Arborio Rice Pudding

The changing of the seasons is always an uncertain time in weather and in food. Lately, I fear the former simply is incapable of making up its mind. Like a Katy Perry song, one day the weather can be warm and sunny, swelling with new life, and the next it can be dark and damp, cutting with a miserable wind. This last week the mornings have been so gloomy, one look towards the window and I am apt to pull the covers over my head and go back to sleep. Yet, as soon as I get to work in the afternoons, the weather perks up, the sun shines, and the wind disappears.

It's just not fair.

Until the erratic weather eases into a regular pattern, it seems my attempts at menu planning won't either. When the weather feels like spring, all I want to eat is fruit and greens and cold cereal. Light foods are welcome (as well as the occasional bowl of chocolate ice cream). But when the weather turns for the worst, I cling to winter's casseroles and hearty filling soups. Cream and butter become most desirable (though my waistline may not agree).

It's a ridiculous dilemma, but nevertheless one I run into when filling the pantry from the supermarket.

This week, however, I tried to beat Mother Nature at her own game with a little bowl of rice pudding. It's an innocuous dessert, but one that can be enjoyed warm or cold, perfect for when the weather—and I—cannot make up its mind. For a twist, I sprinkled a little sugar on top and bruleed it until golden. It's a simple way to take a classic dessert and turn it something truly special.

When eating this by the spoonful, I like to imagine that just once I beat Mother Nature at her own game.

This Arborio Rice Pudding is sweet, creamy, and comforting. I used Arborio rice instead of white rice because Arborio rice maintains a great firmness and creaminess (as in risotto). I bruleed the top like creme brulee to add a fun and caramelized flavor to the overall pudding. Adding fruit or a sprinkling of cinnamon makes this rice pudding easy to customize to precisely your tastes.

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Vanilla Bean Pudding

Simplicity.

It's an idea we all ascribe to, a concept we all strive for, and a belief we all can't help but hold faith in. If we could simplify our lives, everything would be easier. If we could control the day to day chaos, we would be happier. Simplicity. Even the word itself brings up images of organized bookshelves and Norman Rockwell paintings.

But, as I've realized over the past few weeks, simplicity can have many meanings.

When I think of a simple lifestyle, I flashback to reruns of Leave It To Beaver and The Brady Bunch. A hot, homemade meal is on the table precisely at six o'clock every evening. The house is always spotless, no excuses (you never know when company will arrive). Even the linen closets are photogenic enough to grace the cover of Good Housekeeping. If chaos does enter this genuinely unnatural world, it is dealt with so elegantly, so gracefully, that the issue simply evaporates by the end of the scheduled half hour period.

I can imagine maintaining that lifestyle is more trouble than it's worth. Not to mention, you know, impossible.

So how can we simplify our own lives without looking to The Wonder Years for advice?

The truth is that there is no quick, cookie cutter answer. We all have different ideas of what a little simplicity would do for ourselves. Some dream of keeping house like Martha Stewart and finding peace in the familiarity. Others imagine moving to the mountains and freeing themselves from everything but running water. I dream of a cup of tea, a good book, and unplugging myself from the electronic world, if only for a few hours.

I started my personal quest for simplicity by uncluttering the bits and pieces of my life. I stopped working so many hours a week, opting for a more reasonable forty. I've gained a good deal more sanity with a cut in pay. The pursuit of money, as we all know (but often forget), is not everything.

I cleaned up my room. I sorted through the nightmare that is my food prop closet. I'm trying to take small steps every day to maintaining a more organized home. I have always been drawn to the internet, wasting days and weeks of my life doing things that are utterly forgettable (can you even remember what you looked at yesterday?). It's easy to get caught up between blogs and Google searches, ignoring the hands making circles around the clock. I cleaned up my virtual life, sparing only the websites that are most dear to me from harsh reality of the delete button. I'm trying to watch less television.

Even though I can't remove all of the chaos or complexity in my life (and nor would I want to), I've made room for simple moments. Baking in the kitchen while the radio serenades me from the next room. Giving myself over to the camera for an hour and letting food divulge its secrets. Reading beautiful, haunting novels near a blazing fireplace. Savoring a small bowl of vanilla bean pudding as the winter sun sets.

Simple moments.

That's the secret to simplicity.

What do your simple moments look like?

Vanilla Bean Pudding is simple and unpretentious. Lovely warmed for cold evenings or chilled for hot summer afternoons, this pudding is sweet comfort food. It is thickened with a combination of cornstarch and egg yolks which lends a creamy, smooth texture. Vanilla bean adds such a pure flavor to the pudding—the vanilla bean pods are steamed in the milk to add extra flavor—but vanilla extract can be used in a pinch.

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Pumpkin Panna Cotta

The Midwest has its own quirks, as does any region. It isn't until you leave the area for awhile that they suddenly become apparent (and oh do they become apparent). I've moved around a bit in my 20s—living in North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, and Wisconsin for various lengths of time—but it wasn't until I spent some time in Europe that my Midwestern quirks really began to show.

As a child of the Midwest, I would occasionally see television shows or movies that would mock the Minnesotan "yah, sure, ya betcha" accent (Fargo and New in Town, I'm looking at you). Unlike the classic Minnesotan accent (which, by the way, is greatly exaggerated and I haven't met a soul who actually speaks like that except this woman), the quirks of the Midwest seem to stay in the Midwest. In fact, we hardly recognize we have them.

Lately, I've noticed the Midwestern use of the phrase I s'pose. Let's be clear; it is never "I suppose." It's I s'pose. Around the Midwest, this turn of phrase is used frequently and I've only recently started realizing just how often I use it myself. I s'pose has come to mean I-don't-want-to-talk-to-you-anymore when you are on the phone or I'd-really-like-to-be-going-now when you are visiting someone in person. It's perceived to be very polite, but it's nevertheless effective.

For instance, when on the phone with a relative or friend, simply saying "Well, I s'pose" will signal the end of the conversation and the goodbyes will soon begin. Just recently, when my family had the relatives over for Thanksgiving, everyone was sitting in the living room and it was getting late into the evening. My uncle said the magic words I s'pose in a short lull of conversation and everyone immediately stood up to head on home.

Who knew such a simple, grammatically incorrect phrase could hold so much power?

Perhaps the biggest Midwestern quirk is our pronunciation of very simple words. We use long vowels instead of short vowels in certain situations. Simple words like bag, magazine, or dragon are pronounced with the long a sound (as in baby or mate) instead of the short a sound (as in cat or mat). While most Midwesterners would hardly bat an eye at this, I've found you do get made fun of for it when you venture out into the rest of the world (and I have, on several occasions).

This was never more apparent to me than when I was at a grocery store checkout in England. I was packing my purchases up in my backpack when I realized everything didn't fit and I would need another bag. I asked the lady for a bag (using the long vowel "a") and she stared at me like I had grown a second head. "A bag?"

"Yes, a bag? One of those?" I said, pointing to the paper bags in her hand.

She still stared at me, uncomprehending this seemingly ridiculous request.

"A BAG?" I said once more, confused, resorting to miming the shape and function of a bag to get my point across.

"Oh, you mean a bag." She said, using the short vowel a, looking sorry for me, as if I had gone through my life mispronouncing such a simple word.

What quirks do you notice in the regions where you live?

Pumpkin pie has been a staple of the holiday season for as long as any of us remember (and for good reason, too—it's delicious!). This Pumpkin Panna Cotta is a twist on the traditional pumpkin pie. With the buttery crust gone, the pumpkin filling finally has a chance to truly shine on its own. Panna Cotta is essentially a thick custard and, when combined with the flavors and spices of the classic pumpkin pie, it becomes the perfect substitute to the real deal. Once you taste your first bite, I have a feeling you will forget pumpkin pie ever had a crust.

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