And Cuddle Duds, a must when you live in the north! But I digress...
Yesterday's cold came mid-day but even then some schools closed down for the day because they couldn't have kids walking home in -20 wind chills.
(Mind you, we didn't know about wind chill when I was a kid, and yes, I walked to school every day, so did all the kids.... and when it was cold we bundled up and walked to school like the Michelin man ... Waddle.... waddle.... waddle....
But now we know when wind chills are coming and this one is a solid force so bread pudding seemed like a nice thing to bake.
THIS IS A SIMPLE RECIPE.
This is our standard Vanilla Bread Pudding which is a misnomer because it has vanilla in it... but it also has cinnamon and nutmeg, so it's a match made in heaven for fall and winter. I usually have some stale bread around... this is a loaf of a favorite "Texas Toast" (MINDY!!!!) a really nice, thick-cut bread with great texture for toast or French Toast. It was in Beth's freezer for a long time so they donated it to the cause. And I made sure it didn't have freezer-taste.... (wrinkles nose)... no freezer-funk in our bread pudding!
Here we go!
VANILLA SPICE BREAD PUDDING
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Put about 1" of hot water into a large baking pan, large enough to "cradle" your pudding dish. I used an 11" x 15" pan and then an 11" x 7" pan for the bread pudding. Perfect fit! The goal of the water is to add steam while you're baking the pudding.... but also to keep the bottom from getting overdone.
6 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, or 1/2 of a grated nutmeg
Whisk all of these together thoroughly.
Add 1 1/2 cups of milk. Whisk again.
Cut pieces of bread (I like to use the crusts, too) into small cubes, like stuffing bread size. Add to custard mix carefully... Don't mash or whisk, fold gently to hold the bread's shape...
This is too liquidy for me, so I cut up three more slices of bread. I like my bread pudding on the dry side, not oozie.....
BETTER!!! :)
Now it goes into the 11" x 7" pan... which then gets tucked into it's big brother pan.... and we bake at 325 degrees until firm.... Ovens vary and so do baking pans, and a dryer pudding takes a little longer, so just relax, have some tea or coffee and let the bread pudding bake.... It smells marvelous!
Artwork by Lena:
So it's cold here, and we heat with wood... which works 95% of the time.
MY FEET ARE SO COLD and I have two pairs of socks on. And one is wool..... but the floor in the kitchen and entry is icy!
This is when I get all that wonderful respect for prairie women. Remember Laura Ingalls talking about the thick frost above their beds and how their breath froze????
I am saving my quiet money for a new heating system.
#musthaveheat
#cozyisnice
#threedognight
Three dog night was an old saying in Alaska and parts north, that on the coldest night you slept with three dogs around you to keep you warm enough. You know what I think of???
Dog breath.
Me and three dogs with dog breath.
Nope.
Give me central heat and call me spoiled. :)
I'm okay with that!
So how are you dealing with the cold? Or are you like me and we just kind of shrug it off and figure it's January... some days are colder than others... and it's kind of been that way right along!
Thanks for stopping by today!
Most of the time.
Ruthy, you had me at bread pudding. I love the stuff, though I like some raisins in mine. Mimi's Café always had a good bread pudding. I have made it in forever because I will eat all myself. It's like kryptonite.
ReplyDeleteOh, I remember bundling up like the Michelin man. Like the kid says in A Christmas Story, it was like getting ready for deep sea diving. And like the kids in A Christmas Story, we went outside and played on the playground in the snow. We built snow forts and snow men and the metal slide was extra awesome if it had ice on it. I'm sure they kept us in if the air temps were real low, but I only remember playing in the snow. And ice in my hair because I had a habit of chewing my hair. How gross is that?
Oh! The memories! I remember one year when the 5th grade kids had a contest to see who could make the biggest snow man. During the first recess, the teams all made their bottom ball - they had to be at least six feet high! During the lunch break, they made the second ball. Someone was smart and stopped when theirs got to be about four feet high.
DeleteAnd then - you guessed it - they tried to put the smaller snow ball on top of the bigger one. 10 and 11 year old kids.
We ended up with a lot of giant snowballs scattered across the playground. :-)
Isn't that a hoot, Jan??? My kids did that, too, not reasoning that the monster bottom ball was too tall to then add the second ball.... A creative cousin got newspaper coverage when she cleverly built like six snowmen of varying heights (and all pudgy!) beneath her kids basketball hoop and titled it "Snowmen Can't Jump"... It was so funny!!!!
DeleteAnd Mindy, I like raisins but I'm the only one. And I love the two-egg/1/2 cup milk ratio. That's the perfect custard taste/texture for me.
I love this stuff!!!
This round of cold weather has moved on east of us! Remember my post from Monday? We're supposed to be warm this weekend - 44° today, 55° tomorrow, 50° on Saturday. But it won't last! Next Tuesday is supposed to be single digits again during the day, and who-know-how-cold at night.
ReplyDeleteBut *shrug* it's January/February. What else do we expect in the north?
But that bread pudding... I'm like Mindy. That's a dish I would devour all by myself. I'll be saving this recipe for when there's a crowd around!
We're on the winter see-saw! We're getting warmer this weekend, and then back down, too, but it doesn't look drastic at this point. But I'm too smart to believe more than a day or two out.... :) That monster lake west of me and north of me like to mess with meteorological heads!
DeleteHa! I still bundle up like the Michelin man! Sometimes even in the house! I hear you about cold floors. My landlord put in new windows this past fall and they've made a huge difference in the windchill factor in my house. Unfortunately my front door has lots of space between it and the door frame and I can feel the cold air breezing in.
ReplyDeleteUm...dare I confess this here? I've never had bread pudding! It sounds like a delicious comfort food though. But how much bread do you use? Rookies like me need to know exact numbers. And you don't toast it first? Or does it have to be stale?
This was a thick-sliced bread and it wasn't real stale... and it was perfect. I avoid fresh, gummy bread. And bread that's too crusy (like Italian/French) I remove some of the crust, but this bread was like perfect....
DeleteSo Kav, I want most of the liquid soaked into the bread when I fold it into the custard mix. Baking dries it out, and I want it not too custardy when it's done, but I want the custard flavor baked into the bread. Think "French Toast" in a casserole form.
Remember the time I tried it with leftover donuts and it was horrible???????
I haven't lived that one down yet!!!
Would you believe I've never made bread pudding?! I really need to remedy that.
ReplyDeleteI should add that I'll have to shop. You can't find white bread or whole milk in our house! haha We don't have little ones here anymore so we've had skim or almond milk for years. Plus whole wheat bread. I wonder what type bread pudding that would make? :)
DeleteWhole wheat makes great French Toast so I would think the bread pudding would be marvelous. And you can make half-batches and bake it in any small pan... Just divide the ingredients and go with the 2 eggs/1/2 cup milk. And I used to make it with 2% before we had all the littles here, and it came out fine. And if you like French Toast with maple syrup, then you'd love bread pudding served with some warmed maple syrup. So good! Whipped cream is great on it, too.
DeleteI love pure maple syrup--the real thing! I would love flavoring it with that. Thanks for the idea!
DeleteI love bread pudding, but hubby doesn't. Since it is just the two of us, I never make it. It's been a couple of years but my sister will make it for me when I visit. We usually add a scoop of vanilla ice cream. If we are lucky, we'll have some for breakfast the next day. I haven't had it made with nutmeg, maybe I can convince my sister to give it a try the next time I'm there.
ReplyDeleteI love the nutmeg addition, but it's great without it, too. And ice cream??? Yes, please! :)
DeleteYou can use this as a base for so many toppings. Andrea, I love how you and your sister think!
I forgot all about the bread pudding I was laughing so hard at the dog breath. Only you!
ReplyDeleteIn SC, the last couple of days have been 40 during the day and 20 at night and I'm freezing with central heat and fuzzy bed socks. I can't imagine being that cold. I've been trying to find a place to move to. It sounds like I better stay in the South.
Oh, Linda, we are all convinced it makes us healthier and heartier to have to deal with nature's more cruel cold and extended elements, LOL! I think you just get used to what you know, what you love best... and I know so many folks who moved south only to come back. Some because they wanted to be by family (a great reason!) and others because they wanted to be in a place that reflected them.
DeleteAnd if you're from NYC, then WNY is a whole different thing, like an alien land. And vice versa....
So we're funny people, aren't we???
And I got to see you in TWO places today, here and over at Petticoats & Pistols! Thank you so much, Linda!!!!