Poor Person's Trifle

Fact: I had no idea what trifle was before making this dessert. Ergo, I had to look it up and found out that trifle is "a dessert made from custard, fruit, sponge cake, fruit juice, and cream." I am indeed a poor person, so this Poor Person's Trifle was a deliciously similar treat.

I'm pretty sure I've been using the same frozen hot dog bun bread through all of these bread puddings. But guys, it's really good! I promise! This variation has crushed pineapple, cherries, and in my case: brown sugar. I decided to use brown sugar because it reminds me of one of my favorite desserts from childhood: pineapple upside down cake!

I think I'll heat this up and try it with a little spoonful of coconut butter. YUM!

This is the last in the series of bread puddings from the New Moosewood Cookbook. All four of these variations are ridiculously simple: no more than ten minutes of prep time and the desserts bake in about 30 minutes. Crazy!

Here's the roundup of other Moosewood bread puddings:
Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding
Banana Bread Pudding
Bread and Chocolate Pudding

Peach Cherry Crisp

I named this photo "Aftermath" because it was captured post party, after everyone had left and mom was scraping plates, putting leftovers away, and forming rows of drinking glasses in the dishwasher. But, just for a second, imagine this Peach Cherry Crisp dotted with candles, the lights dimmed, and ten of your nearest and dearest serenading you with a happy birthday song. It was the perfect dessert for commencing what will certainly be a good year.

Polenta Pie and Danish Cherries

Last night I made Polenta Pie and Danish Cherries at Weave's new apartment. I was a little weary of making polenta from scratch, but it turned out to be easy and tasted amazing! The pie was similar to a deep dish pizza minus the red sauce and with a thick, cornmeal crust. We used about twice as much cheese as the recipe called for, because, well, I love cheese and Charlie is an excellent grater.Each piece had a thick cornmeal base, a layer of mozzarella cheese, fresh tomato slices, sautéed veggies (mushroom, bell pepper, zucchini, onion, garlic) and herbs, and another layer of mozzarella cheese on top. We broiled the pie for the last five minutes to give it a crisp, golden brown top. The slices came out easily (I am notorious for ruining the first piece out of the pan) and tasted divine! The polenta was creamy and rich and you could really taste the oregano in the veggies.

For dessert, I made Danish Cherries. I used frozen, pitted, unsweetened cherries. We warmed them on the stove and let them thicken. Then we stirred in lemon zest, lemon juice, and almond extract. Served warm over vanilla ice cream with an episode of Sex and the City. A perfect Tuesday night!