Friday, March 12, 2010

Glorified Rice


This is one of our family's Easter table staples. I've never seen it anywhere other than my mom's house, so I googled it to see what I would come up with. I did find a few different variations of the recipe, but most interestingly I found this on Wikipedia:

"Glorified rice is a dessert salad served in Minnesota and other states in the Upper Midwest. It is popular in more rural areas with sizable Lutheran populations of Scandinavian heritage. It is made from rice, crushed pineapple, egg, sugar, vinegar, flour and whipped cream.[1] When served it is often decorated with maraschino cherries.[2]

The long established recipe has been the subject of many newspaper articles.[3] In 1995, Janet Letnes Martin and Suzann Nelson authored a humorous book comparing Lutheran and Catholic traditions called They Glorified Mary…We Glorified Rice: A Catholic-Lutheran Lexicon.[4][5] The book includes a recipe for Glorified rice. The dish is also included in the title of Carrie Young's Prairie Cooks: Glorified Rice, Three-Day Buns, and Other Recipes and Reminiscences.[6] Glorified rice often turns up at potlucks and church picnics.[7]"

I've never seen the history of a dish on Wikipedia before! I was impressed. Plus, it was consistent with what I know as my mom grew up in the Lutheran tradition. So, now we know.

My mom's variation is a little different.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of raw rice (I used brown.)

13.5 oz can of crushed pineapple, drained

1/3 cup of sugar

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

1 cup of mini marshmallows

10 chopped maraschino cherries

(I added 1/4 cup of sliced almonds.)

1 cup of Cool Whip.

Directions:

Prepare rice as directed and let cool. Stir in all other ingredients except Cool Whip and let stand for 30 minutes. Finally, stir in 1 cup of Cool Whip, and you're done! Yum!

For more recipes, see Balancing Beauty and Bedlam, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tuesdays at the Table, LifeasMom, Joy of Desserts, Grocery Cart Challenge.

9 comments:

  1. Very interesting! I've never heard of anything close to this - but I'm considering giving it a try.

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  2. I saw your picture linky over at Tasty Tuesday and I had to click and read! I remember growing up with this stuff. My parents and brothers are from upstate NY (Lake George area) and my mother made it all the time for church pot luck!!!! The funny is she grew up Catholic and then moved to FL and became a born again Christian and joined the Baptist Church. I think I'm going to have to try your recipe and see if my kids like it. Thank for linking up to BBandB.

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  3. Having lived in several different states including Minnesota (we now reside in Nebraska), I have never heard of Glorified Rice outside of MN. I love it....my hubby doesn't. He calles it Horrified Rice, lol...shame on him. I think I'll make this for our Easter morning potluck after services :)

    Blessings!
    Gail

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  4. Oh neat! Never heard of this before. :)

    http://alison.blogsome.com

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  5. Sounds like an alternative to rice pudding. Thanks!
    DomesticProductions15.com

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  6. Never heard of this before. Sound delicious!

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  7. I am from MN and I am SURE that I have eaten this at a church potluck! IS it kinda like rice pudding?

    =) Steph
    www.savetimesavemoneybehealthy.blogspot.com

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  8. I've only had rice pudding once that I can think of, and it was a good 10 years ago. Isn't rice pudding usually served warm? This is definitely served cold, but I guess it is like it in the sense it is sweet!

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  9. That's a very interesting history on this dish. I so glad you linked it to Vintage Recipe Thursday. Thanks!

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