Just another thought as long as half and half is in discussion, WTF is “fat free half and half?” My mom buys it and the ingredient list takes up half of the carton. It just begs the question, half what and half what? (end rant.)

It has the same effect on spaghetti bolognese – so strange when they are such different dishes – but both are lacking without the bayleaf.

Kay – if I were you I’d add about 10 bayleaves for 150 people – you won’t regret it.

I’m wondering what the bay leaf will do and if I should add more than one per pan since I’m making so much of it. I end up cooking it in two foil roasting pans because we need so much of it. Right now I’m just cooking regular long grain rice in milk with sugar & dash of salt. After it cooks for an hour or two and it’s almost set we remove the skin and cover with cinnamon then stir it in. At that point we remove it from the oven and let it chill.

It’s about a brick by the following night so we mix in 1 can of evaporated milk with one can of HOT water and work that in with our gloved hands. We’ve actually bent industrial spoons trying to get through it- hands work much better.

When it’s all loosened back up we serve and top with a cherry. It’s loved by everyone that eats it and several people each month say it’s just like their mom or grandmother used to make.

That means a lot to me knowing that I’ve done something special & meaningful for some homeless people that could use something good in their day.

I’d love to find a faster way to make it, but I don’t think doing it on the stove would be an improvement since I’m using 4 lbs of rice, 4 gallons of milk, 8 cups of sugar, and 4 good shakes of salt.

I think I’ll try it with some vanilla extract. I’m concerned about using almond extract because I don’t know if anyone has any nut allergies. Perhaps I’ll try that for our church group though. They have been begging me to make some rice pudding for our potlucks.

I made with skim milk and had delicious results.