Creamy Rice Pudding

The first thing that came to mind when saw the topic of rices and grains as an ingredient, was my Great Aunt Betty's Creamy Rice Pudding. She shared it with me a long time ago, after I had some at her house. She used to watch my sister and I so often, and this is one of many fond memories of her. I love to see her beautiful handwriting on the card she wrote it on, and she has it dated as 1954, which I think is the date that she got the recipe. It is simple, but a classic recipe from our family and I am happy to share it with you all. One of my favorite things about this recipe, is that one almost always has the ingredients on hand, ready to make and enjoy.

Creamy Rice Pudding, by Betty 1954

3/4 cup of raw - rice

1 - cup cold water

1 - teaspoon salt

3 - Tablespoons butter

1 - cup sugar (or 1/4 syrup, and 3/4 cup sugar)

8 - cups milk

1 - teaspoon vanilla

1/3 - cup of raisins, if desired

Directions:

First wash rice in cold water.

Then add water and boil for 5 minutes

Boil for 1/2 hour on top of the stove, and stir occasionally.

Add vanilla and raisins

Put into baking dish, bake 1/2 hour on the top of rack in the oven at 375 degrees to brown nicely.

* For a smaller creamy rice pudding, do the following:

Use 1/2 cup rice, and 5 cups of milk, and the other ingredients in proportion to the rice.

You will want to watch the boiling pot, as it can want to boil over. I pour mine into a 9x12 pyrex dish. It definitely does brown nicely, and I didn't even have it on the very top rack of the oven. One of my favorite parts of making this, is smelling the vanilla as you add it at the end of the boiling process. This is not a hard recipe, it just takes a little time.

Here I want to highlight a few healthy things rice can do for you. It provides fast and instant energy, its good for the bowels, stabilizes blood sugar levels and more. Its a good source of vitamin B1, and some say it benefits skin care, and helps build resistance to high blood pressure. It even helps build resistance to heart disease, and is known to help dysentery. Of course, brown rice is even more beneficial, though I still found the health benefits interesting.

Well there it is, a classic rice pudding recipe that is a real comfort food! You can do variations on this recipe as well. You can add cinnamon, and some ground nutmeg on the top or mixed into the recipe. You can use grated cinnamon and nutmeg as well. This recipe is nothing too fancy, just classic but enjoyable. Sometimes simple is the best. So versatile, rice can make a yummy warm dessert. I am inspired to make some right now!

Update, I really did go and make it, and it was just as I remembered it. To me, its good either warm or cold, enjoy!