It’s been a month since my last post. Literally, one entire month. But in my defense it’s been a crap month full of long work hours, not to mention the return of Starbucks 10 day long Frappachino Happy Hour – a.k.a. Frappy Hour, a.k.a. two hours I’d rather spend getting a root canal than working.

It’s been a month of dog bites, 0 time to bake, and some of the most frustrating customer interactions I’ve ever had in my 7 years of working in customer service.

I’m just going to put this out there because this is my blog and I can complain if I want to… To all Starbucks customers, if the lack of java chips in your Double Chocolaty Chip or Java Chip Frappachino is the worst thing that has happened to you today, then switch lives with me because your life is immediately better than mine. Also, please stop yelling at me when I tell you we are out of java chips. I didn’t eat them all to spite you, though maybe next time I’ll consider that kind of juvenile revenge as you are threatening my life over the lack rectangular chocolate chips in your over priced drink.

I feel a lot better now that this is all over the Internet.

Also, dog bite? Yes that happened. Remember that post I did about my pooch Daisy? Yeah, well her choppers had one taste of Rachel and she’s been hooked on Rachel meat ever since. Daisy and I may have gotten into an argument over her dietary choices. I think eating vomit is gross, however, she thinks it’s rather satisfying. So when I tried to get her to stop eating her own puke, she responded by gnawing on my arm. Which apparently is just as satisfying to her as her own vomit.

It took a week and a half for the two puncture wounds to heal and now I’m back in the kitchen with a badass scar that kind of looks like a vampire bite. Not that I’m into vampires and Twilight at all. In fact, since it’s on the table and our minds are all going there, YOU WILL NEVER SEE TWILIGHT MENTIONED ON THIS BLOG BEYOND THESE TWO SENTENCES.

So to wrap this up, I’ve been too busy complaining to bake. I’ve been given the nickname Drama.com/RachelYecco for a reason. I’ve been too busy being dramatic over dog bites and frappachinos to make anything delicious!

But I did make Banana Fosters Bread Pudding prior to my dog’s attempt to eat me alive. It’s just the gooiest springtime bread pudding. ß That was very Martha Stewart sounding of me.

 COMING UP: Mac n’ Cheese inspired my the late Maurice Sendak, Jacques Torres infamous Chocolate Chip Cookies inspired by Brittany Spears- bare with me, I’m not in favor of the Diva, but of an article written about her other-worldly behavior- and …uh…. Something else that I haven’t thought of yet, but it will make an appearance.

I’m also attempting to make donuts again, so that will be some fried up fun.

Expect those recipes and a photo dump of my trip Vermont, where I will try to catch dinner on a fly fishing excursion. All this on next week’s post!

As for now, here’s some bread pudding inspired by the lack of a life that I’ve led in the last month.

Cheers!

Banana Fosters Bread Pudding with a Caramel Sauce

Ingredients (For the bread pudding)

1 Large loaf of Challah bread

4 Cups whole milk

1/2 a vanilla bean + hull

1/2 Cup dark rum

1 Cup white sugar

1 Cup brown sugar

1/2 Teaspoon salt

2 Teaspoons vanilla extract

6 Eggs

1/2 Teaspoon cinnamon

Ingredients (for the Banana topping)

(Adapted from Emril Lagasse’s recipe, Banana Fosters Bread Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream and Caramel Sauce)

6 Firm ripe bananas

1/2 Cup dark rum

1/2 Cup butter

1 Cup brown sugar

1/4 Teaspoon cinnamon

Ingredients (For Caramel)

3/4 Cup white sugar

2 Tablespoons water

1/2 Cup heavy cream

1/4 Cup whole milk

1/2 Cup walnuts, optional

Vanilla Ice Cream, optional

Directions:

1. Bread Pudding: preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Chop Challah bread into 1 inch cubes and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix together whole milk, rum, vanilla beans and hull. Let marinate together for 30 minutes in refrigerator. Whisk in white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt.
4. Whisk in eggs into milk mixture one at a time until it is a uniform mixture.
5. Grease a 13x 9 inch pan and arrange your challah bread in the dish. Pour milk mixture over the bread and allow to sit for 45 minutes in the refrigerator until the bread has soaked up most of the liquid.
6. Bake for 60 minutes or until the top of the pudding is light brown in color.
7. Banana Fosters Topping: Slice bananas into 1/2 inch pieces.
8. In a large skillet, melt 1/2 Cup of butter. Then, add in the brown sugar and cinnamon and cook until the brown sugar dissolves. This will take 5 minutes. You will know it’s ready when the brown sugar is creamy. Then, arrange bananas flat onto the skillet, cooking bananas on both sides and flipping with they begin to soften. CAREFULLY, add the rum and light the skillet on fire using a match. Move the pan back and forth until the flame dies down. Remove from heat.
9. Caramel Sauce: Combine water and sugar in a saucepan, stirring over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Then, turn heat to medium low and let the sugar boil without mixing. Don’t mix no matter how badly you want to. Allow sugars to boil until it forms a light amber color, about 3 minutes. Add the heavy cream, which may splatter. Then add 1/4 cup whole milk, 2 tablespoons at a time until it forms the desired consistency.
10. Assemble: Scoop your bread pudding into a bowl and top with the banana fosters topping and caramel sauce. Add walnuts and vanilla ice cream, optional.