Pecan and Banana Bread Pudding

I did something naughty today...I put my daughter back in bed this morning after I fed her. It wasn't time to get up yet and she kept skirming around trying to fall off the bed, so I put her back in her crib and you know what she did...the little imp went back to sleep right away soo....It's 8 AM and she's not up yet....do you hear the angels singing?? I've already got hard boiled eggs made for our chef salads for lunch, a loaf of bread going in the bread machine and in an hour there'll be a piping hot dish of pecan banana bread-bread pudding on the table for my chillin's to gobble for breakfast. The day stretches out ahead of me, full of possibilities. Plus the promise of very little laundry (waiting for a part to arrive so my sweety can fix my washing machine) finally...an excuse to not do the laundry! Actually it's more of a curse than it is a blessing. Just hoping I can convince everyone to hand wash their undies, hang them out to dry and wear them again the next day!....then again maybe not. ::smiles::
I am SO blessed. Yesterday my sweety helped me catch up with the weeding in my garden. I (and the kids) had been gone to visit my parents and uncle for a week and a half and oh my, was my garden ever in sorry shape! Fortunately now though all I have to is finish extricating my corn from out of the field of red root and then just touch up what we did yesterday. What a relief! I'm also tempted to just fire up the tiller to go between rows and speed up the process. We'll see what developes. I so love days like these where I feel like I've got the jump on the day instead of the other way around...I'm tempted to beat myself up about it and lament and moan that it's rarely this way, but it occurs to me that it might be a tad more productive if instead I just stay on task and enjoy the treat. Maybe the sweetness of this success will be a little bit of a boost to get me up and moving early tomorrow! So the moral of the story would be to keep looking ahead and not behind. God doesn't remind us of our failures instead he's out in front reaching back for us....I'm striving ahead!

Banana Bread Pudding

Enough Banana Bread to fill a 8x8 baking dish cut in 1 inch cubes

(for me it was like 6 muffins or maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of a loaf)

1 cup cream or half and half

2 cups milk

4 eggs

1/3 cup honey (or sugar)

1 tsp vanilla

half cup chopped pecans

*Place cubed bread and pecans on a baking sheet and toast for 10 minutes in a 325 degree oven, (pay attention that the pecans don't burn, that would be a terrible waste)

*While you wait...grease your pan ( I just use softened butter from my table) and then whisk together the cream, milk, eggs, honey and vanilla.

*Once the bread and pecans are toasted, place them in your greased pan and pour the milk and egg mixture over them. Let sit for 5 minutes.

*Place in your 350 degree oven for one hour.

*Serve warm with maple syrup and a tall glass of cold milk!