art on the deck! sunshine! new freckles! rice pudding!

today was lovely. sunny, warm and fabulous! it seems that for the last couple months we've had so much cloud and so little sun - so it was awesome to soak up the rays today! i've been feeling so much better and that mixed with the great weather made for a perfect combination. 

i started bread night before last, making today bread day. i kneaded it last night, put it in a cool room to rise overnight and got the fire rocking' first thing this morning to bake the loaves, 6 to be exact. the sun doesn't rise above the mountains until around 10:20am. it actually pops up just after nine, but only for about 5 minutes, then it goes behind the mountains again, before coming out for good just after 10am. so i was almost done baking bread before the sun came beaming in the windows, leaving the whole afternoon to spend outside! travis caught a couple trout ice fishing the other day, so dinner was already figured out - i had the day to play! i took a nice long walk down to the river and along the frozen shore - no hats, no mitts...it was lovely! i spent the rest of the afternoon on the deck finishing up this piece of art while listening to the coast on cbc. it was a great great day! schooner and dixie were sprawled out on the deck enjoying the shine too, i could hear the chickens clucking and feel the new freckles emerging! 

i started this piece yesterday - its been ages since i got my sketch book out! i only had one good page left in my old book, so that was part of the reason. but when we were out last week i picked up a new book and there's nothing like 50 crisp white pages to get the creativity juices going. i feel so much better when i keep up with my art, so it's nice to finally be back in the grove. being able to sit on the deck and enjoy the sunshine sans gloves, hat, winter boots and jacket makes it all the more wonderful. 

i was trying to remember last night, if i'd posted about rice pudding before...and i still haven't checked to see if i have not for sure, but i'm pretty certain its a no. the recipe comes from fine cooking and its definitely our favourite yet. i've always been a fan of rice pudding, but it took awhile to find a recipe that i was really thrilled with. this is it. i've made a few variations of it, depending on what i have on hand. it calls for evaporated milk, the point of which, in the first place, i'm not really sure of. i almost never have it, so i just substitute regular milk. it also calls for cream, which i always make sure to have, but most of the time i half it. it calls for 1.5 cups worth and most of the time i double the recipe and 3 cups of cream just seems like a lot, even for me! it also calls for brown rice, which i have to say is very lovely, but i have made it with white rice and its totally fine too. the nut topping i almost always don't make, even though its completely fabulous... just not necessary. 

For the pudding: 
1/2 cup raw brown rice 
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar 
1/4 cup raisins 
1 tsp. vanilla extract 
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon 
Pinch ground nutmeg 
Pinch salt 
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk 
1-1/2 cups heavy cream 


For the topping:
1 Tbs. unsalted butter 
4 oz. (1 cup) walnuts, chopped medium coarse 
2 Tbs. sugar 




Put the rice in a medium saucepan and cover with water by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the rice is tender, about 30 minutes. It should still have a little bite to it.

Heat the oven to 300°F. Have ready a shallow, 2-qt. baking dish. When the rice is cooked, drain it well in a fine-mesh sieve and put it in the baking dish. Add the brown sugar, raisins, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to the rice. Wipe out the rice saucepan and add the evaporated milk and heavy cream. Over medium-high heat, bring the liquids barely to a boil and then pour them into the baking dish. Stir the mixture a few times until the ingredients are well dispersed and the sugar has dissolved. Bake until the top is browned, the liquid is reduced and thick, and the rice is tender, 1-1/2 to 2 hours.

i'm going to put my loaves of bread in the freezer and call it a night! tomorrows weather looks like its going to be fabulous too! maybe i'll get my skis out...