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Hey Catherine!

So today I made the coconut rice pudding, even though that wasn't your original suggestion for me. You initially had proposed I make the rum raisin bread pudding, which I was completely game for until I started getting serious about taking off my winter weight. I realized that a recipe that calls for a loaf of bread, about five cups of whole milk and cream, two cups of sugar, rum and raisins was going to be problematic. Even if I stretched the recipe out to ten servings, each serving was nearly 500 calories--and I don't even like bread pudding that much.

So I turned the page and just tried to keep an eye out on a slightly less calorie-dense recipe, which turned out to be the coconut rice pudding. I was psyched, because I've never made rice pudding before and this recipe was outstandingly easy. Like, I felt guilty for how easy it was. But I think that's the ideal slow cooker scenario though, don't you think?

Here's how simple it was. I sprayed the cooker and threw in my rice and salt.

Then I boiled some light coconut milk, sugar and water.

Now, if you want to know how I can find ways to make a debacle out of even the easiest recipe, here you go. In my excitement to use my brand-new OXO can opener, I didn't read the "open other side" note on the first can of milk and then had a can-lid situation. Then, in my impatience to get the milk boiled, I turned up the heat and stopped paying attention and then my milketh floweth over. Thank goodness it wasn't regular milk, so it didn't curdle, but I had this unpleasantness to handle:

But after all that excitement I just threw the milk mixture into the slow cooker and let it cook for two hours. Then I added some vanilla and garam masala, topped it off with shredded coconut and pistachios and we were good to go!

I'm happy to say that Steve had up until tonight thought that he didn't like rice pudding, but it turns out that he was just confusing it with tapioca. I liked the semi-tropical twist on standard rice pudding, especially since it was 80 today in Chicago and a thick cinnamony dessert might not have been ideal.

Being rice pudding of course it was thick and filling but not overwhelming. I don't think it was the showstopper the bread pudding might have been but I don't care! This was my last recipe on my list and it was a nice, simple dessert that I actually think would make a nice breakfast dish too: Steve will be testing it out tomorrow morning.

What have you been making?