Friday, March 20, 2009

Nutmeg ~ topping off the rice pudding


To help celebrate the arrival of Spring, I splurged this afternoon by making one of my favorite desserts, rice pudding. I poured all of the whipping cream into the mixture leaving none for that little dab on the top. Then I remembered that special little jar tucked away in the spice drawer. As soon as the top was twisted off, I could tell this was indeed going to be a treat.
I started buying whole nutmeg a while ago. Now it is difficult to use anything else. I love the color that is exposed as it slowly shrinks in size. There is such a difference in the taste by grating it yourself. I was in Whole Foods in January and they were selling (giving) plastic containers filled with the nuts for 25 cents. I grabbed up as many as I could and passed them out to all my friends. Never knew so much excitement could be created by such a little nut~

A few of you may be aware that I opened a store sometime ago. I have dedicated all my time to that business and my family and have not had the time to keep up with posting. I have missed
reading so many of your posts and
looking at the great photos of your creations ~ things are slowing down and I have a bit of free time which I have not had in months! Hopefully, I can now do some catching up!

13 comments:

K and S said...

yummy! nice to see you posting :)

Anonymous said...

Jann, I am so happy you are posting again. See, I do keep checking!
xo JoAnne

Anonymous said...

I love nutmeg Jann. When we cook red cabbage we always add a bit to give it a bit of zest.

Thanks for your lovely comment on my blog!

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

My husband's favorite is rice pudding like this. It's been some time ago (well over a couple of years) that I totally went over to grating fresh nutmeg. For me it's the difference between not liking nutmeg at all on anything to loving it and almost everything.

Simona Carini said...

It was one of the very few spices my mother had and used. I have been fascinated by it since I was a child. Hope all is well. Glad to see you posting again.

Christine said...

I also have been using nutmeg nuts for years and would have it no other way. Beautiful photos Jann, and that rice pudding would go so well to comfort me on this gray, rainy afternoon. I'm so glad you're back and look forward to some exciting posts!

Jann said...

K&S Thanks for stopping by! I have been missing what's cooking in Japan!

Jann said...

JoAnne ~ Thanks for reading the post! I can't believe I have been away from this for so long~

Jann said...

Enzie~adding nutmeg to red cabbage is something I need to try! Thanks for the tip!

Jann said...

My Kitchen~ my hubby and I ate that entire batch of pudding! What were we thinking! Don't you just love the aroma as you grate the nut? It is heavenly!! I am so glad you stopped by~I will do some catching up on your site!

Jann said...

Simona~ How wonderful to hear from you!! I am glad you stopped by~
Christine~those rainy days will soon be gone and you will be busy in your garden! I didn't know your son was another great cook~I enjoy reading about your family and their cooking quests! Hope you are well.Have missed reading your posts very much, now some time to catch up.

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

I'm crazy about a little nutmeg grated into things. I bought a William Bounds grater designed specifically for nutmeg many years ago and used it quite a lot. Now that microplane graters are standard equipment in our kitchens, they make it all the easier to grate a fresh nut in a matter of seconds. What a deal you got on nutmeg at Whole Foods.

When I was first learning to cook my husband told me to try a little (and I mean a little) fresh nutmeg in mashed potatoes. It's terrific, just don't overdo it.

So glad you are back. We've missed you.
Sam

T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types said...

Great to hear that you are back! What a gorgeous photo of those little nut-meggers!