I love making homemade bread. Kneading, feeling the dough
come to the right consistency, is fun for me. And when the bread turns out
good—what a shot of hopefully not too much pride in myself.
But this year, for whatever reason, it hasn’t risen the last
several times I’ve made it. Bummer.
A couple weeks ago, I decided to use a loaf of unrisen bread
to make the bread pudding my Mom used to make.
I remembered most of the ingredients, guessed how much of
each. I didn’t feel I needed to call my mom to ask her.
I crumbled up the bread, added cinnamon and vanilla, threw in some butter. I
didn’t have any raisins. Finally I gave in and called Mom about the amounts of
eggs and milk.
It was all mixed up; I asked Murray to pour it in the baking
dish for me and smooth it out. All ready. Oven was heated. I took hold of the
pan and prepared to put it in.
Whoops, I forgot sugar.
“I don’t have to put it back in the bowl, do I?”
“Yes.”
We did. I started dumping in sugar, but Murray thought it
would be a good idea to call Mom again and ask her how much. On the phone with
Mom he said, “Stop, that’s enough,” as I started to add more.
It turned out great, despite everything. I’ll definitely do
it again, but I hope I don’t have to use a loaf of unrisen homemade bread.
Bread pudding from Kathy’s Mom
Crumble up about a loaf worth of dried or stale bread. Add
two eggs, two cups milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 cup
sugar, a large spoonful of butter, raisins if desired.
Mix all ingredients and press into a greased baking dish. I
used a casserole dish. You could use a square baking pan, 9 inches, or even a 9
by 13 if you've got enough bread. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.
PS: I shared this recipe with a friend, but it took me two
emails to get it to her. Because the first time, I forgot to include the sugar
in the recipe.
We never stop laughing in Kathy’s kitchen.