Remember the children’s book, The Poky Little Puppy? It was a staple read in our house as my sister and younger brothers were growing up.
The story goes like this. Five little puppies sneak beneath the fence to go out and play. At dinner time, four of the pups scamper back to the house only to find an angry mother who sends the puppies to bed with no dessert. Later, after all the family is in bed, the Poky Little Puppy comes home, squeezes under the fence, finds a big bowl of Rice Pudding that was withheld from the others, and he eats the whole bowl. Later, he gets caught, but in the meantime, he eats some great desserts. Every time I hear or think about Rice Pudding, I remember that story.
Some folks only make rice pudding when they have leftover rice, but why wait? Last week, I made a deliberate batch. It’s pretty easy and everybody loves Rice Pudding, especially Poky Little Puppies.
Here is how I made mine.
I used two packs of the Boil-In-Bag rice, which takes about five minutes and makes about 3 cups of cooked rice. Boil, drain and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, mix 3 cups whole milk, 1 cup raisins, 1/2 stick of butter, ½ cup of sugar, 1/2 t ground cinnamon and 2 t vanilla. Bring to a low boil over medium heat and add the rice. Stir constantly for about 15 minutes (so it won’t burn) and remove from heat. Sprinkle a little cinnamon on top for color. This is a great dessert served hot with a little cream or milk on top. But it’s equally good coming cold right out of the refrigerator.
Don’t poke around, make a batch.
Rice Pudding
Ingredients
3 cups cooked rice
3 cups whole milk
4 T butter
1 C raisins
½ C sugar
1 t ground cinnamon