Ah, the rice cooker! I first came across this remarkable device when I moved to Japan. My apartment was furnished and it came with this crock-pot looking device sitting on a kitchen counter. I had a friend show me how to use it and that was it. My rice cooker was never barren again! Like most Japanese I kept rice warm in the cooker so I could always dip in and get me some. A little with breakfast, making rice balls for lunch and of course with dinner! When I moved back to New York I had to have one. I went down to Chinatown and picked one up, brought it home, plugged it in and again, it’s rarely been turned off!

I guess the cool thing for me is how I always have rice at the ready, but even if I didn’t it’s a breeze to make rice in the cooker. It’s so quick! Although, I do have to turn it off and clean it every once in a while. I remember this one guy I knew in Japan. When he moved a bunch of friends and I were there to help him out. Turns out there were worms living in his rice cooker because he never cleaned it. Gross!!! So you have to remember to please, clean your rice cooker!

Did you know that years ago Betty Crocker tried to sell its cake-making kits in Japan? Well, most Japanese don’t have stoves so, they came up with this formula to make cakes in a rice cooker. Seems like a good idea. What ingenuity! However, they didn’t do enough research or else they would have known that rice is revered in Japan and women didn’t want to sully their rice cookers with cake! Needless to say the cake making kits didn’t sell and were taken off the market. But you can use a rice cooker to make sweet stuff. I’ve made rice pudding in my rice cooker, mmm, with raisins! Add milk or a bit of coconut milk, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. If you don’t want to use raisins, mix it up with some dried cherries!

I’ve also cooked more than plain rice. Jambalaya is a breeze in a rice cooker. Add shrimp some chicken broth, onions, green pepper, some garlic and butter and salt and pepper and of course rice and that’s basically it. So easy. I love my rice cooker! Rice cooker fetish indeed!!

Guest Blog by Mary Albert.  Created by the writing club at Happy Health. Happyhealth.net is the place to look up the med alert system and other similar items. Additional information can be found at Happyhealth.net .

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