Banana Bread Pudding

Wow, has it really been a year since I made Ricotta Cake for Charlie's birthday last year!? Time flies. This year, I made Banana Bread Pudding for my favorite human. It was a huge success and very easy.

It all began with a couple of hot dog buns. I diced them up.

Then I sliced up some ripe bananas and put the buns and bananas in a baking dish. I sprinkled a generous dash of nutmeg and cinnamon on top.

Then I made the custard: milk, eggs, vanilla, salt, and sugar.  The custard got poured over the top.

Then the bread pudding baked. The sweet smell of cinnamon and bananas filled the apartment ... ahhh! So much nicer than the fresh coat of deck stain that has been wafting through lately. Yuck.The bread pudding was done when it was firm in the center, but not dry. Giving the pan a hearty jiggle made this clear.

After a night of school for both Charlie and I, it sure was nice to come home to this treat. Freshly baked banana bread pudding with a little scoop of organic chocolate ice cream ... a dreamy combination!

Happy birthday to you, Charlie. You are sweeter than banana bread pudding! I tried to find the most flattering photo of you to accompany this post. You sure are handsome.

Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding

An afternoon treat for this terrible dark and drizzly Friday afternoon: Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding! Now, a moment of honesty... I didn't believe it when I read Mollie's description for this dessert: "transcendent served warm, with ice cream!" Really?! Could some simple dessert distract me from these January blues? I was willing to give a it a try, but with a killer headache, unrelenting damp darkness, and a stack of homework calling my name, I was a skeptic.

Anyways, here's the nitty gritty. I cubed a few cups of white bread. I used some recently purchased but not totally awesome organic white bread hamburger buns. I whisked eggs and milk and salt and vanilla. I poured the custard over the cubes of bread. Paused for a moment. Gazed outside at the drear. Looked down at the uncooked bread pudding... and realized I forgot an essential ingredient! SUGAR! I had to improvise a little bit here.  I thought about sprinkling the sugar on top of the bread pudding, but instead I just poured everything out, added the sugar, and mixed it with a spoon.  It actually turned out OK and was only a little bit hard to get out of the pan. Next time I will spray with some nonstick cooking spray beforehand.

I served the bread pudding with some canned peach slices and it was quite nice. The bread pudding reminded me of French toast, only baked. And I have to admit, there was a moment where I was able to push aside the rain, the school stress, and the ache in my brain and make room for this warm, tasty dessert.

Apricot Almond Bread

Apricot Almond Bread is the perfect treat for someone who doesn't like their sweets too sweet. The bread has apricots and a little maple syrup but beyond that, nothing to make it really sugary. I was concerned that the almonds would be too overpowering and too tough to crunch, but the sliced almonds gave it a tender touch of crispiness.

First I softened the apricots on the stove in simmering water. I added butter, maple syrup, orange zest, an egg, flour, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, and salt to the bowl.


Then I baked the loaf for a little over an hour. It came out beautifully; brown and crisp on top and tender in the center of each slice.


My favorite part of the process was inverting the loaf of bread onto a wire rack. I get such a satisfaction out of taking something whole like that, stressing it out, and keeping it whole. See little loaf, I knew you could do it. You're fine! Pleasing to my core.

Second only to inverting is slathering the finished product in butter and consuming.

Summer Vegetable Soup and Custardy Popovers

My typing hands are tired but I pooled up just enough energy to tell you about Summer Vegetable Soup and Custardy Popovers. Yes, I am well aware that we have a few more days until it is officially summer, but I just couldn't wait to make this soup. It is light and healthy and you feel great after you eat it! None of that weighed down by grease business!


I started the soup by boiling a diced potato and whole garlic cloves together in a pot. Once these were tender, they were blended until smooth. After that, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, peas, zucchini, red bell pepper, corn, and spinach made their way through the steamer. I steamed them in small batches and collected them into a gradual heap, then added them to the blended potato and garlic mixture. After heating through, the soup was topped with freshly minced basil and quickly consumed!

Many of the ingredients in this soup originated locally from Full Circle Farm. If you are Seattle based reader, I highly recommend checking out their veggies at your weekly farmers market!

I had never made popovers before but after reading this blog post that Mollie Katzen linked to on her twitter, I must admit that I was quite curious! They are so light and fluffy and very easy to make. The puffiness factor made me feel like a great success and they tasted divine with a drizzle of melted butter and a little dollop of strawberry jam.

Focaccia

Focaccia with rosemary and olive oil... yum!