Oh Bring us some Bread-y Pudding

Bread Pudding



6 Cups of cubed potato bread
4 cups of whole milk
2 cups of sugar
4 eggs
1 stick of butter, melted
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup of pecans
1/2 cup of raisins



Place bread in a 10x13 pyrex dish that's been sprayed with Pam. Pour milk over top. Mix remaining ingredients and stir in with bread and milk mixure. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.



This was on my Christmas Eve table last night. It was hands down the best bread pudding recipe ever - I got it from a coworker's cookbook in Berwick LA. It was fantastic! Optional is to add coconut, I'm doing that next time!



Merry Christmas!

Amazing Taste How Sweet this Sounds!

Banana Pudding

1 (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 ½ cups cold water
1 (4oz)french vanilla pudding mix (instant mix)
2 cups (1pint) whipping cream
Box Vanilla Wafers
1/2 cup lemon juice
3 medium bananas sliced

Preparation
1st whip the whipping cream.
Then in a large bowl combine milk, water & pudding mix
Beat well then chill for 5mins
Remove from refridgerator and fold whip cream into the chilled mixture.
Dip the bananas in the lemon juice.
Then in a 2quart dish (preferably glass) put one-cup pudding mix then top with wafers and bananas and then pudding again. Repeat twice-ending w/pudding.
Cover and chill for at least 2hrs.
Garnish as desired.

Oh good god. This was served at a convention we participated in - they won 2nd for best dessert. I'm not kidding you, I'm a sucker for banana pudding, this is the Holy Grail as far as I'm concerned!

Versatility Heaven!

Rice Salad

1 avocado, sliced
1 cup white rice, cooked
1 cup shredded lettuce
1 can of black beans, drained
1 can of RoTel rained
1/2 cup of cilantro, chopped
1 rotisserie chicken, shredded


Mix all ingredients and serve.

This is an extremely good dish for leftover chicken or a 2nd stab at taco night. Very simple items. I've added some light sour cream, even ranch dressing instead of an avocado. Other good items are cotija cheese, corn, sliced jalapenos or roasted red peppers.

Christmas Morning - In A Snap

Breakfast Casserole

2 green peppers, diced
1 onion, diced
1 lb of breakfast sausage
1 dozen eggs
2 cups of cheese

Crumble breakfast sausage in a skillet and fry, add in diced green pepper and onion. Transfer this to a 10x13 Pyrex dish.

Add half of the cheese to sausage mix and stir. Beat all 12 eggs and pour over sausage mix. Bake for 350 for 30 minutes. Add remaining cheese and cook another 10 minutes until melted.

This dish is fantastic for Christmas morning. Can make everything ahead of time minus beating the eggs. Add toast and hash browns and you're set!

You can also dress this up quite a few different ways. I've served over biscuits with gravy (heavy, but kicks a hangover!). I've added mushrooms. I omitted green peppers and put in artichokes and tomatoes. Change up the cheese. It's pretty versatile. Even snuck bacon in place of the sausage. Topped with salsa, with ketchup, even a way to make tacos if you cut it up!

Why do we call it Swiss?

Swiss Steak

1 lb of thin round steak
1 onion sliced thin
2 green peppers, sliced into strips
1 bottle of chili sauce

Fry steaks in a pan. Add onion and green pepper. Cook until vegetables are soft. Add chili sauce and add water to thin out.

This is another Mom recipe. It must, MUST, be served with canned peas and mashed potatoes. You spoon the sauce over those as well. Most of the time, this meal ends up being a mixed pile on my plate rather than something that is civilized. This is good ol' Northern comfort food.

As a kid I used to sit in the corner of the kitchen and watch my mom cook on a stove that was retro yellow color. It had a light on and as she pan fried the steaks I'd watch her. I still remember the sound of the mixer on the potatoes... it's a good memory of Mom and growing up. Enjoy!

Why do they call it Wild?

Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup

1 quart half & half cans of beef broth
2 packages of "90 second" Uncle Ben's Wild Rice
1 package of fresh "mixed mushrooms" (or sliced white button)
1 onion, diced
2 tsp garlic
2 Tbsp Worchestershire Sauce
Salt & Pepper
2 Tbsp Oil

Saute garlic, onion and mushrooms in oil until soft. Add beef broth and simmer. Season with salt & pepper. Cook rice according to package directions. Add to pan, along with Worchestershire. Slowly add half and half and heat through.

This soup is fantastic next to a wedge salad with blue cheese dressing. It's also fantastic when thickened with a little corn starch (remove a ladel of heated broth to a bowl, add 1 or 2 Tbsp of cornstarch -- whisking to thicken -- and add back to soup) and poured over french bread.

Mmm...Mmm Good!

La Madeleine Tomato Basil

2 cans of 28oz diced tomatoes, not drained
2 sticks of real salted butter
1 bunch of fresh basil, chopped
1 quart of whole cream
2 Tbsp garlic, minced
salt & pepper

Melt butter in pot, add herbs and spices, add tomatoes. Heat through. Pour in cream stirring, continue to heat. Enjoy!

Today we're predicted snow in our little city. This soup is easy to grab the ingredients on the way home and simple to prep and eat while curled up on the couch!


Today we're predicted snow in our little city. This soup is easy to grab the ingredients on the way home and simple to prep and eat while curled up on the couch!