Strawberry-Rice Fluff

[Darienne]

Because I am just basically learning to cook with some enthusiasm and don't have any background in cooking in the 60s, 70s, etc, etc, I don't have any real experience in the dishes of those times. (Yes, I cooked, but I also made beds, yadda, yadda.)

Bought a 1987 Better Homes & Gardens:Recipes from Prizewinning Cooks the other day for a couple of dollars, thinking that it might be fun. Actually made first dessert listed last night for our weekly 'Dessert as Dinner' because it had all the necessary elements: grain (rice), dairy (cream & milk), eggs (uncooked whites), unflavored gelatin and fruit (3 cups). Plus hardly any sugar...a bonus.

Made it with Blood Oranges instead of strawberries. And it was very tasty...but strange. There was only minimal rice in it!!! (Should have read it more carefully ahead of time...one of my major failings.) I realized too late that it was NOT a rice pudding at all with only 1/4 cup of rice for 4 servings. So I made scones and we spooned it on top. Too dryish. So made a quick boozy raspberry sauce to pour on top. Yumm.

Looked up other 'fluff' (Fluff? What's a 'Fluff'? ) recipes online and they called for No-sugar jello, Cool Whip (ugh!), marshmallow creme (ugh again!) with some given the designation of 'diet desserts'.

Can someone please give me a sense of what I have stumbled into?

[Jeffery C]

I remember having fluff as a kid but the memories did not make the "Aha" category. I think most of these recipes stem from the VERY popular trifle dessert of that era (and still a crowd pleaser today). The combination of fruit and a set whipped creamy concoction with some type of textural contrast provided by either a soaked or unsoaked baked item or rice can be found in many cultures. It is a very ethereal experience when made properly.

If you are just basically learning to cook with enthusiasm I am impressed with your improvisational techniques to overcome your culinary obstacles. Your care and attention to detail go a long way to make up for lost time. The ability to assess a situation on the fly is a highly prized commodity in the professional kitchen and I can tell you from experience, a rare trait. Don't sell yourself short and feel confident in your ability to tackle any challenge!

[Darienne]

Hello Jeffery C. Welcome to the eG gang and thank you for the information and words of inspiration.

You put the dessert into a useful context for me and I am likely to try making it again, but in a more useful fashion for our own needs.

Interesting about cooking as I learn more and more, how the many bits and pieces come together in larger patterns. As in...you take one set of ingredients, say those in a custard, and cook them in one of several ways, and then whip them or not, and then serve them hot or cool them, and put them into, on top of or under other ingredients or not, or freeze them, churned or not. And what other ingredients you can substitute if you don't have the ones called for...and then how that becomes a useful variation of the original recipe. And if you live in a cooler or wetter or drier climate you would combine them with a different grains. And if you had easy access to cooking fuel that makes a difference in how you cook them. And so on and so on. Absolutely fascinating.

Wonderful!!! I'm almost glad I never had any interest in cooking before. Allows me in my quickly approaching dotage to find a new obsession to urge me on. Which is probably more than anyone wanted to know.