The holidays are great fun when one has small children, but there’s a lot of pressure, I’m finding. I’m creating traditions for these little people, things they will look back on fondly when they are adults.
And here’s the thing. I have a lot of ideas, for a lot of lovely traditions. We’re going to bake cookies and craft and visit light displays send out the photo cards on time, and the house will be beautifully decorated, and Christmas carols will play in the background.
It’s a nice idea, but the reality is often quite different. I run out of time or space or energy, and the baby is eating all of the ornaments on the lowest branches of the tree, and the 3-year-old is crying because his sister is pointing at him.
Before you know it, it’s Christmas Eve, and the house is a wreck, I haven’t showered or finished wrapping gifts, I’m sending my husband to the grocery for last-minute dinner ingredients, and I’m crabby because I had planned a magical afternoon of decorating cookies with the children, but how can I possibly manage such a thing when there is laundry all over the playroom, and we have to leave for church in an hour?
Perhaps better planning is in order, but I have four kids, and planning will only get you so far. One can plan all the livelong day, but when somebody poops their pants right before you walk out the door, you’re going to be late.
Still, there are some traditions we manage on a yearly basis, and they cause minimal stress. They persist in our family because they are enjoyable, and also because they are easy. Decorating the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving, new PJs on Christmas Eve, reindeer food sprinkled on the front lawn, a new ornament for each child on the tree. Often there are saltine toffee cookies in the refrigerator and spiced tea in the crock pot, and every year there is bread pudding.
I have shared my bread pudding recipe with y’all before, and I am sharing it again today, because it is important that you make it. This recipe is easy, it is delicious, and everyone will think you are a culinary mastermind if you prepare this for them. Just trust me on this.
My recipe is an adaptation of the bread pudding recipe they used to serve at the old Doug’s Restaurant on Robert Boulevard in Slidell. Growing up, my family and I ate there every Christmas Eve, and their bread pudding was always a favorite. I was never a fan of bread pudding until I tried this particular recipe–it is moist and wonderful and custardy, and the sauce is rich and delicious with just a hint of bourbon flavor. You will love it. If you don’t love it, you’re wrong. I’m just saying. (My kids don’t love it, and they are wrong.)
Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 Tablespoons butter, softened
6 eggs, beaten
1 pint heavy cream
2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
Dash of cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins
1 loaf of fresh French bread
In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Add eggs, cream, cinnamon, and vanilla, mixing well. Tear the French bread into small-ish pieces (about 1-inch bits) and add the bread pieces to the mixture, stirring well to soak the bread completely. You want it to be really juicy, so stop adding bread pieces if you find it’s getting too dry. (I generally use an entire loaf). Stir in the raisins. Allow it to soak about about 15 minutes, then turn into a 9×9 square pan. Place pan in a larger pan filled with water 1/2 inch from the top. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven fir 40-50 minutes. Uncover pudding for the last 10 minutes to brown the top a bit, You want the custard to be soft, not firm, when it’s done.
Bourbon Sauce
1 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 dash cinnamon
1 Tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons corn starch
1 Tablespoon bourbon
1/4 cup additional water
Combine sugar, cream, cinnamon and butter. Bring to a boil. Add in the corn starch mixed with 1/4 cup water, and cook, stirring until sauce is clear. Remove from heat and stir in bourbon.
(Betsy Swenson can be reached at sliindelife@gmail.com.)