Giving Goldilocks a Run for Her Money

It's time for Round Five in the American Girl journey that Sweetpea and I are taking together. We finished up the fifth book in the Kirsten Larsen series, "Kirsten Saves the Day," and after we flipped through the pages of the corresponding cookbook,  Sweetpea chose this traditional Swedish breakfast food as the recipe that we would pull together in our own little kitchen.

Swedish Rice Porridge is traditionally served around Christmas time in Europe, and can be left as a treat for Santa(instead of the milk and cookies option that Americans utilize) and is versatile because it can be a breakfast meal or a sweet dessert treat just by adding a little extra sweetener. 

I'll be honest and say that I was a little hesitant to eat this.  Porridge makes me think of some kind of gooey slop that bears eat when little blonde girls don't invade their space.  But, I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed this, as did the rest of the family.

So, how do you make this not so gooey breakfast?  Just follow the directions below (*Be prepared: this takes a little time and is not something you can just whip up quickly.)

What You Need

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup white rice
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cinnamon stick( I couldn't find these anywhere, so I just sprinkled in a teaspoon or so of ground cinnamon)
1 large, firm apple, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla 
honey for drizzling

Melt the butter in a saucepan and swirl it around for a good coating.  Put the rice, water, cinnamon stick(or ground cinnamon) and salt in the saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Lower the heat to a simmer. Cover the pot and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until all the water has been absorbed. (*Be vigilant here so that you don't scorch the rice!*) 

Pour the milk into the saucepan. Over medium heat, bring to a simmer(*Do this slowly.  If you rush it the milk will curdle). When the milk begins to simmer, turn heat down to low. Carefully add the apple, raisins and brown sugar. Stir gently to incorporate. 


Cover the pan and simmer the porridge for 30-45 minutes. As it cooks, it will thicken. Stir occasionally.

When the porridge is the not too cold, not too hot, but just right (had to do it), take the pot off the heat. Remove the cinnamon stick if you used one and stir in the vanilla . 

Pour into bowls and serve with additional milk, cream, or honey.  
 

Now on to the craft portion!  Hooray! :)  Sweetpea has had her eye on this pillow since way back at the beginning of this adventure, but I kept putting it off because I truly, truly do NOT enjoy sewing by hand and my sewing machine is out of commission for now.  This time, I caved because she just HAD to have a pillow for her American Girl Samantha doll that she got for Christmas.  Plus, it's more authentic to do it by hand.  I definitely don't think the Larsens had sewing machines!

First we chose the fabric from my stash, which of course had to be pink and purple (duh, mom!).  We chose a solid hot pink, a solid purple corduroy, and a pink and purple striped.  Then I took the two solids and cut out an 8 1/2 inch square from each. 

Then I used a ruler and a fabric pen to draw a line diagonally from one corner to the next on each square and then cut along the line to make two triangles from each.

Next I placed one triangle of each fabric together with the right sides (the side that will show on the outside of the pillow) together and then pinned them together along the bottom.

Using a running stitch, I sewed each set of triangles together along the bottom where the pins were and then Sweetpea helped me remove the pins.  Then I ironed the seams on each triangle flat.

I set the triangle pieces aside and grabbed the striped fabric.  Then I cut out an 11 inch square from it and set it aside.

Back to the triangles!  I then pinned the right sides of the triangles together along the long bottom edge and sewed them together using a running stitch. Again, I ironed the seams flat.

Almost done! 

I pinned the patchwork square(although we did ours a little differently and just made it with the same colors touching as per Sweetpea's request) to the 11inch square of striped fabric and then sewed three of the four sides together.

After removing all the pins, I turned the fabric pocket inside out, stuffed it with this filling and then sewed the pillow closed.

All it needed then was a button!

I had to do most of that in shifts, as my hands were screaming at me several times, but when Sweetpea woke up the next morning and saw the finished product, she squealed and ran to put it in her doll bed, so I guess it was worth the effort!  Once my sewing machine is fixed or Hubs lets me buy a new one, I might churn a few more of these out for the girls' beds.  Cute!

Only one more book to go in the Kirsten Larsen series! Next time, I'll show you our finished Kirsten lapbook! Then we are moving on to read about Samantha Parkington!  See you next time!


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