Comfort Food

The little farmgirl wanted to help me in the kitchen today. (The silly shape bracelets are hot stuff with all the little girlies right now) Right Josie?? She helped cut out the parsley laden biscuits

Using the cookie cutters her great-grandma gave me.


Topping off the Chicken Stew with Biscuits recipe from my Barefoot Contessa's Family Style Cookbook.
If you don't have the book, you can find the recipe here. We really like it, chocked full of chicken, potatoes,onions, carrots, and peas, with a yummy stock based sauce.
For dessert, she helped me make a creamy rice pudding in my Grandma Anna's old covered dish.

We altered a recipe for rice pudding, from this book, which is exactly like the one my Mom inherited from my Grandma Ruth. I grew up just loving this cookbook. It has menu ideas and old fashioned recipes from the 40's. I got this copy at an antique store.

I've made rice pudding from on-line recipes before, but wasn't happy with them. The finished product was not that different than a bowl of rice with some cinnamon sugar, and milk. This one turned out perfect! Very creamy, not starchy/grainy. It's lovely smelling it baking, on an overcast, fall day. And it bakes ...3 hours.

Dandelion's Creamy Rice Pudding

1/2 cup rice (I use Jasmine)

1 quart milk (I used whole milk this time)

1 Tbs. butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup raisins : optional (I'm not a fan, so I don't put them)

Wash rice. Stir rice, 2 cups of the milk, sugar, salt, and butter together, and pour into buttered baking dish. cover. Bake in 275 degree oven for an hour, stirring frequently. Stir in remaining milk. Bake one more hour. Add a well beaten egg, stirring well, bake 30 minutes more. Add spices, stir and bake 30 more minutes.

Can serve plain, with milk, or whipped cream. (Serves 6)

Enjoy!

As the little farmgirl and I were working in the kitchen, I felt so blessed. It was comforting to feel like a part of both of my grandmas and mom were there too.