2 cups of water, 1 cup of rice...

There used be a band called Rice whose whole bit was to make fun of (or pay homage to, your choice) hardcore songs. It was one of those things where if you didn't recognize what they were alluding to in the lyrics, probably 95% of what made the band awesome was lost on you. I was one of the lucky (?) ones that caught the references and proceeded to play a lot of Rice songs on my radio show. The main side effect of doing this is that every time I think of rice (the food) I think of Rice (the band). One of their lyrics, '2 cups of water, 1 cup of rice - is this the way you measure your life's worth?' is pretty handy when I am cooking, but it's really annoying to have stuck in your head.

I've loved rice since I was a little kid. My mom's mom would make white rice and serve it with a little milk and sugar when I was sick. My dad's mom would cook plov, which is a Russian rice dish that is made with dried fruits or meat (or both). To keep it warm after cooking, she would wrap it in a blanket and tuck it into my parents' bed. When I was older, my dad and I would go to a Chinese restaurant by our house and talk. Those were some of the only times we really spent on our own when I was a teenager, and now I associate generic NYC Chinese restaurants with my dad and fried rice.

Perhaps my favorite rice dish, however, is Kozy Shack rice pudding. Not only did this company corner the market on using K instead of C way before bad metal bands did, it also makes the best store bought rice pudding I've ever had. It's not healthy and has a kind of weird texture, but it tastes phenomenal. It reminds me of Fall, comfortable couches and naps. I haven't bought it in a long time because I always say to myself 'I can make that!' but have I? No. I get home and stare at my different types of non-white rice, shrug and go eat some chocolate instead.

Well, all of that was true until last Sunday. When I did my usual check of food blogs, I saw this recipe on Julie Hasson's blog and I had to make it. In fact, it looked like I had since I have that same Fiestaware mug. And the recipe? Easy and not all that bad for you. I had some left over arborio rice from making amazing corn risotto out of the Rebar cookbook, so I tried it with that and did everything exactly as written and wound up with amazing better than Kozy Shack rice pudding.

I sent Anthony to work with a small container of rice pudding, topped with raisins and cinnamon, which apparently made all of his coworkers jealous. He said he tried to explain to them how easy it was to make (no eggs! no dairy!) but they didn't buy it. But you all now have the link to the recipe, and I suggest you go make it. Right now. It's that good.