Peach Bread Pudding

Peach bread pudding is such a comforting food, and it's versatile too! You can enjoy this for breakfast or serve it as a dessert. I love the fresh, sweet flavor the peaches bring to this dish. I used Cuban bread because i believe that its soft texture is perfect for soaking up the sweet custard. I just couldn't get enough peach bread pudding the first time i tried it, and now i am so glad i have a simple recipe to go to when my bread pudding cravings kick in :).

Peach Bread Pudding 

Yield: 6 Servings Active Time: 15 minutes Bake Time: 30-40 minutes Total Time: 45- 55 minutes  Source: Slightly adapted from Food.com's Peach Bread Pudding

Ingredients
2 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk, scalded
1 cup water
3 cups cubed bread (I used Cuban bread)
1 cup peaches, fresh, ripe, finely diced with their skin on

Step 1
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a medium sized baking pot and place it inside a larger baking casserole.
Step 2
Begin to scald your evaporated milk.
Step 3
In a large bowl mix the first 6 ingredients together.
Step 4
Once the evaporated milk is scalded mix the water and the evaporated milk together in a separate bowl.
Step 5
Slowly add the milk/water mixture to the egg mixture while stirring.
Step 6
Put the cubed bread and peaches into the greased baking pot and then pour the liquid mixture onto the bread and peaches. Mix to incorporate the liquids with the bread.
Step 7
Add water to the larger casserole to create a water bath for your baking pot.
Step 8
Carefully place in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.
Step 10
Let cool to desired temperature and enjoy :)!

Pictures of the process

Creating the water bath for the pudding.

Fresh Tomato Basil Pizza

I have yet to master making my own homemade dough. So..for now i will benefit from store bought pizza dough :).

Cinque Terre, Italy

This pizza owes all its flavor to the fresh tomatoes and basil. They provide a revitalized flavor that regular pizza sauce just can't provide.



Cinque Terre, Italy

The best thing about this pizza is the browned mozzarella cheese. Its warm gooey consistency combined with the other delicious ingredients is so satisfying.

Fresh Tomato Basil Pizza

Source: Made on a whim
Yield: 4 Slices
Ingredients
Store-bought refrigerated pizza dough
1 medium to small sized fresh tomato, diced at room temperature
2 shredded leaves of fresh basil plus 3 more for garnish
Salt
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Butter

1] Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a baking sheet with butter.
2] Stretch your pizza dough as much as you can and assemble it onto the baking sheet.
3] Pierce the pizza dough with a fork in the area that you will put the tomatoes, leaving the crust area un-pierced. This will help keep the center down and the crust puffier.
4] Spread the diced tomatoes onto the middle of the pizza. Randomly scatter the shredded fresh basil. Sprinkle the pizza with salt.
5] Heap as much mozzarella as you desire on top of the fresh tomatoes. I used about 2 1/2 cups.
6] Bake until the crust is cooked through and the cheese starts to brown, about 25-30 minutes.

Easy Chocolate Puff Pastry Bites

These are really yummy and quick to make. They are what i would describe as short cut pain au chocolat. If you crave sweets for breakfast, then these convenient pastries will definitely satisfy that craving. They are delicious with a glass of milk!

Easy Chocolate Puff Pastry Bites

Yield: Approximately 24
Time: 25 minutes total not including thaw time for puff pastry

• 1 Box of thawed store bought puff pastry from the frozen section of your local grocery store. (thawed to the point where you can work with them but not to the point that they make a gooey mess. Taking them out of the freezer and letting them thaw in the refrigerator overnight is optimal)
• Butter
• Milk chocolate chips about 3/4 cup.

1] Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2] Grease a baking sheet with butter.

3]Cut the thawed puff pastry sheets into squares. 1 sheet of puff pastry should yield 12 squares. The brand i used (Pepperidge farm) yielded 24 per box.

4] Put 4 chocolate chips into the center of each puff pastry square.

5] Fold up the squares to envelope the chocolate chips.

6] Pierce the assembled squares every where with a fork. (This will reduce their "puff" and keep them bite sized.)

7] Arrange them on the baking sheet. Bake for 14 through 16 minutes. Or until the puff pastry is cooked to your liking.