Arroz con Leche

Arroz con leche (rice with milk) is exactly as the name advertises and reminiscent of American rice pudding, but with 3 main differences. 1) Arroz con leche has never been served cold to me; it's always been warm, or at the very least room temperature. 2) Arroz con leche is not as custardy as rice pudding because it has no eggs (which, I admit, may not be all arroz con leche recipes, but just a not-so-well-off, money saving adaption). 3) Arroz con leche is the name of a Mexican nursery rhyme, which has nothing to do with the food except that whenever we make it, everyone sings it, and it gets stuck in my head for the next 24 to 48 hours.

Ingredients
1 cup rice
2 cups water
2 large cinnamon sticks
1 liter/quart milk
1 cup sugar
a pinch of salt

Directions

1 - Cook the rice in 2 cups of water with one cinnamon stick over medium-low heat, until all the water is consumed, about 20 minutes.

2 - Add the milk, sugar, other cinnamon stick and salt to the rice mixture.

3 - Cook uncovered for 30 minutes over medium-low heat.

4 - Serve warm (with a sprinkling of ground cinnamon on top, if you like).

In case you're wondering, (and you can google it to get videos if you're really curious)...

Arróz con leche, me quiero casar

Con una señorita de San Nicolás

Que sepa coser, que sepa bordar

Que sepa abrir la puerta para ir a jugar.

Yo soy la viudita del barrio del rey

Me quiero casar y no sé con quién

Con ésta sí, con ésta no

Con esta señorita me caso yo.