Kathy's Kitchen, Laughs and Bread Pudding

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.