Bread Pudding

This is one of those great comfort food recipes that has been passed down through generations... my mom remembers eating it as a child and her mom (my grandma) does as well - it goes back at least as far as my great-great grandmother, Johanna Jurk. It was always a special treat for us as children - we loved it warm and fresh from the oven.

2 eggs
2 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
4 cups dry bread, cubed
nutmeg or cinnamon to taste
1/4 cup raisins

Place bread in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Beat the eggs and mix with milk, sugar and spices. Pour the liquid over the bread and let stand until thoroughly soaked. Add raisins. Bake 20 minutes or until firm in a 350 oven.

Those of you who know me know that I view recipes more as suggestions than as a hard and fast rule - which means my favorite recipes are those that are somewhat flexible in their execution. This is one of those recipes. I recently found a bag of gingerbread waffles in my freezer that had been there too long to taste very good on their own, so I used them to make a gingery bread pudding. I didn't add any extra spices to the liquid and replaced the raisins with chocolate and butterscotch chips - it was scrumptious!