Arroz Con Leche

 

Hi, everybody!  I know I just said we're headed South of the Border... but before we do, let me share a few fun photos of our camping trip!

                                  
Here is Lake Wallowa, as we are driving in to the State Park, near Joseph, Oregon.
                             
The kids had a great time running all over, swimming, snorkeling, floating on inner tubes, etc. It was actually fairly warm... during the day. At night it was chilllllllly.

We took the tramway to the top of the ridge. Yeah. I'm glad we did it and I'm glad we didn't die. But I probably won't do that again. I kept wanting to ask where the engineers and mechanics were. I swear the same guy who served us our ice cream cones was servicing this fifty year old tram. He told us all about getting his driver's license last month. Yikes. Anyway, we're alive.

 

I love this old building SO MUCH. I told my husband we should buy it. Every kid could have their own room, finally. hahahaha! There was a sign that said it was available for wedding receptions. I'm assuming that's an old sign. I can't be sure. I just might be tempted to have a reception there.... on Hallowe'en night... with candles. If we didn't fall through the floor.

 A cute little ice cream shop had a collection of bucket churns. I want the one in the middle Adorable!

 The Wallowa County Stage Stop. See the rounded door for the carriages? My husband thought it was funny that it's now a Mexican restaurant. Hey, we're the land of the adaptable. What can I say?

So, on to the recipe! When the weather starts to get chilly at night, my husband likes to make a few different dishes.

 

One is boiled pumpkin. (You read that right.) He slices, seeds, and boils a small pumpkin in honey water, then eats it with a sprinkling of cinnamon. Like pumpkin pie but... no crust. Or milk. Or sugar. All right, it's not really anything like pumpkin pie.

 

Fall is always a tense time around here because we all want to do this sort of thing... And pumpkins are FOOD to him. It would be like stomping on T-bone steaks for fun. But he tries to respect the fact that Americans like to play with their food. (Remember that? Still true.)

 

So, let's make some Mexican rice pudding! Not the fancy kind. This is the poor mountain folk kind. Like boiled pumpkin/pumpkin pie. Same idea, but different.

 OK, here is my vintage Mason Ball jar, so pretty and BLUE. :) Full of sugar. We'll use sugar because I'm too lazy to go and get panocha, which is a coarse kind of cane sugar.

 

First, fill a pot with water. Really, there aren't any measurements. It was kind of fun. (But to be kind to blog readers, I'll say about 8 cups of water.)

 Add 2 cups of rice. I know, that sounds like a lot of water. And doesn't look so yummy.

 Boil, stirring constantly for about 15 minutes until the long grain rice has cooked. It will be very soupy.

 This is my husband showing me how much milk to use. He lifts the jug and points to what's left. Hahahaha! (And then when he left the kitchen, I measured it out. About 2 1/2 cups.)

 Now, sometimes they add fruit to the top. Whatever is around. Guava, papaya, sweet grapes. We do have grapes so I washed a few and put them in a bowl.

 Whole cinnamon sticks...

 Into the boiling pot. Let it continue to boil for another 15-20 minutes until thickened. Stir constantly.

Add 1-2 cups of sugar. He said one cup. It's a big pot. It was just barely sweet. I say 2, because I like things sweet enough to choke a horse. Add and taste, add and taste, that's my advice.

Finished product! The kitchen smells amazing!! He said sometimes they added fresh coconut to the top, if anybody had any. Sometimes they'd add a few eggs, scrambled, whisked in with the milk before the second boiling. Then they'd pour it into a flat pan and set it on the fire. It hardened and caramelized... sort of like a custard, I assume.

We were at the apple packing shed this afternoon and got the first crop of Gala apples! YAY! I wonder what tasty thing Edna would like to cook for next week??? I remember this one time we made a secret apple cake recipe. MMMMM!