Arroz Con Leche (Rice Pudding)

Before I post this recipe, let me just confess something -- I have never managed to make Arroz Con Leche without trashing the stove.

::hangs head in shame::

I don't know what it is about milk on the stove that makes me so incompetent, but I can't seem to remember that when it boils, milk goes CRAZY. I end up letting it boil over every single time. It's OK, though, because the Arroz Con Leche tastes amazing when it's done, even if your stove ends up looking like something exploded.

This is another recipe that was given to me by my host mother when I was a foreign exchange student in Spain. She cheated a little bit in that her in-laws owned an orchard. Fresh lemons were easy to come by and wound up in everything. I had to pay 70 cents for one today. SEVENTY CENTS.

Craziness.

But worth it.

Arroz Con Leche

4 cups milk
1/2 cup rice (I really like using Arborio for this, but any rice will do)
2 cinammon sticks
1-2 slices lemon rind (I use a potato peeler to "peel" off a few pieces of rind)
1 pinch salt
Sugar to taste (I like it sweet, so I use about 3/4 cup of sugar)

1. Place the milk, rice, cinnamon sticks, lemon rind, and salt in a medium sauce pan. Heat on medium heat until it just barely starts to boil and then reduce the heat to low. (Note to self: STAND THERE AND WATCH IT. It always seems to start boiling just as soon as my back is turned.)

2. Stir every couple of minutes, being sure to scrape the bottom of the pan. Continue to heat until the rice is completely cooked. It takes about 20-30 minutes, depending on how you like your rice. I like it mushy for this, so I cook it right around 30 minutes.

3. Remove from heat. Discard the lemon peel and cinnamon sticks.

4. Add sugar one tablespoon at a time until it's sweet enough.

5. Refrigerate until it sets. Serve with ground cinnamon, if desired.

I Want a Sweatshirt JUST Like This One

Magical Math

Our mission was to watch the penguins march in an outdoor parade, but our mission was full of fail. If I had to summarize the morning, I would want to find some penguins and ask them how they really feel about boyfriend fit jeans for little kids. Rumor has it they judge them unworthy and OMG YOU HAVE TO WEAR SKINNY JEANS WAAAAH.

Even if all of your skinny jeans are dirty.

We missed the parade by just minutes, but they happened to be the same number of minutes that were spent arguing and crying and whining over the lack of clean size 7 girls skinny jeans in our house.

What. A. Coincidence.

ANYWAY.

While our mission at the zoo was to watch the penguins strut their stuff through the snow, what we really ended up doing was hanging out in the aquarium for hours. It wasn't crowded and I was attempting some new kinds of camera magic. Alexis was generally just really interested in watching the fish.

Especially the puffer fish.

Lots of time was spent bonding with the really big puffer fish, but even more time was spent with a certain little puffer fish. It was the little puffer fish with the magical blue eye.

That magical blue eye is indeed magical. It seems to reflect the light of the entire universe as it glows a spectacular shade of blue. It is captivating to the point that you can get lost just standing there and staring and staring and staring.

But, here's the thing.

It is a magical blue eye. Not eyes. The puffer fish has only one eye. On the other side, it has markings that nearly perfectly disguise that it is blind on one side, but they don't entirely disguise the disability. Close. Not quite.

Which just goes to show that you can be twice as amazing as everyone else even when you're only given half as much.