THE TAPIOCA TEST

I recently completed a complicated writing project that involved quite a bit of research.  Now I’m waiting to see what my editor thinks.  That might take a while.

The right thing to do is to tackle one of those other research piles (for three prospective children’s books) stacked on my desk.  But I’m still a little “tired.” Can paper stare at one accusingly?  Maybe. 

Yesterday I decided to escape.  The kitchen seemed like a good place to spend some quality time that didn’t involve writing.

After perusing my food supply I found a cheerful little box of tapioca, that pearly stuff made from the cassava root, tucked behind my spices.

To me tapioca pudding is comfort food—just what I needed.  But there was no regular milk in the fridge, only almond milk.  I’ve been trying to shed a few pounds and most almond milks have less calories and more calcium than good old cow’s milk.  I decided to perform a cooking test that would provide the answer to this burning question:  Does tapioca pudding taste as good if it’s made with almond, rather than cow’s milk?

Well, that required a really necessary trip to the grocery store to buy some regular milk for the other pudding—plus spray whipped cream and maraschino cherries to decorate the “winner.” (I’ll use any excuse to buy spray whipped cream.)  Oh my, this cooking project was really keeping me away from my writing.

I modified the recipe on the back of the tapioca box and added two eggs instead of one.  The extra egg white makes the pudding light and fluffy—usually.

That just didn’t happen when I substituted the almond milk.  The result was gray, leaden and unappetizing.  No whipped cream and cherry for that pudding!

The pudding made with cow’s milk was delightful, as expected.  Think I’ll save the almond milk for my smoothies from now on.

The winner!

Guess I might as well clean my bathrooms today.  Then, if I have time, maybe drop by my dentist’s office just to say “hi.”