Christmas Cooking Countdown 9 Days to Christmas-Ina Garten's French Toast Bread Pudding

Mom has been doing a lot of last minute Holiday knitting and we have been helping:

Thanks to a really easy Ina Garten recipe she still managed to make a nice weekend breakfast on Sunday.  This is a great recipe for the Holidays since even though it takes a while to cook, its unattended almost the entire time.

Ina Garten's French Toast Bread Pudding

1 loaf Challah bread
5 cups half and half or milk
8 eggs
3 tbsp honey or maple syrup
zest of orange
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350.  Slice the bread in one inch thick slices and place them in a baking dish that accommodates it in one layer.  Whisk the milk and eggs together in a large bowl.  Add the honey or maple syrup, orange zest, extract and salt and whisk again.  Pour over the bread and let sit for ten minutes.  Cover the pan tightly in foil and two slits on the top so steam can escape.  Place the baking pan in a larger roasting pan and add very hot tap water to the roasting pan so it comes half way up the sides of the baking dish.  Bake 45 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake 40-45 minutes more.  Serve with confectioners sugar and or maple syrup.  (You could easily change the recipe with different breads or by adding fruit or nuts or other flavorings).

I'm cheating and adding a color picture o black and white Sunday because I like the colors on Weasley's sweater from Archie's mom Melissa at Pug Notes