Winter Comfort

Mom's Rice Pudding Recipe
One of my favorite winter comfort foods is my Mom's rice pudding. While it can be made in any season, I always associate it with winter, and make it at least once a year.

The recipe in the photo is written in my Mom's handwriting and is a copied page from a recipe book that Mom and I prepared from my niece Brenda one Christmas. When the family gathered for a reunion in 2006, it was decided to prepare a recipe book filled with family favorites, and I made sure the rice pudding was included. Brenda shared the handwritten page for The Book as Marilyn and I often call the loose leaf notebook of complied recipes.

The broken toothpicks are a trick that I've started using: the recipe says to bake three hours, so I break three toothpicks and stir every thirty minutes (removing a toothpick piece when I do). I add the raisins in the last hour. Baking rarely takes three hours (I think it depends on the humidity) and sometimes it only takes two hours to reach the perfect stage.

out of the oven and ready to enjoy
The caramel-colored part is the layer that forms on the top of the baking pudding. I think it is tasty, too. The pudding is good either warm or cold, but I prefer it warm.

When I was still teaching, I would sometimes come home and find a pint of rice pudding on the garage step. My Mom would have my brother place it there on his trip to feed the cattle.

The rice pudding is the ultimate comfort food, and it's packed with wonderful memories.

Comments

  1. I would LOVE some right NOW!!! I'm chilly and a little hungry. This sounds delicious. Also really like the idea of a cookbook of family favorite recipes.

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  2. Lovely story and how special that you all have a copy of that hand written page. I coped a few recipes for both my girls a few years ago - from me and from both of their grandmothers. None of us were great cooks, but we all have a few special items.

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  3. It looks delicious! My mom makes rice pudding, too, but hers is not baked.

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  4. Looks good... I have never had rice pudding.... mom use to make a Christmas pudding at Christmas. Love that you have a recipe like that in your mom's handwriting... I love using recipes that my parents had written out...my dad cooked too when mom got sick and I have some of his too.

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  5. How nice that you have a handwritten recipe by your Mom. I don't know if I have ever had Christmas pudding. Nancy

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  6. Oh WOW that looks delicious! What a wonderful idea to make a Christmas pudding that brings with it so many memories of family and comfort. You are blessed Nancy!

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  7. I love stories like this. I have a few handwritten recipes from my Mom too. She passed when I was just 29 so they are very special to me. When our kids moved out of the house, I made up loose leaf binders of all of our favorite recipes. I then wrote the names of people who particularly liked that recipe. My daughter uses it all of the time and our son in Japan says it's his go to book when he's homesick. Just last night he face-timed me to ask how to make sloppy Joe's! I love family recipes. Thanks for sharing this with us.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  8. Now there's a surprise, I didn't know Americans ate rice pudding. I thought it might be right up there on the ugh list along with fruit cake. Yes, we love a nice rice pudding in the winter too! Best comfort food.

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  9. Love your toothpick trick. LOVE that your mom sent some to your stoop. fireman and al love rice pudding. I better make some

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  10. Don't think I have ever eaten rice pudding, I did make a broccoli and wild rice dish today--does that count?

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  11. I used to like rice pudding when the school cook made it in grade school, I have not had it since then. How nice you have your Moms handwritten recipe! :)

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  12. Hum...rice pudding as comfort food....not for me. I've had it once and was totally unenamored with it! But so glad you and lots of your readers enjoy it and have happy memories about it. Hope you are enjoying yours.

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