Mom's Recipe for Bread Pudding

Here is the recipe for my Mom's bread pudding. It's a little time consuming, but so worth it. I think it could be cut in half, easily, and put in a smaller pan. If you had some sweet bread like a Challah ...it could be used along with a raisin bread. I plan to try making a loaf of Challah bread. It's a wonderful loaf of sweet eggy bread that is so good for french toast. We surely don't need these fattening treats, but in the winter, I love to bake... and can always freeze half or share with a neighbor. I developed my love of baking when I was just a girl. My Mom did the cooking, but she always asked for my help in the baking department. She didn't do many cookies and cakes, but her pies and fudge were well known in our family and neighborhood. I guess the growing up years in the kitchen, with not having all the gadgets that we have today, started this love affair that I have with baking. Do you love to bake? Do you bake more in the winter? I always wonder about the young people today and all the things in the bakery dept. at the store. Do people even try complicated recipes anymore? I haven't had a homemade cake at a birthday party in a long time. With the popularity of the food channels and all the wonderful gadgets and appliances we can have in our kitchens, I would think that everyone would be baking.

Balisha

Bread Pudding

2 cups milk

1/4 cup butter or margarine

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 cups day old bread cubes (I gathered these bread cubes and put them in freezer bags and thent in the freezer until I had a mixture of different kinds of breads)

1/2 cup raisins

Heat oven to 350. In 2-quart saucepan, heat milk and butter over medium heat until butter is melted and milk is hot. In large bowl, mix eggs, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Stir in bread cubes and raisins. Stir in milk mixture. Pour into ungreased pan. Set pan into a larger pan filled to about 1-2 inches with hot water. Bake uncovered 40 to 45 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from edge comes out clean. Serve warm with whipping cream or sauce of your choice.

It called for an ungreased pan, but I sprayed a little pam on the stoneware pan that I had planned to use. The pudding does puff up a bit like a souffle, so if there is too much grease on the pan it might not do this. Maybe if you use a metal pan, you wouldn't need to spray it.

Lemon Curd

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 T grated lemon zest

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

1/2 cup butter cubed

Mix these ingredients together and put in a 2 quart saucepan. Cook over med. heat stirring most of the time with a whisk. Keep cooking until it is thickened and you see the marks of the whisk and it starts to bubble on the side of the pan. This should take about 5 min. or a little more. It is a wonderful tart sauce that can be used on scones, tarts, or puddings. This isn't the recipe that was my Mom's. She never wrote her sauce recipe down. I found this and it is pretty much the same as hers.