First thing to do is start cooking the rice. Bring the water to a boil in a large pot or saucepan. Stir in the rice and salt. Then cover it and let it simmer over low heat, stirring a few times, until the water is almost fully absorbed. This will run about 15 or 20 minutes.

Today we happened by a lemon tree and decided to bring some back to the dorm. While picking lemons, we encountered an abomination. I'll let the picture speak for itself.

By now, it has almost fully absorbed the water. Add the milk, half-and-half, and sugar, bring to a simmer, and then reduce the heat to maintain the simmer. Stir frequently. Now, you want to keep this up until the rice pudding begins to thicken, which will take about 30 minutes. This is what it will look like right after the addition of the milk, half-and-half, and sugar:

It's been 30 minutes and it's not quite thickening yet. If it looks like this after 30 minutes, give it an extra 5-10 minutes.

Okay, so after it finally starts to thicken, reduce the heat to low and stir every few minutes so that the rice doesn't burn on the bottom of the pot or pan. When it's done, you should be able to stand a spoon up in the rice pudding. This takes about another 15 minutes.

Next, take the rice pudding off of the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Finally, let it cool and serve at room temperature (later, refrigerate it and serve it cold). Garnish the rice pudding with cinnamon. Rice pudding is easy to make, it is cheap and tasty, and you can listen to loud music while you make it. Now, go!

Now that you have learned how to make rice pudding, please be sure to view these other pudding recipes.