Mr. Bingley: “Darcy, I shall never understand why you go through the world determined to be displeased with everything and everyone in it.”

Mr. Darcy: “And I will never understand why you are always in a rage to approve of everything and everyone that you meet.”

From the film, Pride and Prejudice

Good-bye, Summer.
Hello, Autumn — Say, where are you going in such a hurry?

I’d been wanting to make bread pudding for a long time. My dear family members were not all that keen on the idea, however. Were they haunted by ghosts of puddings past? Who knows. But I was in a determined, oh-try-it-you’ll-like-it sort of mood, so I collected my ingredients (And my thoughts? Well…) and set about making a bread pudding that would change Public Opinion. And I think I was moderately successful. But countering this Bias against bread pudding is not the work of one day. *Prepare for bread-pudding brain-washing!*

Whole Wheat Bread Pudding

Ingredients

6-8 slices (1/2″ thick) homemade whole wheat bread
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 large eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 cup sucanat or evaporated cane juice crystals
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon imitation rum extract (optional)
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Extra evaporated cane juice crystals, for sprinkling on top

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Tear bread into chunks, placing in an 8-inch square baking dish. Drizzle the melted butter over the top.
3. Whisk eggs together in a medium-sized bowl. Add milk, sucanat, cinnamon, salt, vanilla and rum extract. Beat until well combined. Pour over bread chunks; using a fork, lightly push bread down into the egg mixture.
4. Scatter pecans evenly over pudding, then sprinkle a tablespoon or two of evaporated cane juice crystals on top of everything.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35-45 minutes, or until the top springs back when touched.

While the pudding is baking (Mmm! Smell the cinnamon?), use the following recipe to make a delicious maple vanilla custard sauce to spoon on top.

Maple Vanilla Custard Sauce

Ingredients

1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole milk
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Lightly beat egg yolks in a medium-sized, heatproof bowl. Set aside.
2. Whisk maple syrup, cornstarch and salt together in a medium saucepan. Gradually whisk in milk. Whisk constantly over medium heat, until mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Boil and whisk for one minute.
3. Gradually whisk about half of the hot milk mixture into the eggs. Then whisk the egg mixture into the remaining milk mixture. Return the saucepan to medium heat and whisk constantly, allowing the mixture to boil for one minute. Remove from heat.
4. Add the butter and vanilla extract, whisking until butter has fully melted.
5. Spoon the sauce over a warm helping of bread pudding, and you’ve got yourself a delicious start to a crisp, fall day!

P.s. Overheard…
Erica: “So, what did you think of that bread pudding, Dad?”
Dad: “It was all right…”
Me (thinking): Yep, success.

Prowling ’round the blogosphere, I’ll sometimes meet an article which offers some real encouragement to try harder to please my Savior in the things I think, do and say. I thought I’d share five of my favorites with you.

Why Girls Should Read Boys’ Adventure Literature by Anna and Elizabeth Botkin

Should girls be enthralled by stories of daring escapades, war, and manly heroism? In other words, should they be reading books that will inspire them with examples they cannot emulate? Read on…

What Next? by Susannah Rose D.

Several months ago, after many years of school life and work, I suddenly found myself a graduate. My busy days full of school projects were over, and I was faced with the “What next” question. Read on…

Helping Your Family Love Being at Home by Glenys Robyn Hicks

There is no place on earth like home. Here in our sanctuary, we live out our daily lives and let our hair down, becoming who we really are. And sometimes who we are at home can be anything but who we are in public. Read on…

Practicing Moderation in Eating by Tammy

What, you mean reading about weight loss won’t take the pounds off? I have to cut back on my… food intake? Read on…

When Lancelot Comes Riding by Brett Harris

The days of knights and fair maidens are long gone. For many young women the question, “Can I carry that for you?” sounds more like, “Prithee, fair maiden! Allow me to relieve thee of thy luggage.” To which they respond, “What century are you from?” Read on…

I do not know why oft ’round me,
My hopes all shattered seem to be;
God’s perfect plan I cannot see,
But someday, I’ll understand.

I cannot tell the depth of love,
Which moves the Father’s heart above;
My faith to test, my love to prove,
But someday, I’ll understand.

Someday, He’ll make it plain to me,
Someday, when I His face shall see;
Someday, from tears I shall be free,
For someday, I shall understand.

- from the hymn, Someday He’ll Make it Plain

. . .

Marianne: “Come, I’m taking you on a walk.”

Margaret: “No, I’ve been on a walk.”

Marianne: “You need another.”

Margaret: “It’s going to rain!”

Marianne: “It is not going to rain.”

Margaret: “You always say that, and then it always does.”

– from the film, Sense and Sensibility –

Just when I begin to wonder, “What am I going to do for my next blog post?”, the problem is solved by my being caught in a game of blog-tag by Miss Mia from Aspiring Homemaker.

The Rules of the game are as follows:

• Link to the person who tagged you.
• Post the rules on your blog.
• Write Six Random Things about yourself.
• “Tag” six-or-so other people at the bottom of your post…
• …And leave comments on their blogs, letting them know they’ve been tagged.
• Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve written the post.

All righty, this should be interesting. Just let me think…

Six Random Things About Me (Janna)

1. When I was nine, I broke my arm playing “North and South” at an AWANA club meeting.

2. I’m deathly afraid of heights. Shaky limbs, shallow breathing, a breakdown of rational thought…

3. I would rather read aloud to an audience than read silently to myself.

4. I’ve been a member of eBay since May 8th, 1999.

5. I failed my first behind-the-wheel drivers’ test.

6. This year I celebrated my Golden Birthday, which happened to fall on Easter Sunday.

Here are my “Tagees”:

Annie Oakley – http://littlemissoakley.blogspot.com/

Mara – http://maralatourelle.blogspot.com/

Kaitlyn Michelle - http://istandredemmed.blogspot.com/

Tiffany – http://ahighcalling2007.blogspot.com/

Maria Pauline - http://beautifulgraceblog.wordpress.com/

Caroline – http://standinginthesunlight.blogspot.com/

It may be little that I can do,
Nor may I have much to say,
But in that little I mean to be true,
And do what I can today.

From the depths of my heart I will do my part
With a ready and willing hand;
And I will not shirk, I will faithfully work
In the place that my Lord hath planned.

In vain no service that love may give,
No matter how small it be;
In God’s remembrance it ever shall live
To shine in eternity.

- from the hymn, I Will Do My Part

Anne: “Plum puffs won’t minister to a mind diseased, in a world that’s crumbled into pieces.”

Marilla: “Well, I’m glad to see that your dented spirits haven’t injured your tongue.”

From the film, Anne of Avonlea