About Tricia

I am Tricia. Momma of nine, homeschooler, artist, foodie and maker of all kinds of things. It's a pleasure to share here our family homesteading adventures, the things we make, and what inspires our days. Read more about my family and work here. Thanks for visiting!

Author Archive | Tricia

The B word

By on May 23, 2012 in Farm and Garden

It finally happened.  After 5 years of raising chickens one of our hens (Buffy because she is a Buff Orpington) is broody. I would use another B word for her but I don’t use curse words so we’ll just have to do with broody.  Not kidding but she growls at us among other things, is hogging up the hens favorite nesting box, hissing and puffing up her feathers.   I decided to let her sit on some eggs so I told the girls to mark a days worth of eggs with crayons and let her do her thing.  Every day the girls will remove the eggs that are not marked and we let Buffy continue on her mission.

Not sure why but most of my hens like the one box she has taken up residence in so they will lose their patience waiting for her to move and will just squat on top of her and lay their eggs right on top of her which roll down and end up under her.

You see that look on her face, this is the don’t mess with me right now look.  She is usually the happiest, go luckiest girl in the coop but right now she could use an iced chai latte and a nice dirt bath.  She has now been sitting in her spot for 20 days and no sign of her moving anytime soon.  Since our chickens eggs are fertile because they have a demanding rooster in the coop, we are just waiting to see.

I think I am over my bloggers slump now so I hope to be back tomorrow with chick news or to share the tons of projects we have gotten done around here.


If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

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As good as Rice to Riches Rice Pudding Recipe

By on May 10, 2012 in Recipes

I have done it!!  After months and months of mixing ingredients and tweaking recipes, I have done it.  What have I done?  Well, you already read the header to this post so you know it has something to do with rice pudding.  Not just any rice pudding…a wonderful, creamy, delectable replica of the most amazing rice pudding I have ever had.

If you have been reading my blog that far back, you might remember my trip to New York back in November. One afternoon in SOHO, I was starving but having dinner reservations in an hour I did not want to ruin my appetite, I just wanted a snack.  My cousin told me he wanted to take me to a pudding restaurant.  Um, pudding?  I was game since I’ve never been to a restaurant just about rice pudding.

I was not ready to be blown away by such a simple desert, but that is exactly what happened at Rice to Riches.  Have you ever been there?  If you are ever in the SOHO neighborhood of New York, do yourself the favor.  I had the plain rice pudding because I didn’t expect much. At the first spoonful, I just sat there thinking “how can it be this good?”  and good it was.

 Good enough to keep me thinking about it and causing a really bad pregnancy craving which I could not fill…until now.

The best part is this is so simple and easy and my goodness is it good.  In the past few months I have scoured the internet and recipe books and tried so many that were good but they weren’t as good as Rice to Riches pudding, not even close.  They were all missing one thing, warmth and creaminess.  I decided to use my custard base for making ice cream and then it happened and I stood there eating hot rice pudding right out of the pot because I couldn’t wait for it to cool.

Just as good as Rice to Riches Rice Pudding

7 c whole milk
1 can evaporated milk
1 cup regular long grain rice
2 eggs
1 c sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup of raisins

Heat to boiling the milk, rice, salt and bay leaf.  Stay nearby and stir it often until it boils or it can stick to the bottom of the pan.  Reduce to low and cook for about 20 minutes or until rice softens.

In a bowl whisk together the sugar and eggs.  Add some of the rice mixture (about a half a cup) to the sugar egg mixture and whisk quickly for about 30 seconds then add the whole bowl into the rice pudding pot, mix thoroughly.  Add the vanilla extract and the raisins and cook until it thickens up.

Enjoy!!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

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