Good Eating Monday: Old Fashioned Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding!

Welcome to the first week of February!
It's supposed to be 31 degrees tonight, so after cleaning up the front walk beds, I went around covering various things that either are blooming, about to bloom or that have sensitive leaf buds, like my hydrangea's. 

I picked all the yellow daffodils and brought them inside for a cheerful vase on my counter.
For Garden Pic Wednesday this week I have an excellent photo of a pine tree flower! You didn't know pine trees flower? 

Well, you'll have to stop back for a look!

Today's Good Eating Recipe is a family favorite my Mother used to make often for us as kids:
Old Fashioned Cinnamon Raisin Bread Pudding!

What Old Fashioned Cinnamon
Raisin Bread Pudding Looks Like

This is just your basic wholesome old fashioned bread pudding made with just eggs, bread, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, sugar & raisins!
No sauces to make. Just simple bread pudding. We'd eat it hot with a little evaporated milk poured over the top. 

Then, after being refrigerated over-night, it cut into nice bars you could handle with your fingers, cold. What a great snack after school!

My Mother would save leftover bread ends and so on in the freezer until she had 4 cups worth to make this!

This recipe makes a 9 x 13 pan!

 Old Fashioned Cinnamon Raisin
 Bread Pudding 

Ingredients:

4 cups Stale Bread, cut or torn into small pieces

4 cups Milk, scalded

1 - 2 cups Raisins

4 Eggs, well beaten

2/3 cup Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Vanilla

Ground Nutmeg shaken over top

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees and spray a 9 x 13 pan with oil spray.

In a large bowl, combine 4 cups of bread pieces with 4 cups of hot scalded milk & the raisins, then let bread soften and soak while you do next step. 
(Scalded milk is milk brought to just boiling, then removed immediately from heat)

In a smaller bowl, beat together 4 eggs, sugar, salt, cinnamon  & vanilla.

Combine egg mixture with the bread in the larger bowl, stirring together until well mixed and all cubes are moist. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan. Sprinkle top with nutmeg to taste, then place in a 325 degree oven and bake for 1 hour & 15 minutes (75 minutes total) until lightly golden brown.

Remove and cool. Serve either still warm with whipped cream or evaporated milk in bowls.   Chill leftovers & cut into easy to eat bars!
Keep refrigerated.

Note: you can replace scalded milk with sour milk, if you have some on hand. 

To use sour milk: don't boil. Just pour 4 cups of sour milk over bread pieces, add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, stir, then let soak a little longer.

(Adding the baking soda to sour milk neutralizes the "sourness," so it's an important step when using sour milk in any cooking!)

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