~~

Let cool before removing from pan, to make sure they don't fall apart.

Don't forget the milk!!  They also go well with Kool-Aid or other kids drinks.

I'm a dunker, from way back, so I'll dunk them in milk, Kool-Aid, Iced tea,

coffee-- anything!

~

I've made this recipe many times, so it's tried and true!

XXOO, BB

Beets- Window to My World

There's really nothing prettier than beets in jar! 

You can see part of my backyard in the jar reflection.

(For PICKLED BEET SYRUP recipe, scroll towards the

bottom of this posting.)

Here's our good 'ol canning equipment.

Water is so luscious, isn't it? 

A humble unpeeled beet, steaming in the pot.

Boiling beets are pretty/ugly- look like little monsters!

Then you peel 'dem beets!

An' stick 'em in a jar witch-yor syrup!

An' before ya know it, ya got more jars joinin' da party!!

Well, all done, so I'm hangin' up my apron for the day!

But before I go, I'm going to give you my recipe for the beet syrup.

Don't forget to follow the canning instructions from companies like Ball or Kerr to make sure your beets are safe to eat come winter time!  I do not give you complete canning instructions here because they can tell it better than I can.  Link to Ball by clicking HERE.

~

Pickled Beet Syrup

Enough to fill 6 (six) Quart Sized Jars ) with beets in them.

4 cups white vinegar (5% acidity) to 2 cups granulated white sugar

. Of course you’ll have to adjust how much you make according to how many beets/filled jars you have, but that is a pretty accurate ratio of sugar to vinegar. You need to warm this on the stove and make sure the sugar is dissolved. I like to taste it and make sure it doesn’t make me pucker up when tasting. If I do, then I add some more sugar.

~~

Another little tidbit:

This reminds me of the story of the little Red Hen- how she wanted everyone to help her with harvesting the wheat for the bread.– no one wanted to help, but she did it anyway and then they all wanted to eat the bread without doing the work. The Good Little Red Hen gave them some anyway.. There’s a lot of steps to processing your own food out of the garden, but it’s worth it. America , at one time, was an agrarian society. Just about everyone had a garden. No more...The last thing I have to say is- thank God for farmers - because without them, we wouldn’t have all the food we have to eat. So if you want to go back to your "roots," plant a garden, or a least a little pot of tomatoes.

~~

And as Forrest Gump would say:

"Have a Nice......Day!"

XXOO, BB

Granny Lil's Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Granny Lil

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Here's Granny Lil's pumpkin pie recipe. We used the pulp we got from the Hubbard Squash-- I'm tellin' you!! This is the best pie I've ever made from her recipe! There's something about fresh pumpkin anyway, but this was absolutely fantastic!

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The photos of the pie don't look like much, but the taste is out of this world! The pie will puff up while it's baking, then will sink down after cooling off. This is normal. Store cooled pie in your refridgerator.

~

I asked Granny Lil if she'd like to share her recipe with the world- she said okay!

Love you, Granny!

~

She said to tell you she likes pie too!

~

GRANNY LIL'S PUMPKIN PIE

For One Deep Dish (9") pie. We use a glass pie dish.

You will need one unbaked pie crust.

2 Cups canned (or hopefully-- FRESH) Pumpkin

1 1/2 cups (12 oz can) Fat Free or regular Evaporated Milk

1 cup plus 2 or 3 tablespoons white granulated sugar

Two beaten eggs

1/8 teaspoon powdered ginger

1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon

about 4 shakes from a container of nutmeg- probably adds up to just a little less than 1/8 teaspoon.

No more than two gentle shakes from a shaker of black pepper

No more than two gentle shakes from a shaker of salt

(I always taste my mixture to make sure it tastes right-but if you have a fear of raw eggs, don't do it)

SPECIAL NOTE ON "SHAKING": you can also put a little pinch of the salt and pepper in your hand and then sprinkle a little bit into the mixture-- it's going to be less than 1/8 of a teaspoon for each.

Instructions: Place 2 cups of pumpkin in a saucepan and mix in the evaporated milk. Warm slightly-- do not boil. Take off the burner. Stir in the granulated sugar and two beaten eggs. Stir in all your spices and salt and pepper.

Pour into unbaked pie shell. Cover edge of pie shell with foil, so it won't burn.

Place pie into preheated oven: 400 degrees F. for 15 minutes. Then reduce heat to 325 degrees F., and bake for one hour. During the last 30 minutes of baking, place a sheet of aluminum foil over the top of the pie to keep it from getting too brown.

Cool on a rack. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream, or just eat it by itself! We like it for breakfast too!!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

XXX - OOO

Cooking and Coleslaw

Bebe: Okay. So I collect cookbooks. That doesn't make me a good cook. If you have any age on you at all, you know by now that good cooking is as much, if not more than, good technique.

Good Cooking, for me, is harder than making dolls or quilts! I can follow a recipe all day long, but for it to turn out tasting good, it takes that special touch that some people have. They seem to have some special skill that turns something plain into something great, like magic!

We share this coleslaw recipe with you,which we think rivals anything you find out in a restaurant. Even I can make this recipe with consistent results!

~

Aunt B.'s Coleslaw

1. Prepare salad, into a large container with lid:

1/2 head of cabbage (about a 8-9" diameter head): Shred by hand.

1 carrot: Peel, cut off ends and shred into cabbage.

Onion: Shred 1 Teaspoon onion into cabbage (any more and it will be bitter). We like to use the sweet onion - a Viadalia if you got one.

Pepper, salt, celery seed: sprinkle each of these over cabbage, stir around a bit, put lid on container and let sit 1-3 hours- doesn't have to be in the refridgerator.

~

2. Prepare the dressing: in a 2 cup liquid measure cup or small bowl:

1 cup Duke's mayonnaise or Hellman's Light mayonnaise

1/3 cup granulated white sugar

3 tablespoons white vinegar

Stir and stir this mixture, until sugar granules are no longer visible. If you want a more vinegar flavor, add one more tablespoon of vinegar.

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3. Put dressing into cabbage mix and stir.

If cabbage mix is watery-- before putting in dressing!--squeeze out cabbage by hand to remove excess liquid, then add dressing.

Mix well. Put in a container with a lid and refridgerate. You can eat it right away if you like.

That's it!

~

We like Duke's mayonnaise because it has a great flavor. It is a full fat mayo, but we don't mind!

See more about the story of Duke's mayo at:

http://www.dukesmayo.com/

We are not getting paid to advertise Duke's. We just like this brand very much, and think you might like it too.