I blame the rice.
I have always used Minute Rice. Partly because real rice scares me. Partly because I'm lazy. And partly because I want to deprive my children of essential nutrients they need to grow. That's just who I am.
Don't get me wrong. I love the way steamed rice tastes. It is so much more tasty. I just like easy.
Well, my friends convinced me to buy this steamed rice that is so yummy. I know because I tasted it. I gave in and bought some. I decided I would save it for the perfect day. You know, one with plenty of time to make it right. This morning, I decided that day was going to be today. I was going to bring dinner to a friend who recently had a baby and Hawaiian Haystacks was on the menu.
Let me tell you what perfect looked like this morning.
9am: Swim team for Kobe
10:30am: Pedicure w/ friend
1:15pm: "Rio" at the dollar theatre ($0.75 Monday!!)
5pm: Drop off dinner to my friend on my way to work.
What imperfection looked like (aka what really happened).
I came home from my pedicure to find out that I had misunderstood the time of the movie. Instead of 1:15pm it was at 1:50pm. (Say it out loud. They sound almost the same. Oh, wait...I learned about it in an email...cough cough.. ahem.)
No big deal. Plenty of time.
We got there 10 minutes before the movie starts, because you know that on $0.75 Monday nobody goes. Especially now that school is out. Yeah. As you can guess, it was SOLD OUT! No!!!!
There we were, with 7 kids, (I had a friends munchkins with me), all looking like they were going to cry once they heard the news. The next showing was 40 minutes later. And it was 3D. And it was $3.10/ticket.
So of course, we did what any other parent would do. We went to it.
Two hours later, we hot tailed it out of there. Hubs took the kids home while I picked up the last minute things I needed. While in the store, Hubs informed me that he was making the rice. That was fantastic, because I know that it takes longer than a minute to cook.
Only neither of us really know how to cook slow rice. He almost microwaved it but luckily at the last minute he read the instructions. Whew. So instead, he stuck it in a pan and turned it on High. As in 9 out of 10 High. By the time I caught it, most the water was gone. So I added more water....surely that would help.
I got to chopping veggies. Next thing I know, Hubs comes in, takes the rice off the burner, and calls it done. I am pretty sure most people don't like their rice crunchy. Back to the stove it went. And I may or may not have added more water.
Things were not looking good. I ran to the cupboard and wouldn't you know, all my Minute Rice was gone. What the......why????? Great. There was no time to start over. There was no time to run and get rice. There was nothing to do but swallow my pride and admit defeat.
Pray for those people, that they will still be my friends. And that they don't chip a tooth. Because if they do...
...I'm blaming the rice!
11 comments:
Wow, would you like me to send you a rice cooker because those things are a heaven send. I've tried cooking rice the old school way (you know, like in the pan) but it burned and shamed me because I'm Chinese and have been eating rice for as long as I can remember. That's when I decided it was easier to fork out the money and buy a rice cooker. Just put the rice in, add the appropriate amount of water, pop it in the cooker and press start. Half hour later, it's all cooked and ready to go.
Of course, in Japan, they have these perfectly sized, microwaveable rice that you pop it in for 2 minutes and the finished product is no different from actual steamed rice. A bit expensive but I always keep them on hand just in case :)
Love my rice cooker. Sorry about the movie. Too bad you found out it was at 1:50, if you have been there at 1:15 there would have been plenty of time. Jamison was bummed he didn't get to sit by Kobe. And..... why wasn't I invited to the pedicure?????
You are a nut! I need to send you my fail safe cook rice easily recipe. Yeah, it involves a rice cooker. And you can get them on clearance all the time AND there will be no chipping of teeth thereafter!
Thanks for the laugh.
I grew up with minute rice and when I got married my husband said...NO. Ha Ha
So he taught me how to make real rice and it is easy but involves no high heat except for the first minute. 1 minute to put it in the pan and boil, 20 minutes with a lid on on low, and done perfect everytime -seriously!
I even tried a rice cooker once but it was easier just to do it in a pan on the stove and less mess.
I'm sure your friend will love you for trying :-D
And you are AWESOME for sticking arouond and taking the kids to the 3-D for more money!! Total parent points!!!
Two words:
Rice cooker.
I am the worst cook ever, and my rice is perfect in that lovely appliance every time.
All I have to do is put in 2 cups of rice, four cups of water, and turn it on.
Get one, Stef. You'll be glad you did.
It's foolproof.
=)
I am with them...RICE COOKER...set it and forget it. 20 minutes for white rice 35 for brown. About the same as a pot on the stove, but you don't really have to know what you are doing with the rice cooker.
I thought things like this only happened to me. I feel better now after reading this. You are a kindred family. We do boil rice however, and it is a tricky tricky endeavor.
LOL! I'm laughing WITH you not AT you! Oh, you aren't laughing. Anyway...it's not that hard to cook real rice. It doesn't event take that long...well longer than a minute. But I've used the handy dandy rice cooker the last 20+ years. Even my kids can use it. Put the rice and water in and press cook. Come back when it's done. The rice cooker was Garrett's FAVORITE grad present. What 17 year old LOVES rice cookers? give one to the hubs for Father's day!
Next time run to the chinese restaraunt by Taco Bell and buy their rice. :)
We eat a lot of rice. It's gluten free! Our favorite is Jasmati, easy to cook and smells like buttered popcorn. Also VERY expensive. It's a hybrid of Texmati and Jasmine rice I think.
So that's my vote. Jasmati. (I'm using the power of a write in vote.)
I have not 1 but 2 rice cookers! My real Japanese one we are saving for when and if we ever return to America.
Making rice is SUPER easy, even on the stove. I assume you have medium grain rice (because to my horror I hear they do not have short grain in America). Add 2 or 3 cups of rice to a pot (depending on how much you need), remember to rinse off the rice at least twice. Fill the pot with water, then take your middle finger and lay it (don't stick it in) so that it lays on top of the rice. Make sure the water comes to the first line of your finger. Cover and cook on medium for 20 minutes. Perfect rice every time. Whatever you do don't add butter! Just let it cook. Good Luck!!
I am not sure my kids have ever seen minute rice. ha ha! When we do move home, I am hiding as many bags of wonderful Japanese rice as I can in our shipment.
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