homemadetinricepuddin

I recall an English teacher from my teens, very glamorous and determined to shake up the narrow, suburban minds of her class. One idea was to form a debating society and the first topic - 'Ignorance is bliss'.
Of course the whole thing was a disaster, no one had an opinion let alone the skills to argue their side and the idea of Devil's advocate was anathema to this group of 12year olds. Ignorance is apathy, was the unofficial conclusion.
So I thought I might mention that this blog was going to be called 'homemadetinricepuddin' - the title, in fact. Why then, is it called Beginnings? All down to ignorance, I'm afraid.
It was suggested I do a blog as a way of acquiring some IT skills. I am short of many things but this inability to deal successfully with technology is threatening to place me in the pigeonhole marked 'doddering-old-person'. My history with things electronic is not good. A new sound system was supposed to display things like 'track 2', but at my touch would only print ' Error Error.....Error, Error....' An old VHS recorder once switched itself on and played a non-existent tape until I was forced to pull the plug out (and leave it out - if replaced, the invisible tape would begin to play once more.....). Even battery watches are erratic, never telling the right time. An alternative timepiece requires a lottery win. Hope springs....
And although I flounder with the vocabulary, I am learning.So I now know that the field in which I wrote 'Beginnings' should have had 'homemadetinricepuddin' and 'Beginnings' should have been where it says 'post title'. (And you know this already because you took pooters apart in your cradle.) Slowly, slowly, all life strives....
You might ask why h.m.t.r.p.? (If not, you can skip this bit.)
When one is young and recently evicted from the nest, one quickly realises that feelings of hunger are not immediately met with a plate of food. Things such as shopping, cooking (and washing-up) have to be challenged and mastered. Instant noodles soon pall and the search begins for easy, uncomplicated meals. A sense of experimentation grows. Fish finger butties, gourmet beans on toast, spaghetti and custard. Some are better than others. Mine was - yes, of course....
How do you make rice pudding, that universal comfort food? Is there a recipe? When asked, the family cook says things like - you just take a few spoonfuls and do this.... then add that..... not too much, then put it in the oven. Quantities? times? Ever felt inadequate? (sigh).
So I bought a tin of rice pudding, emptied it in to a dish and added some milk, sprinkled a pinch of grated nutmeg over the top and put it in the oven. After a while it gets hot and develops a skin - hurrah, it looks just like the real thing. It tastes quite good, too. (Of course, sometimes it gets forgotten and dries out a bit, in which case just add some more milk. The bonus is extra, crunchy skin, the best bit...)
There, my claim to fame.
I never was given an official recipe for the real thing and when asked recently how to make rice pudding from scratch, I found myself saying - well, take a handful or two of rice.....