Banana Rum Bread Pudding

Break bread.
To share food humbly.
Daily bread.
Sustenance from God.
Bread.
60's/70's rock band.
Bread.
Hippie term for money.
Bred.
Sex.
Oops!
Okay...
Old bread.
Crumbs, croutons, french toast and bread pudding.
There is more but these are my favorites.


BANANA RUM BREAD PUDDING

4 stale croissants or good bread
3 c half and half
3 eggs
1 c sugar
1 T vanilla
1 t freshly grated nutmeg
1 t cinnamon
2 T dark rum
3 large ripe bananas, lightly mashed

Preheat oven to 350.
Slice the croissants into 1/2" pieces and then again into 1-2" chuncks.
Place into a buttered it in a baking dish (I used a souffle type).
In a separate bowl, beat together the half and half, eggs, sugar, vanilla, spices and rum.
Mash the bananas lightly and combine all ingredients together.
Pour over croissant pieces, stirring gently a few times.
Let mixture soak 30-45 minutes.
Bake at 325 degrees for 75 minutes or until edges are golden and toothpick inserted into the center comes out nearly clean.
Let the pudding set until just warm 20-30 minutes.


Banana Rum Sauce

3 T butter
3 T dark rum
3 T dark brown sugar
2 T butter
1 banana diced
1 c toasted pecan pieces (I forgot this time)

In a small sauce pan melt the 3T butter, rum and dark brown sugar.
Raise heat to medium high and bring to a boil.
Remove from heat.
In a frying pan, melt 2T butter, then bring heat to high.
Quickly caramelize the banana pieces in this pan.
Add rum sauce to bananas and remove from heat.
Stir gently.

Serve bread pudding with rum sauce, whipped cream, chocolate shavings if desired.
And my personal favorite...ice cold milk in a glass.
Serves 8

3 Stools Done - Amost

This X 3


becomes these....


I have lived in my house for 22 years, both married and single (I don't like the word divorced). I was divorced. Now I am single. It is a cute house (I am not into cute), but there are many things builders select that lack shall we say, taste? So I change things a lot. Personally a house is not my first choice for a home. I moved to 50, yes you read that right 50, different dwellings before I was even 18 so I am pretty open to variety. My dream home would be a loft or a warehouse on the beach with an outdoor shower, hardwood floors for dancing and lots of tall windows. Until then I just continue to paint and decorate whenever I get bored with what I have. Hence the 3 old barstools that just sort of functioned before. Now I love them. Why? Because they look much better and also because these are what I sit on when I am at the computer and my butt is happier now.

The process was not hard but it did take time for paint drying and adding the padding (I rhymed, go me). Plus I had to do them separately so I would have somewhere to sit. I love the wind and it has been windy every day which unfortunately doesn't work well with spray painting. I don't really prep or follow technique (I am not big on the clean up part either). I just sort of do, otherwise things would never get finished. Here we go....

Sand the stools?
Nope.
Instead spray a good coat of primer and hope it does the job.
Let dry a couple hours.


Then I used American Accents Stone brown spray paint and has a sort of spattered texture. It is the same as I used when I made my dining table and I wanted to unify the space. I also painted the entire stool because I may want to take the padded covers off at some point and do something different.
Let paint dry 1 day.
Another coat of Stone paint.
Let dry 3 days.



Then 2 coats of spray acrylic sealer, dry 1/2 day in between coats.
The next layers are....
Foam padding cut 2 inches larger all around the seat so it will wrap down the sides.
Batting cut about an inch larger than the padding.
Ruler shmuler, I just use the stool for measuring, placed upside down and draw a circle around it.
I used Super 77 spray adhesive to keep the padding and batting together.
Double sided fusible webbing cut the same as the burlap. This it to give some strength to the burlap and help it stay put to the batting,
Burlap cut about an inch larger than the batting. I can't find all the burlap with East Indian drawings so plain it must be for now. I will add something soon, I just have to decide what. Ideas are welcome.
Then carefully center everything, fold the fabric under and staple gun this sucker in place.

How in the hell do the pros upholster so perfectly?


I may attempt restapling the burlap or attach some rope around the edge under the seat.

One project down.
672 projects to go.

Bar Stool Project

sStill here.
This is basically a food blog, but I also enjoy table settings (coming again in October) and entertaining, interiors and some crafts.
I follow a lot of blogs, one being from Melissa at The Inspired Room.
She is having a project procrastinators party and I am in.
I am so in that I procrastinated my post and photo an extra day, so I think I win that part.
My project is three old bar stools, cheap ones, ones with other projects paint on them.
Nothing but good should come from this.
The plan is to paint them to match my dining table that I made with brown stone paint.
I had thought about stenciling numbers (1, 2 & 3) on top which I love but it doesn't really work with the rest of the room.
Instead I hope to make padded seat covers with some burlap that I drew some East Indian designs on.
I had used these over the back of the chairs for my table setting luncheon that I do every year and this time my theme was 'A Passage To India".
So I have two weeks, until May 14 to get this done.
Actually one week and six days because I am late already.
This is the before of one of the stools...


Yes those are weeds in the background, that is a whole other project.