...remembering the smells of Grandma's house!
I've been nostalgic these past days, reminiscing about my youth, in my mind. I remember my grandmother, cooking a lot!! And I remember in her baking, she'd use LARD (rendered pig fat) for her margarine or crisco or butter as we most commonly use in today's times. And how I loathed the taste of lard. Everything from her cinnamon rolls to baked pie crusts had that god-awful flavor. Yet, when she'd bake, her whole house would smell divinely fragrant and make me impatient to sample. I would especially like her pies. Tho, I wouldn't TOUCH the pie crust....because, well here I go--gag city!!! Okay, so I think I made myself clear on this dislike.
To make a long story, shorter, I have several recipes that were handed down to my mother then on to me. Some of my favorites of hers that I now have re-edited to add margarine in place of lard. And you know what? They're just as sweet smelling and taste a whole helluva lot better. No fatty after-taste!!
Now mind you, her bread pudding was good. And when it was topped with her vanilla sauce or homemade ice cream, I could skimp on the lardy homemade bread of hers and pig out on the dessert without feeling I was being gyped of something everyone else was foundering over.
So with her recipe (much revised) I just finished making homemade bread pudding! And the kitchen, well, you'd have to be here! The warmth of the olden days comes to mind. Wishing my grandma and mom were here with me. And oh the memories of sitting around her kitchen, and listening to the two grown ladies jabber on and on about much ado about nothing in particular. Either that, or I was so young, I wouldn't have understood what they were talking about in the first place.
But okay, I digress. I can't wait for my before bedtime snack tonight. I have Blue Bell Vanilla Ice Cream from Brenham, Texas in the freezer, and I just took out the bread pudding from the oven. We're gonna have Mexican Turkey Burgers with guacamole, hot sauce, jalapenos, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes and sour cream, along with home made oven fries and our nightly staple, tossed salad with ranch dressing. LITE dressing. No foolin'. Gotta cut a FEW calories here and there, right?
Anyway, above, the photo is the final result....
Here's my grandma's (revised) recipe. I am one of those cooks who has never measured anything, but 'guesstimate'! So, sometimes my stuff ends up a little more sweet, or a helluva lot spicier than if I'd follow the recipe and measured precisely. But, why? After nearly 50 years of cooking and baking, I really should know by looking when I have a cup of flour or something of the same --poured into the bowl!! Right? Besides, it makes life more interesting. And I've always been complimented on my meals!! (psssst: Even to the point where my father in law would ask my hubby's mother, his wife to find out how "Wystful 1" makes this or that...there was a lot of contention between the two of us --jealousy is a strong word, but I DO think she got jealous that I loved to cook and was good at it).
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1 Large half loaf, day old french bread. (sliced and air dried - about 6 slices of 2" thick slices)
1/4 cup of melted margarine (or butter if you prefer)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup pecans (this I normally leave out)
4 whole eggs
1 T. cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
2 t. vanilla extract
2 c. hot milk (I microwave it in a large bowl to just boiling temp---but NOT boiling!!)
1 t. nutmeg
In an extra large mixing bowl I break the dried bread into large 1" chunks. I add to this the margarine, raisins, spices, and mix well to coat the dried bread cubes. Place into an ungreased 8x8 square glass pan.
Set this aside.
In a large mixing bowl I add the eggs and sugar and whisk it to beat the egg yolks, mixing the egg whites together. I then add the vanilla.
With the two cups of hot milk in hand, I slowly, SLOWLY pour the milk into the sugar and egg mixture until the milk is well blended.
When well blended, I pour over the cinnamon bread chunks that was placed in the 8x8 pan. Let the pan sit about 5 minutes and then pop into a pre-heated 375 degree oven and bake about 25 minutes (the pudding mixture will be done when you stick a toothpick into the center and it comes back clean when you pull it back out).
Scoop out the cooled (yet still warm) bread pudding into parfait cups and add a dip of vanilla ice cream.
YUMMY!! Serves 4-6
Time to prepare about 30 minutes
Bake time @375 degrees - 20 to 30 minutes depending on oven type.
Will refrigerate overnight if any left over.
Enjoy!!
Granny * FRIDAY'S CHILD * Lucy Stern * Wystful1 * Lucy Stern * Wystful1 * Melli *
7 Comments:
Yum. I'm stealing it too. I can never remember where I've seen a recipe so I will mail it to myself right now.
I agree on the lard. My mom used Crisco for almost everything or mixed half and half with butter (real butter). Margarine back then was that awful white stuff in a plastic bag. We had to squeeze food coloring in.
Yuck.
I do remember the lard too. Here we had like a block of lard and you just cut the amount you need.
Copied your recipe.
Thanks for dropping by.
My dad never used lard when he cooked, it was always Crisco. I will use crisco or butter in my recipes.
That looks like a 9" x 13" pan, did you double the recipe?
You need to be more specific. Vanilla Bean? or French Vanilla. I love the Vanilla Bean and I bet it taste awesome with the bread pudding. I'll give your recipe a try. I have everything in need so I'll make it tomorrow. Thanks for the recipe.
No-------the photo is an 8x8 glass pan.
Sorry I confused you about the vanilla. I was talking about the Blue Bell Ice Cream. I live in Houston and we eat Blue Bell too. I like the Vanilla Bean Ice Cream from Blue Bell....
I do have an 8 x 8 pan and I will give it a try today and eat it with my Vanilla Bean Blue Bell ice cream. Ha Ha.
Okay....sorry 'bout the confusion. Mine is "the original" Homemade Vanilla kind.
Okay... like I said on the board ... bread pudding isn't me... BUT the memory is something I can relate to! This is how I feel when I bake apple pie! (and no... no LARD in my crust!) But my grandma never used lard either -- only pure sweet butter! (my addiction!) Soooo... I'm glad you thought to turn your leftovers into this wonderful ...er... yummy... memory! ;)
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