Olde English Bread Pudding

In recent years I have become a one-dish wonder (this is opposed to my previous career as a zero-dish wonder). Every time I have ever been asked to bring something to a dinner party, pot-luck event or whatever, I have produced a bread pudding.

Many years ago I came across this recipe for Olde English Bread Pudding, and being a big fan of bread pudding, I gave it a try. It was good, actually, even though I say it myself, it was great. So since that time, I have rarely diverged from that standard. With my limited cooking skills, why risk a change when you know something will work out and taste good.

Anyway, for posterity, here is the bread pudding recipe.

½ cup of Sugar
3 Large Eggs
2 cups of Whipping Cream
½ cup of Milk
2 tablespoons of Butter (at least)
½ Loaf of French Bread (day old preferably)
pinch of Salt
1 tablespoon of Vanilla
3 tablespoons of Currants (at least)
¼ cup Apricot Jam
1 tablespoon Grand Marnier (at least)

1. Cut bread into squares and butter lightly (1/2 in to 1 in)
2. Arrange bread in layers in a buttered dish sprinkling with currants as you go
3. Whisk eggs and sugar together until blended
4. Bring Cream, Milk, Salt to boil and remove from heat
5. Gently but constantly whisk egg/sugar mix into cream/milk mix
6. Strain mixture over bread in bowl
7. Add remaining currants and butter to top
8. Bake in bain-marie for 40 mins at 350 or until golden brown.
9. Boil jam and sieve to remove the chunks and stir in Grand Marnier
10. Spread jam and Grand Marnier mix on top of the pudding.


Of course, as you will recognize from the ingredient list – it will taste good, it has to taste good with so much butter, cream, and sugar in it. While there are undoubtedly skills involved in cookery, your degree of success is enhanced if you liberally use these unhealthy ingredients.

A very Happy Christmas to one and all....

Well it is almost a year that I have been writing this blog. When I started I didn’t really expect to keep it going, but I was surprised how I have enjoyed writing it. I have also enjoyed reading other friend’s blogs and it has become a great way to keep in touch.

One of the things I said when I started was that the blog could be viewed as an ongoing Christmas letter – and it can, all the eventful (and so many more of the uneventful) things in my life this past year are here. So this year the Christmas Cards went out and instead of a Christmas letter (which I have never done anyway) I just made a reference to my blog site.

So to everyone a very Happy Christmas (or, if you would prefer, a very p.c. Happy Holidays) and all the very best for 2006. If you are coming here as a result of my Christmas Cards, then welcome and please check back from time to time.

Driving Two Extremes

This week I got to drive a couple of different cars. At the weekend my friend Becky kindly allowed me to drive her Toyota Prius – the most popular of all the hybrid vehicles. I am getting ready to buy a new car and the Prius is right up there on my list so I was keen to take it for a spin. I do so much want to buy a Prius because it is the right thing to do, but I am afraid I found it a bit cramped for my 6ft + frame. The visibility wasn’t great either, though I could get used to that. In all other aspects it is a great vehicle but I just wish it were a tad larger inside.

Then this week I went to Oklahoma City and went from the sublime to the ridiculous. I reserved a Compact car but on arrival I found they were out of that size and so I got upgraded to a Lincoln Town Car. The Lincoln Town Car is a huge boat like gas-guzzling monster that I would be embarrassed to drive down my own street in. But, in Oklahoma City no body knows me so I had a blast cruising down the freeway, in what must be one of the largest saloon cars on the market today.

What a contrast in those two vehicles. It’s not just that the Lincoln is a larger car; it also doesn’t strike me as being well designed or as well made as the Prius. The controls for things like the side mirror adjustments, the lights, the gear shift, etc all seemed a bit clunky and just did not feel like they were built to last. I am afraid that is the feel I get when I get inside most American cars – there is something they just don’t get about good design. That of course is just my humble opinion.

It was interesting to find that in the links to the automobile sites above, the Toyota Prius's catchphrase is "so advanced it makes the future seem obsolete" while the Lincoln Town Car is just the Flag Ship of the Lincoln Fleet. The nautical comparisons are quite appropriate for the Lincoln I think.

The California International Marathon…

This weekend was the highpoint of Sacramento’s running year, the California International Marathon, from the town of Folsom to the steps of the State Capitol in downtime Sacramento.

Now I had planned on running the entire marathon, I was even somewhat trained for it, but for the first time ever, I listened to my body (that’s what everyone tells you to do isn't it?). I had been wrestling with this leg/hip problem for at least 4 weeks and I just couldn’t get things working right. I think the term is – I had a hitch in my giddyup. So I listened to my body and just ran a half of the marathon (as part of two person relay team).

It was just great, 13 miles is my preferred distance anyway - long enough to feel like you have done something, not long enough to damage you for weeks to come. It was perfect conditions for running too - clear, cool and dry. While the winner, a Russian guy, finished the whole 26.2 miles in 2 hrs 18 mins, I turned in a respectable (for me) 1 hr 50 mins for just half that distance. I was well pleased.

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas..

As predicted, after the Thanksgiving weekend, the inflatable turkey on the roof of the house across the street was removed and replaced with a Santa on his sleigh complete with reindeer.

Then the next day it got better with the arrival of an inflatable globe containing various Christmas characters in the front yard. The amazing thing about this device was that it somehow has it's own little snowstorm going on inside the globe - snowflakes are somehow being circulated around the globe.

But that was not all, a couple of days later, a trio of snowmen appeared on the front lawn.

It's just all too weird for me, though I must admit I feel a bit Scrooge-like for poking fun at it. Thank goodness this is the only house on the street that is resorting to this kind of tacky display.