Happy Summer Everyone! I have been busy painting the house from top to bottom and hope to have photos very soon!!
My children and I were at Costco and tried a sample of Kozy Shack rice pudding. We all LOVED it! And since rice pudding is one of those staples, I had to try and make it myself. This recipe is also great for leftover rice in the fridge.
Book Review:
This book is a must read for any D-SLR owner who wishes to get their camera off of “Auto” mode. The three items for exposure – ISO, aperture and shutter speed – are discussed in detail with accompanying full color photographs. I particularly enjoyed the section about “Creative Exposure” and how there are 6 different correct exposures you can take. In addition to the exposure triangle of the camera, light is discussed section by section as well. Sidelight, backlight and frontlight are discussed as well as some “tricks” on how to make it look like it is raining on your flowers.
“Understanding Exposure” also goes beyond the basics and introduces to readers about flash photography and using special filters.
Peterson writes in a very conversational tone with easy to understand vocabulary. Although the book does not go into a lot on composition and posing, those items really do not matter until exposure is perfect and second nature. That is why I think this is a go-to book about photography.
This book is helpful at any photography level. I have been reading and doing photography for years and never knew that the sharpest aperture of your camera is f8-11. This is due to the ellipsoidal shape of the lens.
I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.
RECIPE:
Rice pudding is one of those go-to desserts (or breakfast?) because you almost always have the ingredients on hand: rice, sugar, milk and eggs. That’s pretty much it! I throw in a little vanilla and cinnamon just for some fun. It is eaten traditionally hot or cold – but in these hot summer months we like it cold.
Now I added the brown rice spin on it to make it healthier. The kids like the white rice medium grain version they tried at Costco. Go figure :-/
Well okay.. it IS tastier with the medium grains. Use medium grain rice!!
The brown rice was cooked in the pressure cooker (Instant Pot aka Magic Pot)… but of course you can make brown or white rice on your stove top! The pressure cooker just makes everything fast and easy. Instead of 45 minutes of cooking, the brown rice only takes 18 minutes. But what I really like about it is that it cooks large cuts of meat (2-3 pound roasts) in 35 minutes instead of 8-10 hours like a slow cooker.
- 1 cup medium grain white rice (or 1 cup brown rice)
- water per directions on bag
- 2 cups milk, divided (or cream or half and half or mixture of them)
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Optional toppings: whipped cream, raisins soaked in water, bourbon or whiskey, ground nutmeg or cinnamon, etc.
- Cook white rice per the directions on the bag. Or select "rice" on the Instant Pot and cook with 1 cup water. If using brown rice, cook on "high" (15 psi) for 22 minutes in pressure cooker, then allow to cool 10 minutes at least before releasing the valve or allow valve to go down naturally.
- Once the rice is cooked, add 1 and ½ cups of milk and ½ cup sugar. Stir thoroughly.
- In another bowl, whisk together the 2 eggs and ½ cup of remaining milk. Strain this through a fine mesh strainer and add to rice. If you don't strain it - you will still be fine.
- Cook over medium heat until boiling. Stir often. Once at a boil, the egg should be cooked.
- Remove pot from heat and stir in vanilla and cinnamon.
- The mixture should be thicker and coat the back of a spoon. Eat while warm, or as we prefer, put into the fridge until chilled. Add toppings and enjoy!
