Clumpy Brown Sugar and Bread -- What a neat trick!

I mistakenly left a bag of brown sugar open. For many days. And weeks.  Needless to say, it turned into a clumpy, unusable, mess.  I knew the microwave trick - you know, nuke it for a little bit and it gets soft. But, that wasn't helping this time.  I had already conceded my last batch of chocolate chip cookies to crunchy chunks to brown sugar. Thankfully they turned out okay in spite of my failed sugar.

My next cooking adventure needed a lot of brown sugar and all I had left was a rock solid clump.  In desperation I turned to the internet and it was suggested many times to microwave the sugar with a piece of bread.  Apparently "everyone" knows this trick. I however did not.

Anyway, I had no problem finding a piece of bread.  If you remember my challenge to use lots and lots of bread in a short time period since I bought too much. Well AH-HAH! Another way to use that pesky bread!!!

I put a piece on top of the sugar and put it in the microwave for 30 seconds.

It appeared to be working!! The moisture from the bread was sucked into the brown sugar. There were still clumps, so I put it in again for about 20 seconds more.

Viola! Nice soft brown sugar.  

Apparently you can put a piece of bread in your brown sugar for the long haul and it will keep it moist, too. No microwaving necessary.  I'm not sure I will do that. But, I will definitely use this neat trick, again!

That's it for today. Till next time.

Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce

The hubby declared one day that he wanted bread pudding.  So I found a recipe in Mr. Food's: Old World Cooking Made Easy on pages 239-240.  It was good! I liked even better the second day.

In my crazy price match ways, I bought wayyyyy too much bread.  And now the challenge is to blow through a ton of bread in a short time.  Which means more bread pudding!

Old Fashioned Bread Pudding

1 lb. day old bread (or much longer) 10-12 slices, torn into 1 inch pieces (I used white or Italian and/or cinnamon raisin bread -- whatever you have is fine!)

2 cups warm water

3 eggs

1/2 pint heavy cream (1 cup)

1/2 cup raisins

1 tsp vanilla 

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (more!)

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

2 TB whiskey (Use RUM!)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, toss together the bread pieces and water, soaking the bread.  In a small bowl, beat the eggs, then stir in the heavy cream.  Add to the soaked bread along with the raisins, vanilla, granulated sugar, salt and cinnamon; stir until well combined. Place in an 8-inch square glass baking dish that has been coated with nonstick baking spray.  Bake for 60-65 minutes or until puffy and firm in the center.  Meanwhile, in another small bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar and whiskey, stirring until smooth. Remove the finished pudding from the oven and while still warm, top with the whiskey glaze.  I poked holes in the top of the pudding, so that the glaze will seep into the pudding.

The leftovers should be refrigerated and then re-warmed to eat.

This batch was just as good as the first.  The leftovers also taste good with a splash of cream or vanilla creamer. 

I was able to blow through almost a whole loaf of bread.  Now I just need to make french toast a few more times and the bread crisis will be averted.

Till next time...

EZ-Doh Bucket --> My new toy!

One day not so long ago, my friend and I were talking about a "bread bucket."  I personally had no idea what that was, at the time.  Apparently it is a bucket with a churning hook used to mix bread dough manually -- meaning no electricity required, meaning potentially easy way to stir/knead the dough without too much hassle and did I mention no electricity?!  I looked on ebay and found one for a mere $225.00 and it was a rust bucket --- literally.  So pretty much you'd have to make sure everyone had a current tetanus shot before using/eating anything made from said machine.

Actual picture of said bread bucket, aka rust bucket, that is listed on ebay.

I then meandered onto Amazon and found the EZ-Doh contraption.  I thought that was quite intriguing.  I looked at the reviews and one person loved it and another didn't.  Apparently the inside of this particular tool was too smooth.  The person who loved it had a remedy and I figured, what the hell!?! I'll give it whirl.  I've always wanted to make a loaf of bread when I was camping ---- errrrr... Not really. But, I could and that is what counts! Right?!?

Anyway, I have the lovely fast shipping service from Amazon, so my new toy showed up on a Saturday! Whoot!  And here it is in all it's glory:

Now, I just have to get inspired and make something. And that probably won't be today.  "They" were nice enough to include a packet of yeast, so there is no excuse to be had.  Of course, I will need flour and whatever else is required and that is all nicely listed on the opposite side of the plastic bucket.  That way I can't "lose" the recipe. Those EZ-Doh people are so smart.

Anywayyyyyyyyyyyy, I will definitely report back after I make something in this contraption.  

That's it for today. Till next time!

The cat ate my homework IS a real excuse.

C#2 had weekend homework.  This was sort of an anomaly. The teachers are usually nice and don't assign such tasks for the weekend.

C#2 was extra careful all weekend long to make sure that this lovely poster didn't get even a fleck of dirt on it.  She at one point wanted me to hang onto it, while we were traveling.  After I deposited her homework back into her possession it proceeded to roll onto the floor.  She then proceeded to blame me for not keeping track of her homework.  *sigh*  I informed her that it was not my responsibility.

Back to the story. This morning about six minutes before she had to go out to the bus, she discovered that her "precious" homework had ended up on the floor.  I was putting lunch ingredients away and heard C#2 say a very profound, "Shit!" Upon closer inspection it was missing a piece.  It should be noted that I have heard C#2 swear out loud only a couple times in her life.  This was a very traumatic event, apparently.

We of course did not find the missing piece (pictured above) so we had to be creative. I found a glue stick and a piece of white paper and proceeded to hurriedly glue the clean paper to the poster. I found C#2 a pen and told her to fix the empty spots. Viola!  Well sort of. It definitely didn't look as good as it did. I did find the missing piece after she had gotten on the bus and was on her merry way.

I wrote a note to the teacher explaining our ordeal. Let's hope the teacher is merciful.

That's it for today. Till next time...