Posted By Laura in Family Recipes, Slopsville | 2 comments

Happy Joe

So I finally got around to making Helen’s rice pudding. Kind of. I thought there was only one way to make rice pudding. So I didn’t think I needed to bother making the arduous trek from the kitchen to the computer (about ten feet) to look up Helen’s recipe. How different could it be from the one on the side of the rice box? That was my first mistake.

My second mistake was to not read the “recipe” all the way to the end. I scanned it, I did. I knew that at the end it said to put the rice pudding in an ovenproof dish and so I happily followed the rest of the instructions. I put the milk in a pan and brought it to the boil. It boiled over. Of course it did. Ignoring the mess, I added the rice and gave it a stir, at which point sheets of burned milk floated to the top. I hoiked them out and threw them in the bin. I stirred. I hoiked. I threw. I started to get a bad feeling. I turned the hob off and shoved the pan to the back of the stove and went off in a huff.

Later, I decided it probably wasn’t so bad – what’s a bit of charred milk between friends? So I went back and read the rest of the recipe. “Pour into an ovenproof dish and brown under the grill.” What? WHAT?! That’s not a rice pudding! Rice pudding is baked not BOILED! I looked up Helen’s recipe, realised that was much more like it, and threw the Bad Pudding away.

Yesterday, Harry helped me try again. In fact, it was so ridiculously simple, he could have done it on his own. Rice, milk, sugar, nutmeg in an oven dish. Put it in the oven. Wait a while. Eat. It got a bit overcooked, but that’s because David was making dinner and wouldn’t let me in the kitchen to take it out of the oven. But with a little milk added, it’s right as rain.

Joe had some for his tea last night and loved it. He had some more – mixed with banana and his new favourite thing in the world: a rusk* – for his breakfast. He polished off the lot. (See photo!)

BAD pud

GOOD pud :)

And what did I learn from this? That a “serving suggestion” on the side of a packet is not a recipe. And that I should only follow recipes suitable for 5-year-olds.

* I’m regretting introducing Joe to rusks. 75% of the household surfaces and 100% of Joe are now permanently encrusted with biscuity goodness.

—
Keris Stainton

http://www.keris-stainton.com


My first YA book – DELLA SAYS: OMG! – is out 6 May 2010:

Della’s over the moon when she kisses her long-standing crush at a party – but then she discovers her diary has disappeared…
When scans of embarrassing pages are sent to her mobile and appear on Facebook, Della’s distraught – how can she enjoy her first proper romance when someone, somewhere, knows all her deepest, darkest secrets?

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