cranberry rice pudding

This one took about six or seven years to make, and I'm not exaggerating! I cut out the recipe from a Family Circle magazine that long ago, just sitting on it (poor recipe - ouch!) and keeping my stove warm until we moved somewhere that I could buy dried cranberries. Well, we moved to this area of Japan over 2.5 years ago (with a Costco - yea!), and I plum forgot about my cranberry rice pudding cravings until I stumbled across it in a recipe notebook while looking for something else. It's been very patient, waiting all that time for its debutante ball.

Well, I got out my fancy dress (jeans) and made up a batch the other day! Wow. It was REALLY worth the wait.

You'll need:

1 3/4 c. water
3/4 c. long-grain white rice rice baby (I used short pudgy Japanese rice and it was just dandy)
1/4 t. salt
1/3 c. sugar (this was just the right amount for our tastes--not too sweet)
2 t. cornstarch
1/8 t. ground cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg
2 c. fat-free milk (I used the Toddler Bean's full-fat stuff and it sure was GOOD)
1/2 c. sweetened dried cranberries or sweetened dried cherries (the cranberries were awesome!)
1/4 t. vanilla extract (I doubled this)

Do this (this instant):

1. In a saucepan, bring water to a boil and then add rice and salt. Simmer while covered until all water is absorbed, about 20 min.
2. In a separate bowl, mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and nutmeg, then stir in 1.5 c. milk until it's all amalgamated.
3. Stir the mixture from the bowl plus the cranberries into the rice and boil it uncovered until thick, about 3 min. Remove from heat and stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk plus the vanilla. Spoon into individual serving cups and serve warm or cold. I put mine in the fridge a couple of hours (covered with plastic wrap) and it was great, but I also warmed some up the next day and that was pretty yummy, too, and perfect for a cold day.