My Small World of Rice Pudding

The only form of  rice I ever recall eating while growing up was Mom’s version of rice pudding.  She mixed rice and milk with a liberal dose of sugar and a dash of salt and cooked it on the stove top for what seemed like an hour constantly watching it and stirring it.  I think she may have added a healthy dab of butter into the mix, but I’m not sure.  When the mixture thickened, she added a touch of vanilla extract and some raisins.  The rice pudding was served warm in a large bowl on the dinner table and enjoyed by all.  

Yesterday, seeing a little left-over cooked rice in the fridge, I suddenly remembered Mom’s rice pudding.  The memory was so strong that I could almost smell and taste it.  I’ve made rice pudding before, usually baking it in the oven, but I’ve never given much thought to Mom’s version of rice pudding, nor have I ever tried to duplicate it.  I decided to give it a try with that left-over rice.  I was successful in the sense that my rice pudding of last night came very close to matching up with my memory of Mom’s very own.  I even used raisins!

Mom’s rice pudding was the only form of rice I knew until I left home and entered the military.  I was amazed at how military cooks could conger up so many different ways to cook rice.  I discovered rice was not a dessert for most people.  It was an important dietary staple.  While my family ate potatoes with almost every meal, I found that other folk enjoyed rice at every meal.

My limited knowledge about rice was matched by my limited knowledge about everything.  I was a Baptist and I knew that in my town there were five other churches:  Roman Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, Wesleyan and Christian “Dutch” Reformed.  I knew there were also “those Jehovah Witnesses.” Just as I thought rice was only a dessert, so I thought these churches were the only ones.  Can you imagine my surprise when I learned there were 356 different kinds of Baptist churches in the world!

What does all this have to do with anything?  It has much to do about everything.  What an eye-opener to discover that rice was more than a dessert.  What a surprise when I found that there were many more churches than just those that existed in my little town.  The world outside was bigger than the one I lived in—and that is still true.  I enjoyed recreating my Mom’s version of rice pudding last night, but I can never go back to thinking of rice as only a dessert.  

Rice in Costa Rica