Homemade Tapioca Pudding
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Oh, friends. How I miss the days of simplicity — you know, those days without children. Would I ever wish my children away? Never. Of course. But I do daydream of time spent alone... time spent in silence... time spent doing anything other than cleaning accidents out of underwear and banana peels out of bed sheets.
I remember the days... after all, they weren't that long ago.
I would come home from work to silence. I'd leisurely make a supper of my choosing. Stuart and I would sit at the kitchen table, sipping wine, sharing about our days, talking uninterrupted about whatever dreams came to our minds. These days, supper is... well, not exactly relaxing. Which is why I need to make up little treats along the way.
Treats that comfort my soul.
Treats that pull me back from the motherhood brink of insanity.
You know the brink I'm talking about — the one that you're on when you drive to your sister's house, knock on the door with tears in your eyes, and ask her if you can borrow some shampoo because your fancy salon shampoo got dumped out in the bathtub by two rugrats who were planning “bubbles” and the idea of going back to said salon with three children in tow makes you want to cry even harder and you have greasy hair and no way to clean it.
Oh, and by the way, you also wore pajama pants to pick up said shampoo from said sister. Because you're five months pregnant and magically, can no longer pull up any of your pants past your upper knee fat.
And you also have an underwear line in said pajama pants because it happened to be laundry day, and all your pretty underwear that doesn't leave an underwear line was in the washing machine. So, naturally, you were feeling pretty sexy — underwear lines, greasy hair, frail spirit, and dripping mascara.
Yes. That's the brink I'm talking about.
In moments like that, there are sweet moments of pleasure amongst comforting, from-scratch treats. So scoop up a bowl, hide yourself in the closet, lock the door, put some French Cafe on Pandora, and pretend like the world is sitting still — if only for a few spoonfuls.
Not that, ahem, I did that or anything.
Tapioca pudding always makes me nostalgic. I remember my Dad loving tapioca pudding, and whenever I eat it, I think of him as a little boy — the youngest of five brothers — and how big of a treat it must have been to get a bowl of this squishy goodness.
I can't get enough!
Which is exactly why I'm eating Bowl #3 as I type this.
What can I say? It's been one of those days.
Once I finish licking my spoon, I'll head to the shower, wash my nasty hair, say a prayer, and get back to it.
After all, the banana peels ain't going to clean themselves up.
And Amen.
Homemade Tapioca Pudding
Ingredients:
2/3 cup tapioca pearls
1 1/2 cups filtered water
4 1/2 cups whole (organic milk)
Large pinch sea salt
3 eggs (separated)
1/2 cup raw honey
1/2 cup maple syrup (more, to taste)
Beans from one vanilla pod or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions:
Combine the tapioca pearls and filtered water in a large saucepan. Set aside for 20 minutes to hydrate.
After the hydrating period, add the milk, sea salt, and egg yolks to the tapioca pearls. Bring the mixture up to a low simmer and allow the mixture to continue lightly boiling for about 10 minutes, stirring often.
Remove the pudding from the heat and gently whisk in the raw honey and maple syrup, adding more as desired. After the mixture has cooled for about 15 minutes, gently fold in the vanilla beans.
Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled. Oh, who am I kidding, it’s delicious at every temperature.
