Yay Fall!

I am so excited about fall! It is completely my favorite season. Living in Texas means extremely hot summers, which makes the cooler weather even more appealing! We don't get many changing colors where i live, but even the golds, browns, and occasional reds lift my spirits when i step outside and see the leaves in the yard. (Which by the way, for the most part i do not rake, i like them spread over the lawn!) Decorating the porch and yard with pumpkins, gourds, baskets and maybe even a nice fall wreath of dried flowers is so much fun and really makes my place appealing to guests and to my daughter and I as well. I will be posting some of my fall decorating projects in the coming weeks. Although i don't live near any water, I am working on an overall theme of a beachy seaside cottage throughout my home. I will somehow combine this with the seasons' decorations, should be an interesting combination and a unique style. My first fall activity was making bread pudding last night, here is the recipe:

4 cups dried bread cubes
2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla
2 T butter
cinnamon and sugar mixture

place bread cubes in a buttered casserole dish. beat together all the other ingredients except cinnamon and sugar mixture. pour over bread cubes, dot with butter, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake 350 degrees for one hour or until nicely browned.

now what i do is put all leftover bread in the freezer, including homebreads, muffins, etc. this is something my mother used to do when i was a child. when i have enough, i break the frozen bread into pieces, which is very easy. in last night's masterpiece, I used a combination of regular bread and a half loaf of a pumpkin breakfast bread that was store bought and a little on the dry side. i also used part whole milk and part buttermilk. in the past i have also used sweetened condensed milk, which made the whole dish very rich. I also added some pumpkin spice to the mix. When my daughter walked through the room she said, "mmm...smells like fall!" Enough said. Enjoy!