Blackberry Bread Pudding

Another food event at work = another opportunity to try a new recipe! My group at work tries to organize a social event every few months just for fun and to take a break from the every day grind. We usually try to theme our gatherings for the time of year - so this time we did a spring time brunch. I of course wanted to bring something yummy and homemade, but I also wanted it to be something that would travel well and taste good at room temperature. I also didn't want to make anything too involved considering I was planing on making it the morning of. After searching through a few cookbooks I settled on Blackberry Bread Pudding. This recipe is a lot more custard like than a traditional bread pudding, but next time I might try adding more bread and less heavy cream to give a more cake-like consistency. Decide for yourself  :)

 Blackberry Bread Pudding

1/2 loaf Brioche or Challah (I opted for the Challah - so light and delicately sweet)
2 c. half-and-half
2 c. heavy cream
1 pinch of salt
6 large eggs
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. blackberries (I will definitely use more next time, maybe another 1/2 c.)
Powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350. Cut the crust from the bread and cube the crustless loaf into 1 inch cubes. You should have about 3-4 cups of bread cubes. Scatter the cubes onto a baking sheet and lightly toast in oven for 6-7 minutes.

Toasting the bread is a very important step. Think of the bread as a sponge - the less moisture in the bread, the more liquid it can soak up. You want the bread to be able to soak up as much of the custard as possible. Do not overtoast - lightly golden is perfect.

In a medium bowl, mix the half-and-half, heavy cream, and salt. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Gradually add the cream mixture to the egg mixture while whisking - be sure to break down any clumps.

Lightly fold in the bread pieces until coated. Soak for 15-30 minutes to allow the bread to fully absorb the custard mix. Lastly, gently fold in blackberries and pour into a 9x13 baking dish.

Place the baking dish into a large roasting pan and fill about halfway with hot water.

Baking with a water bath is very important for a lot of egg-based dishes. Moist heat will allow the eggs to cook more gently. Oven heat can be very harsh on light dishes like this and cause your final product to be rubbery or dry  (custards, cheesecakes, puddings, etc. should all be cooked using a water bath)

Bake until the pudding is set and golden brown. The original recipe says about 50 minutes, but mine took a little over an hour. Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm.

I probably could have let this stay in the oven for another 10 minutes or so just to brown a little more on top but I had to get to work.  It turned out GREAT! Perfect for breakfast, a snack, or even dessert with some vanilla ice cream.

Being the busy working professionals that we are, we wrapped up our spring brunch with an Easter egg hunt! Pam and Sang (who organized this lovely event) hid eggs all around our floor - in cubes, offices, huddle rooms, plants, you name it. Now I have some yummy snacks to get me through the rest of today :)

Coming up next week - Jack's first haircut! Stay posted :)

Mac & Pizza

Once again, the Hawkins family has succumbed to the 21st Century. We made our first stride last year when Johnny and I both finally got rid of our circa 2000 cell phones and got Blackberries. Woah, big step. Saturday we made a giant leap into the present when we purchased our first MAC! 

We really fell in love with the desktop (we're old farts at heart and really prefer the giant screen) but the way our house it set up we really had nowhere to put it. Johnny suggested we set it up on the dining room table. I pretended not to hear him. We settled on a Mac Book, got some new fun gadgets, and even got a free wireless printer. To top it all off - I got to use my handy corporate discount and saved about $150. I've been organizing the last 3 years of my life in pictures and loving iPhoto - Johnny is amazed at the speed at which he can now make fantasy baseball trades. Win-Win :)

While the Mac Book is fun and all, the icing on the weekend was definitely Fireworks Pizza. It's part of our favorite restaurant group (Magnolias, South Street Under, and Tuscarora Mill) so it's amazing we had never been there before.

They pride themselves on using all local/fresh ingredients and it makes all the difference. I can honestly say this is my new favorite pizza place (sorry, Emilios...) and I can't wait to go back as soon as humanly possible. I got one of their specialty pizzas that came with a pesto sauce, goat cheese AND mozzarella, salami, spinach, and roasted tomatoes. Holy cow. For you city-folk, they have a new location in Arlington. I highly recommend :)

Lastly - one of my best friends has started her own blog! I love when my friends create blogs because it lets me stay up to date on their lives when my own hectic life keeps me from seeing them as often as I'd like. Melanie will be blogging about her upcoming November wedding, house hunting, and the general craziness that is your 20s. Keep up with her here : Adventures of a Twenty Something. Happy reading :)

Cookies, Macaroni and Cheese, Zoo, More Cookies

A few weeks ago I promised you an amazing new cookie recipe and I failed to deliver - so today I offer you not one, but TWO amazing cookie recipes to try out - as well as a killer crock-pot mac 'n cheese recipe. On Saturday we had a little gathering at my dad's house to welcome home my amazing Grandma and her "lover" (her words, not mine...) from their migration South for the winter. I knew my dad was planning on grilling ribs so I insisted we have mac 'n cheese on the side - he insisted I bring it. I'm also the designated dessert bringer so I thought it would be a perfect time to try my newest cookie recipe: my Aunt Lina's World Famous Cowboy Cookies. These things are so delicious, and really addicting. Impossible to eat just one - I promise. Here you go:

Aunt Lina's Cowboy Cookies
2 c self rising flour
1tsp baking soda
1 c brown sugar
1 c white sugar
1 c butter flavored crisco
2 eggs
16 oz chocolate chips
2 c oatmeal
1 tsp vanilla
1 c pecans - chopped

Cream sugars and crisco, add eggs and beat til smooth. Add flour and soda mixture and mix until blended. Add oatmeal, chips and nuts. Batter will be stiff. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Warning - makes 3-4 dozen cookies. Be prepared to stuff yourself.

Next up - this macaroni and cheese recipe is really easy and soooo good. Best part - it cooks in the crock pot! Feel free to mix up the cheeses too - I doubled this recipe and used a mix of Cheddar and Gruyere. But you can really use anything you like - Jack, Gouda, whatever.

Crock-Pot Macaroni and Cheese
2 c uncooked elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
2 1/2 cups grated sharp Cheddar
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed Cheddar cheese soup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Boil the macaroni until tender, about 6 minutes. Drain. In a medium saucepan, mix butter and cheese. Stir until the cheese melts. In a slow cooker, combine cheese/butter mixture and add the eggs, sour cream, soup, salt, milk, mustard and pepper and stir well. Then add drained macaroni and stir again. Set the slow cooker on low and cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.  YUM. Sorry I don't have a pic of this one - it was gone too fast!

So that wraps it up for Saturday. Sunday was a beautiful day so we met some friends at the Leesburg Animal park. Jack loved it and we'll definitely be taking him back.

Picking the cow's nose

Walking around the park :)

Jack's favorite - the baby goats.

When we got home from the park it was time for Jack's afternoon nap, so I had some time to kill. I figured it was a great time to finally try a cookie recipe I've been meaning to make for weeks (and the one I promised I'd post...). This one's a real doozie and not for the faint of heart. This one is for true cookie lovers only.... I present to you......

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 sticks softened butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 white sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp pure vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
10 oz bag chocolate chips
1 pkg. Oreo cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream butter and sugars in a large bowl. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt and baking soda.  Slowly add flour mixture to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined.  Using a large spoon take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie.  Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo cookie.  Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo cookie is enclosed with dough.  Place onto a baking sheet and bake 9-13 minutes or until golden. Makes about 2 dozen.

These suckers are HUGE. Plenty to share... or not ;)

So that's all for now - Have a great week everyone!

A Great Week!

As some of you might know, we recently switched Jack to a new school. He had been at the Goddard School right by my office since he was about 4 months old. We loved the infant room there and his teachers were just the sweetest. In January he aged up to the Infant II room and things have been not-so-great ever since. There wasn't one terrible event or anything like that - we were just less than thrilled. The classroom was tiny, there were 10 kids in his class (and only 2 teachers) he just wasn't getting the attention I think he needs. Not to mention the one million times I told them he wasn't allowed to have any dairy products and they inevitably would always let him participate in pudding or whipped-cream painting activities. All-in-all, for the price we're paying for childcare I expect to be bowled over with excitement leaving him there every day - and that was nowhere near the case.

Anyways - today wraps up Jack's first week at the brand new Kiddie Academy - almost exactly halfway between our house and my office. Jack has done so great with the transition and his teachers can't stop talking about how sweet natured and pleasant he is to have in class. He's even made a little friend - they both squeal when they see each other in the mornings - it's adorable. His classroom is at least twice the size and there are only 6-7 kids in the class with 2 teachers so he's getting a lot more one-on-one attention. And the best part about the new school is (drum roll please... ) MOMMY-CAM! I can log on from any computer and watch Jack's classroom and playground from a camera installed in the room. I don't know how I got along without it before.

In other news - Jack had his post-op appointment today to make sure his ears had healed from the surgery. The doctor even let me take a peek inside - it looks like he has a blue sprinkle stuck in each ear. He's doing great and is 100% healthy for the first time in months!

I'm going to finish up today's post with a tip for my mom readers. I'm warning you now this is a mom topic so continue reading at your own risk :) With each new tooth Jack inevitably gets a terrible diaper rash. Even the prescription stuff wasn't cutting it. The poor kid was in so much pain and I just didn't know what to do. Well, thank goodness for my good friend Megan. Not only is she a nurse, but she's a mom of two adorable boys herself - so she has a few tricks up her sleeve. When I was pregnant she passed along this recipe for a butt paste that will cure even the worst diaper rash overnight. Just mix equal parts of the following:

Your child will smell like a foot - but it's worth the almost instant pain relief. Give it a try!