Recipe - Cinnamon Bread Pudding

Happy 4^th of July!

You're probably wondering what Bread Pudding has to do with the 4th of July, and the answer is . . . nothing really.  I could claim that I chose it for this week because it's a classic American dessert, but it actually isn't.  It originated in 13th century England as a frugal dish to use up leftover bread.  In recent years this humble dessert has risen from being a homey comfort food to a trendy dish featured on the menus of upscale restaurants and bakeries, and the variety of flavors are endless.

Last Saturday my daughter threw a Baby Shower Brunch for her sister, and she asked me to make French Toast Kabobs.  I ordered unsliced Cinnamon Drop Bread from Old Grist Mill so I could cut the bread into large cubes without crust.  I practiced making them at home first, which turned out to be a time-consuming process.  After dipping in the egg mixture, they had to browned individually on all 6 sides, which meant turning them each multiple times (which, by the way, would have been much more difficult without the assistance of my all-time favorite cooking tool, Piggy!) Once I got the hang of how to do it, I was able to successfully duplicate the process at her house Saturday morning.  They turned out well, and her whole brunch was very lovely, as you can see. 

The only problem was that I couldn't bear to waste all the crusts and odds and end pieces left after making the cubes.  Cinnamon Bread Pudding instantly came to mind, so I cut up the leftovers into smaller pieces as uniformly as I could and hastily tossed them into a Tupperware as I went out the door.  Then on Sunday afternoon it was a simple matter to turn them into a delicious bread pudding which everyone enjoyed.  See my easy recipe below.

Cinnamon Bread Pudding

8 cups day-old Cinnamon Bread, cut into small cubes
4 cups milk plus 1 cup cream OR  5 cups 2% or Whole Milk
1 cup Sugar
3 Tablespoons Butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
6 large Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla

Note:  This makes a big pan--my largest oblong Pyrex.  You can easily cut the recipe in half and bake in a square glass pan.

Here is the Grist Mill Cinnamon Drop Bread I used, but any kind of Cinnamon Bread will do. If you want to make it with plain bread, I would suggest adding a 1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon to the egg mix.

-Slice bread into bite-sized pieces, keeping them as uniform in size as you can.

-Butter a large, oblong glass baking pan.

-Spread bread pieces out evenly in pan.

- In a saucepan, heat milk, sugar, butter, and salt over low heat just until butter melts.  It should just be warm, not hot.

-In a bowl, whisk up eggs, then whisk in the warm milk mixture.

- Add vanilla and nutmeg.

- Pour over bread, making sure to cover it all with the egg mixture.  Let stand 10 minutes or so.

- Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes.

- Serve warm, topped with whipped cream if desired.

Recipe - Frozen Strawberry Pie

Summer is here!  Time for all those fresh, delicious foods we look forward to all year.  Although our garden is now just rows of little green sprouts, I can already envision my favorite vegetables ready for picking.  The bees are buzzing happily in my raspberry patch, which is a good thing, since it appears my grand babies love raspberry jam. (Don't tell their moms, but sometimes I let them eat all the jam off their bread, then spread on more!)  We just returned from visiting daughter Britton and family in Oregon, missing the opening of their pick-your-own blueberry season by only one day!  Even if you don't grow your own, our local stores offer a variety of fresh berries. While restocking at Maceys after we got back this weekend, I saw beautiful strawberries for $1.88/lb that I couldn't pass up.  So for Sunday dinner I made this Frozen Strawberry Yogurt Pie, a long-time favorite of our children, and about the easiest dessert one could imagine.  The same recipe could be used with any other fresh berries, or even peaches.  See easy instructions below.

Frozen Strawberry Pie

2 lbs Fresh sliced Strawberries (about 6 cups)

32 oz Vanilla Yogurt (or 3 cups)
8 oz container Cool Whip, thawed in fridge
1 cup Powdered Sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 packet and 1/2 of Graham Crackers
½ cup sugar
½ stick melted butter

-Grind up Graham Crackers in food processor or by hand.  Add sugar and butter and mix well.

-Press into one very large pie pan or two small ones.  (You can even use the pre-made ones from the store instead, but I don’t think it’s as good as making your own).

-Wash and slice Strawberries.

-Mix Yogurt, Cool Whip, Powdered Sugar, and Vanilla. 

-Fold in Sliced Strawberries.

-Spoon into Graham Cracker Crust, piling it high to get it all in.

-Freeze for at least 24 hours before serving.  After it has been in the freezer awhile and firmed up, cover with plastic wrap until ready to serve.  Remove from freezer and place on counter about a half hour before serving to allow for easier cutting.  You may not need to do this if you have a good knife to cut it with or if your freezer doesn’t freeze ice cream really solid.

-Serves 8.

Recipe - Mom's Potato Salad

School's out, the rain has stopped, and picnic time is here!  Our son, Dylan, graduated from high school last week, so to celebrate we had a party for him at a park in Layton, which just happened to be a good half-way meeting point for family members.  To make things easy for me, I sent out emails asking everyone to fill out an order form choosing what kind of sandwich they wanted from Jimmy Johns, which we picked up on the way there.  We also had chips, fresh fruit, drinks, and my homemade potato salad. For dessert, Dylan's sister, Jessame, made him a fabulous chocolate graduation cake, which was as delicious as it was cute.

I got off easy for this picnic with buying the pre-made sub sandwiches, but the Potato Salad  is always a labor of love.  Our family recipe features cooked carrots and peas, which adds both color and flavor, along with lots of little green onions and sliced boiled eggs on top.  Generations of cooks in our family have made potato salad this exact way, but as far as I know there has never been a written recipe . . . until now!  When I made it the other day, I painstakingly took down notes of amounts and measurements so I could pass it on to you.  Potato salad is one of those things everyone has their own favorite way of making, but if you're dissatisfied with yours or just looking for something new, give it a try!  Instructions and photos below.

Mom’s Potato Salad
Note: This is a huge salad for a party—enough to serve 20 people.   So if you’re making it just for the fam, you may want to cut the recipe in half.  My dad could live on this salad, so I always make extra for him.  Keep leftovers for up to five days. 

30 small to medium potatoes

10 large, whole carrots, peeled and sliced.  More if they are skinny.

1 bag Western Family Frozen Petite Peas

2 large or 3 small bunches Green Onions

1 jar Miracle Whip Salad Dressing

½ jar Best Foods or Kraft Mayonnaise

½ cup of whipping cream

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons or so salt

½ teaspoons black pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

2 Tablespoons yellow mustard (or so)

6 or 8 boiled eggs

Paprika and parsley for garnish

-Wash potatoes and place in large pot, with the largest ones on the bottom.  Add a tablespoon or so of salt and add just enough cold water to cover. 

-Bring to a boil, then turn to simmer until potatoes are just tender—do not overcook them, but make sure they are done.  I like to poke the biggest one right to the center with a toothpick.  If it’s done, then they all are. 

-While the potatoes are cooking, peel and slice the carrots.  Add a teaspoon or so of salt and fill the pan about a third of the way up with water.  Simmer until done, testing them just as you did the potatoes.  Run cold water over them so they’ll stop cooking, and drain well.  Put in fridge.

-Cook the frozen peas in a small amount of salted water, as with the carrots.  As soon as they aren’t frozen anymore and the water has just started to simmer, they are done.  Do not overcook--pretty much just long enough to thaw them and simmer only a minute.  (You can even just throw them on top of the carrots when the carrots are almost cooked and save dirtying another pan).  Drain well and cool in fridge with the carrots.

-Remove the potatoes from heat and pour off hot water so they won’t keep cooking.  Let cool until you can handle them but they are still warm.  This will help them peel easier.

-When they are peeled, place in fridge for at least an hour to cool thoroughly.  To avoid issues with food poisoning, do not ever add the dressing to potatoes that are still warm.  The potatoes need to be completely cold (and do not cool them on countertop except while they’re waiting to be peeled for 20 minutes or so.   Potatoes handled improperly, not mayo, is the cause of most potato salad related food poisoning).

-While the potatoes are chilling, wash, peel, and slice the green onions.

-Boil the eggs (simmer about ten minutes, then cool fast with cold water and place in fridge).

-Dice the potatoes and place back in fridge while you make the dressing.

-Whip the cream in a glass bowl.

-Mix Miracle Whip, Mayo, mustard, lemon, salt, pepper, and sugar into the cream.  Then take a chunk of potato, dip it in the dressing and taste it.  Adjust seasonings at this point to suit your tastes.  Also, instead of part mayo and part Miracle Whip, you can use all Miracle Whip, which is what my mom always did.  If you’re not a fan of Miracle Whip and use mayo for most things, you should know that although I personally dislike Miracle Whip for most purposes, for some reason it is perfect for potato salad--more flavorful and quite a bit lower in fat than mayonnaise.  The only reason I add part mayo instead making the whole thing with MW is that I usually have more mayo on hand at any given time.  So please feel free to use straight MW if you would like.   And remember that the seasonings amounts I listed are very much open to adjustment.  I normally don’t measure anything at all for this, but I did the other day just to give you an idea of amounts.  In addition, since the size of the potatoes vary somewhat each time you make it, just add more or less dressing as needed.  You don’t want it to either be too dry or have too much dressing.

-Fold into potatoes, green onions, carrots, and peas.  I usually add the peas after everything else is in, so they don't get mushed, but in this photo it shows them all together because I forgot.  See how pretty and bright the peas and carrots are?

-Slice your boiled eggs and arrange across the top.  Sprinkle lightly with Paprika and decorate with parsley springs if desired.  I have an egg slicer that makes my slices uniform, but you can do it with a paring knife.