Bread Pudding

Oh, to have a Saturday morning where I can sleep in, bake and not have any homework to do.  It's amazing.  I haven't had a morning like this in . . . well, months.  Since school started, at least.  It is wonderful.  And I read last night, and I had time to look at my new 1961 Betty Crocker's New Picture Cook Book this morning during breakfast.  And, breakfast was half of a gigantic chocolate chip pancake leftover from yesterday morning.  I love long weekends.  Especially ones that start on Thursdays.

I got all my homework done for the weekend yesterday.  It was awesome.  I haven't had two consecutive days free from classes and homework since, Labor day weekend?  It's been a long time.

So, looking at my new antique cookbook, I have gained even more appreciation for old cookbooks.  This one, in the "meal planning/table service" section covers "family service" and "formal service."  "Family service" is "most suitable for the average family," and "formal service" is "suited to the household with a servant."  All I could think of was Julia Child and her "servantless American cooks."  Oh, and it describes one of Caroline Kennedy's birthday parties in the White House, the election night menu from Mrs. Franklin Delano Roosevelt and lists Cheerios, Wheaties and Trix as a course at breakfast.  Oh, and to soften marshmallows, you're supposed to put them in a wet bag in the oven.  I love that people actually cared about these things once.  Sometimes I wish I could be a fly on the wall at different times in history -- not even just at the important moments, but the normal ones.  Just to see how different things were.

Anyway, I used to love baking on Saturday mornings.  I remember being in my apartment last year and waking up on Saturday mornings and before starting lesson plans for the week, putting something together to bake. I actually think that was the last time I made bread pudding, before this morning, that is.  Ok, so maybe it wasn't a Saturday morning, nor was I student teaching yet, but bread pudding still reminds me of my Saturday morning baking.

I found these yesterday . . . and I really would have loved to make them today, but a. I didn't have quite that much time and b. I know that I could never make them look nearly as good as Bakerella does.  So I will leave these to her.  At least for now.

But I did need to make a dessert.  We are going to visit TDK and CK in the big city this afternoon.  TDK is going to make us Korean food.  From what I've heard, she's getting quite good at it.  I'm excited.  NES happened to have leftover apple cider doughnuts from the Halloween snowstorm party, and they (although still very tasty), were starting to get old.  So I stole them, and decided to make bread pudding out of them.

I found this recipe, and in fear of complete rejection, sent the idea to mom.  To my great surprise, mom wasn't concerned about making something as fattening as doughnuts into bread pudding.  Hey, I'm ok with that.  I think the "healthy" thrown in on the website won her over.  Let's just forget that I'm not using baked doughnuts . . .

Anyway, I basically followed the recipe, inferring that the vanilla, egg and spices that are kind of just left out of the instructions went in with the other wet ingredients.  I also doubled it, and used one big casserole, so I ended up baking it almost twice as long.

Can I just say that this guy makes me smile every time I need a mini-whisk?  Sure he's top heavy if you try and leave him in a bowl, but he's a fun addition to normal old kitchen utensils.

I found this handy website for making your own apple pie spice, too.  I obviously didn't make that much, but I used the amounts to tell me approximately what the proportions should be.  It smells really good, so I must have done ok with the spices.
Now, I get to wait for the caramel sauce . . . and to try it.  Mmmmm.

Update: Mmmmmm.  That's about all there is to say.  The pudding turned out great and it was perfect with some warm caramel and whipped cream.  Yum.
Oh, and I got the esteemed job of helping put together the dot sol bibimbap this evening.  It was really fun to try some new food, and it was all really good.  And it was so fun to get to help put it together.  So cool.
And the food was amazing.  We also had Korean barbeque -- ribs in a sweet marinade with a garlicky sauce served in lettuce wraps.  Also wonderful.
Apparently the bibimbap usually has eggs on it.  We weren't adventuresome enough.  We aren't fried egg people.  Although, next time I think I'd try it. 
It was so good to catch up with the newly weds, TDK and CK, and see their new apartment!  It was a great night with great food and great company!   And to get some wedding planning/grad school tips!

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