Rice Pudding-Tea

Last night I was feeling seriously under the weather but stubbornly marched myself off to work anyway, rationalizing that I didn't have a fever (yet) although I did have quite the case of the sneezy snifflies. Throughout the shift, my co-worker, Shannon, who is one of the sweetest people on the planet, diligently and generously chimed in with "bless you" every time I sneezed. The only issue that arose was that my feeble little coughs sounded remarkably like sneezes, and so Shannon was forced to kindly inquire "was that a sneeze, or a cough?" at regular intervals. Out of compassion for Shannon I finally proposed the following stellar plan - every time I coughed, I would simply follow the act with an exclamation "cough!" in order to clarify any confusion. In my loopy, 3AM state I was quite pleased with this plan, but about that same time my other co-worker, Lucia, took pity upon me and gave me a cough drop, and so I wasn't actually able to put my plan in place for the rest of the night... but I'm still quite convinced that it remains a flawless system, at least on a theoretical level.

The end result of this History of Astra's Night of Illness ultimately equated, as you might guess, to me spending most of the day today huddled in bed with a burning sore throat and an alarmingly high temperature, and finally being forced to call in sick to work this evening. Thankfully, I've been blessedly healthy my entire life, and I fully recognize that I have absolutely no right to complain about something so minor as a fever and a sore throat, but still, I don't seem to handle being sick well - I always feel inordinately frustrated with myself, as though I somehow let everyone down by temporarily succumbing to illness. I also feel the need to clean the house obsessively, as though by expunging the carpet of germs I will also manage to banish all virulent microbes from my system. Then, of course, there are the unfortunate days when I feel so wobbly on my feet that I'm forced to put aside the vacuum cleaner and the laundry soap... and I do believe tonight is one of those nights.

Alas, I thus must humbly confess that I haven't a recipe for tonight... Zach just called and instructed me to take zinc and echinacea and go straight back to bed, so I suppose I ought to do just that. While this isn't a proper recipe, I do, however, want to share with you something comforting and cozy... Along with herbal tea with lemon and honey, my other favorite restorative, soothing beverage is rice pudding-tea. A cross between rice pudding and warm milk, this cozy, earthy, simple, vegan-friendly warm bit of comfort in a mug was first prepared for me by my college roommate, Lisa, who saw me huddled over my desk, studying for final exams while battling the flu, and immediately installed me in a more comfortable chair and oh so kindly handed me the sweet-spicy, warm depths of this pudding-tea...

Rice Pudding-Tea

*Side note... this recipe makes one serving - feel free to multiply as needed...

8 oz vanilla soymilk
1/3 cup cooked brown rice
1 T honey or agave nectar
1/8 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp cinnamon, divided
Granola for topping, optional

~ In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together the soymilk, brown rice, honey or agave nectar, cardamom, and 1/4 tsp of the cinnamon. Heat until just before simmering, stirring constantly, taking care not to let the soymilk actually come to a boil.
~ Serve either in a mug or a deep bowl with a spoon, sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 tsp cinnamon, perhaps add a flourish of crunchy granola, and savor the comfort...