My Husband LOVES rice pudding.  I enjoy it..one of my boys does too..the other boy..not so much, but too bad, because today Daddy got his way. I had some left over rice in the 'fridge from dinner the other night, and we all know, that isn't going to get microwaved and eaten.

I've never searched for a recipe for rice pudding..I just kind of  altered my mother in laws recipe for banana pudding. Relax, there are no bananas in my rice pudding. There are however an abundance of raisins! And cinnamon!

I start off with 3 cups of milk and 1 cup of whipping cream. I pour that into a good size pot. I add about 3/4 cup of sugar, 6 tbls of cornstarch and 2 beaten egg yolks. (No whites), whisk this all together, and turn on the eye..medium high heat will do. I add about a teaspoon of vanilla, and cinnamon.  Put in as much as you like, or as little. We like cinnamon. Keep whisking the concoction. until it starts to bubble a little.  Pour in the raisins. As many or as few, or even none if thats how you like it. Then add your rice.

 I like it a little more custardy than ricey to be honest.  At this point, you'll want to switch to a spoon rather than a whisk, or your whisk will be full of rice and raisins.
 cook it only until it starts to thicken, and then remove it from the heat. It will continue to thicken up as it cools.

Pour it into whatever kind of container you like. I'm storing mine until my husband comes home, so its cooling in a cheapo reusable plastic container. If you're serving it to guests, you could portion it out in fancy dessert cups, or martini glasses (cute idea..check pinterest out for other ideas!).  Sprinkle a little bit more cinnamon over the top of the cooling pudding. Personally, I like it best warm. It just seems to taste better!

Chicken and Dumplings..My Way... :)

So, I grew up in the south, with a mom from up north. My husband grew up here in the south, with a southern mom. They both make chicken and dumplings. They couldn't be MORE different! My moms dumplings are thick, biscuity dumplings, and I'm not going to lie, usually, they weren't so done in the middle.  Joe's mom makes the southern chicken and dumplings, with the flat, noodley version of dumplings. Hold on to your hat mom, I like those better! But, I wasn't crazy about the pimientos that she put in them, or the hard boiled eggs that her daughter puts in the mix either. What to do?  Rework the recipe of course.  I am a chicken snob..I do not like the darker meat on a chicken. The texture is wonky for me, so I only use chicken breasts. Ever. Took my husband a bit to get used to that, but, that's just how I roll.  When he grills, he gets the legs and thighs that he loves, but when I am in charge of the chicken, its breasts all the way baby.  So, here's how I do my yummy version of Southern Chicken and Dumplings.

You need:

A huge stock pot
2 BIG cans of Swanson Chicken broth (its cheaper, and you get more than the largest box)
Poultry Seasoning (whichever kind you like, I myself have been using Paula Deen's...I know..I know, we are supposed to hate her now, but she can really cook!)
2 cloves of fresh garlic.  Mince it yourself..really tiny small minces
Salt to your taste
Pepper to your taste
4-5 chicken breasts. I use skinless and boneless.

place the chicken and 1 1/2 cans of the chicken broth in the pot. add your poultry seasonings, and minced garlic, your salt and pepper.  Boil it till its done.
Remove the chicken, and set aside.  Cool, and shred or chop, however you like it.

For your dumplings you will need:

3 cups of AP flour
a little salt
3 beaten eggs
1 cup of your reserved broth

mix it up...get it to a doughy/breadlike consistency.
dust your counter with flour..yes, this is really messy!
roll out your dough, a little at a time, as thin as you can.  cut the dough into strips, drop into the boiling stock.  Add your chicken back to the soup.  It should thicken up a little by the time its done. If it's not as thick as you like the broth to be..and I tend to like it a little thicker than my mother in law's, make a slurry and whisk it into your boiling soup.

If you like you can some yellow food color if you prefer your dumplings yellowy..My husband does, and so do I. So, I add a few drops, and 1 tbs of butter..not margarine, butter, and let it melt and give the broth all the luscious richness I can handle.

Even though I don't like the hard boiled eggs that my sister in law puts in hers, I do tend to hard boil some eggs to go with this meal, and make some biscuits, or corn bread when I serve this meal. Normally I would serve this in the winter, when it gets cold, but lets face it, I'm in Florida..really, if I wait until its really cold, we wouldn't get to enjoy it ever. Its also a good budget stretcher, because this recipe will make a LOT of dumplings..there will be leftovers!