Rambling with Words

Wednesday, December 25, 2002

Christmas Day

I decided that since I wasn't going anywhere I would try some new foods and they turned out great. The first one was easy.

Baked Sweet Dumpling Squash:

Sweet Dumpling Squash is the name of the squash, not just the recipe. It looks like a pale acorn squash. I cut it in half, cleaned out the seeds, rubbed the cut sides with oil and put them in a baking pan with the cut sides down. I baked it 45 minutes at 350 degrees. So yummy! It really is sweet, almost like a sweet potato only with a squash taste.

The second dish was: Forbidden China Black Rice Pilaf:

I found this rice at Wild Oats yesterday where I was looking for a new rice to try and Forbidden China Black Rice really is the name of the rice.

1 cup Forbidden China Black Rice
3 tbsp oil (I used olive oil)
1 medium yellow onion diced fine
2 cloves garlic minced
2 cups water

Sauté the onion in the butter till clear; add the garlic, Add rice, water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover the pot tightly and cook for approximately 30 to 45 minutes or till the rice is soft but firm. Add more liquid if rice dries out during cooking. Fluff rice when done.
This is a delicious rice.

Finally:

Rice Pudding with Cinnamon and Raisins

2 cups water
1 cup brown rice, rinsed
1 1/4 cups soy milk, rice milk, or other non-dairy milk of choice
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup brown rice syrup or maple syrup
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. ground ginger
1/8 t. ground nutmeg

In a medium saucepan, place the water, and bring to a boil. Add the rice, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 35 minutes or until all of the water has been absorbed. Add the remaining ingredients, stir well to combine, and continue to cook the mixture over low heat until all of the liquid has been absorbed. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and place the pudding in the refrigerator to chill. Top individual servings with a little additional cinnamon before serving, if desired.
(I used vanilla soy yogurt, since I bought the vanilla soy yogurt by mistake instead of the regular soy yogurt that I was going to try to make soy cream cheese with. I didn't add the vanilla but increased the water a bit.)
Very yummy. I used arborio brown rice which is a very glutinous rice anyway so it turned out very creamy and good. An excellent meal with a nice tossed salad added.

While cooking and eating I was also making regular trips out to the dumpster since I realized last night when I took some trash out that this would be a great day to get some boxes, and it has been. I have all sizes of boxes and could have gotten more but I'm running out of room.

I talked with my kids and my father which was delightful and spent the rest of the day reading. Yesterday I read "Death of a Pooh-Bah" by Karen Sturges. Phoebe Mullins comes to visit her aunt that she hadn't met since she was a toddler and get roped into helping with a local production of The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan. A successful first night is followed by the murder of the character playing the Pooh-Bah and soon Phoebe is trying to sort out suspects, one of which is her aunt. A good read and an interesting plot.

Today I finished readin "Doctor Makes a Dollhouse Call" by Robin Hathaway. Dr Andrew Fenimore gets called on by a couple of his patients, elderly sisters, to ply his avocation of sleuthing. Their elaborate dollhouse is being used to fortell the murder of their family members. The characters are interesting and the plot is well done. A nice cozy.