The Road to Meet Burke: part 3, bribery works

Yeah, yeah. We bribed the nursing staff.

At the suggestion of our doula, we prepared a few treats for the nursing staff that we'd hoped would at least ensure they all read our birth plan. Since we were delivering at the "baby factory" and were hoping for a more natural birth with as little medical intervention as possible, we figured we might need all the leverage we could get.

I made these 3-4 weeks before the due date and froze them. Once we knew we were heading to the hospital, we pulled them out to defrost & plopped them in a basket with tissue paper, a few copies of our birth plan, and an ingredient list.

I think J made lots of friends when he dropped off the basket at the nurse's station that night!

Cranberry Orange Bread via Joy of Baking

Pumpkin Muffins via Smitten Kitchen

Granola Bars via Smitten Kitchen

It worked. Not only did we receive great service during delivery (everyone who came into our room commented on the yummy treats), but we also scored the corner suite in recovery.

Labor Inducing Smoothie

I sit here swaying on my yoga ball to a little Alabama Shakes (despite their Grammy shut-out) as I *joyfully* enter the 40th week of my first pregnancy. He's a few days late, but I'm not trying to rush the guy. But I've been doing a LOT of reading on the world wide web about foods that could potentially, possibly, maybe, sorta naturally induce labor or at least create an optimal environment for the fella's arrival.

There were a lot of recipes out there that included dates & pineapple, but often with a lot of other ingredients that either hindered or had no impact on labor. I wanted to get right to the point, and this was really tasty. Add an umbrella straw & I could be on the beach! Instead, I'll hula on my yoga ball at my desk on this rainy February day.

***Remember, if the babe isn't ready to come, your diet/exercise regimen isn't going to change that. And don't try to induce labor pre-term. And check with your doctor/midwife.***

So, here's a smoothie recipe I concocted this morning in hopes of progressing labor:

Pineapple Date Smoothie

• 8-12 pitted dates
• 2-3 thick slices FRESH pineapple (with the core if you can get it). More if you want it.
• 1-2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut - the finer it's shredded the better - if you don't love coconut, you can omit it. I just needed something to bridge the date/pineapple flavor. 
• vanilla almond milk to desired consistency
• dash of cinnamon
• 1/3 cup greek yogurt - you don't need it, it just helps with a smoothie consistency vs. juice. I used plain, but any flavor you like would work.

Add to blender and pulse. The dates can get stuck in the blade, so you may want to blend those vigorously first before adding the other ingredients. I've also read that if you soak the dates in water for a while before blending, it helps avoid the chunks. I may try that next time.

Does it work? Well, I'm still typing this as I drink it, so I can't guarantee an immediate kickstart. But, here's the actual research that gives me some hope:

• Dates. There's actually "real" research out there to support this one (published by the National Institute for Health, not some hippie in the basement lab...though I do love hippies.).  In a 2007 study, women who consumed 6 dates a day for the 4 weeks prior to their delivery were admitted with higher dilation, & a significantly higher % had membranes intact. Also, 96% of those who ate dates went into labor spontaneously and averaged 6.5 hour shorter first stage of labor than those who didn't eat dates. 6.5 hours less of labor? Sign me up.
• Fresh pineapple contains bromelain, which acts like a prostaglandin and is thought to soften or "ripen" the cervix. Prostaglandin is the same hormone in human semen that supports the idea that sex can induce labor. I prefer the pineapple in a smoothie! The process of canning pineapple removes this hormone, so be sure to only use fresh. How much you need is a good question - I've read that you can't get enough of it, and I've read that you need at least 7 pineapples for any impact. I've been trying to eat some daily for the past few weeks. Whether it brings on labor or not, it's known to tone the uterus & cervix to make labor more pleasant. Yes please.
• Cinnamon tea has been hailed to induce labor, but I really added it more for flavor. And I only used a dash, so I'm not expecting much from it. Maybe combined with the other things?
• Almond milk...well, almond oil has been shown to bring on pre-term labor in mothers who rubbed it on their stomachs to prevent stretch marks prior to 37 weeks gestation. When used as a laxative, it can also bring on contractions resulting in premature labor. I doubt there's enough pure oil in the almond milk to do the damage of castor oil, so I substituted it for regular dairy milk.
• Coconut. Well, coconut oil is like magic & good for anything. And some people claim coconut water induces labor. You could use it in the recipe instead of the flakes. I used it for the flavor. Any action is a bonus.

So the "research" is a bit shaky, as with everything else on the interweb, right? But, I feel good about the mix of ingredients not doing any harm, which is more than I can say for some of the things I've read about & heard about. The ingredients are all good for me, natural, and are hopefully going to get things going down there and help to avoid a medical induction as we get further and further past the due date.


UPDATE: Approximately 18 hours after eating this smoothie, our little boy was born!!! I'll share the labor story soon, but it happened very quickly. I can't say for sure if it was the smoothie or some of the other tricks I tried that encouraged his arrival--or maybe he was just ready. But we sure are glad he's here!

Easy German Chocolate Cake

For my mom's birthday, I decided to make her a German Chocolate Cake--her favorite.

Cricket gave me specific instructions that it couldn't be a big cake--he didn't want the tempting leftovers around for a week. Pretty sure he now regrets that requirement. Nonetheless, I picked up two of these 6" cake pans. I figured they'd be a good size to have on-hand if I ever attempt to make a tiered cake.

After scouring the web, I derived the following recipe. I was happily impressed that, as a German Chocolate Cake should, it gets more moist as the days go by. The sweet coconut filling seeping into the layers of scrumptiousness.


I kinda cheated by using (gasp!) a boxed mix. I kicked up the chocolate factor by adding instant pudding mix, and used sour cream to up the moisture quotient.

The filling is based on the ever-popular Dabid Leibovitz recipe. I simplified it and didn't frost the exterior with chocolate. Instead, I doubled the coconut-praline mixture to have enough for the layers and exterior. YUM!

Cake Ingredients:
1 (18 1/4 ounce) package Betty Crocker Super Moist cake mix - German Chocolate flavor.
1 (4 ounce) box instant chocolate pudding mix - double fudge flavor
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs

Cake Instructions:
1. Preheat to 350 degrees. Line your pans with parchment paper. I used two 6" x 2" pans to keep the size petite, per Cricket's request.

2. Mix all ingredients with electric mixer until smooth.

3. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. The pudding and sour cream increase the cook time than stated on the box, so you may want to check after about 25 min.

4. Let cool on wire rack until completely cooled. I let them cool overnight before frosting them, leaving them in the off oven to avoid Lula's reach.

5. Once cool, use a sharp bread knife to split each layer horizontally & level the tops.

Filling Ingredients: (Double the quantities below to have enough for the exterior.)
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sugar
3 large egg yolks
6 Tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped
1 1/3 cups sweetened flake coconut, toasted

To toast the pecans and coconut, I used foil to split a baking sheet into two sections. The coconut took about 15 minutes, and the pecans about 10 on 350.

 Filling Instructions:

1. Mix the cream, sugar, and egg yolks in a medium saucepan. Put the butter pieces, toasted coconut, and pecan pieces in a large heat-safe mixing bowl.

2. Heat the cream mixture and cook, stirring constantly (scraping the bottom as you stir) until the mixture begins to thicken and coats the spoon (an instant-read thermometer will read 170°.)

3. Pour the hot custard immediately into the pecan-coconut mixture and stir until the butter is melted. Cool completely to room temperature. (It will thicken.)


Assembly Instructions:
1. Use a serrated bread knife to cut your layer cakes horizontally, making the layers as even as possible. For a 2-inch deep cake pan, you'll end up with two layers. Cut off the rounded top so that the layers will rest flat on top of each other.

2. Place a layer of cake on your cake plate and spread the cooled filling on top. Add another layer, and repeat until all layers are in place with filling in between them.

3. Use the remaining filling to coat the top of the cake and sides. The filling will likely run down the edges of the sides onto your cake plate -- but that's okay. It turns out really pretty!

4. It's ready to serve!

[you can see we were too eager to get at it to take a pic]

Sweet Potato and Mushroom Soup with White Beans and Kale

The recent rainy afternoons have given me a hankerin' for soup. After looking at what I had on-hand, I searched the interweb for a recipe using baby portabella mushrooms, sweet potatoes, and kale. I landed on this recipe from Lisa's Kitchen and decided it would be easy enough to swap out my sweet potato for the butternut squash. Lisa's recipe calls for a jalapeno, which I think would give it a nice touch.

I picked up a French baguette from a nearby specialty grocer, and it paired perfectly. This soup isn't too hearty for a warm summer night. Plus, it's a nutritional powerhouse packed with Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, calcium, potassium, fiber, iron, antioxidants, and more.


Ingredients:

• 14 oz cannellini (white kidney) beans, drained & rinsed
• 4 cups chicken broth (vegetable broth would make this 100% vegetarian, and would've used if I'd had it on-hand)
• 4 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 16 oz baby portabella (cremini) mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
• 1 bunch kale, stemmed and torn into bite-sized pieces
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 large shallot, chopped
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg 
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
• 4 cups water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
• fresh ground black pepper

Instructions:

• Heat a large soup crock over medium-high heat. When hot, add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, wait a few seconds, then swirl to coat the pan. Add the mushrooms and sauté for 8-10 minutes or until the mushrooms are a golden brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.
• Reduce to medium heat and add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onion, shallots, and garlic and stir for 2-3 minutes or until the onions start to turn translucent. 
• Gently toss in the sweet potatoes, curry powder, nutmeg, and cayenne. Stir to coat the vegetables with the oil and seasonings. Pour in the water, add the bay leaf, and bring to a boil. 
• Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the reserved mushrooms, beans and the stock. Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until the sweet potato pieces are tender.
• Discard the bay leaf and season the soup with salt and plenty of fresh ground black pepper. 
• Add the kale and continue to simmer for 4-5 minutes or until the kale is wilted but still bright green.
• Remove from heat and serve hot with crusty French baguette.

Serves 8
Prep: 15-20 minutes
Cooking: 50 minutes

recipe: homemade bread & butter pickles

Cricket loves him some homemade pickles. If they're on the menu somewhere, we order them. No questions asked.

I'd never tried making them before, but figured it'd be fun to try them to complement our smoked pulled pork this weekend. To be honest, the canning process intimidates me. As much as I love mason jars, the boiling, sterilizing, sealing, etc seems like a LOT of work. But this recipe isn't for canning. It's so good, these suckers won't last the week, much less until winter.

I found two versions of Hugh Acheson's bread and butter pickles, so this is an amended attempt at what I resolved to be the best combo of the two. For the most part, I followed this one found in Esquire magazine. I consulted Hugh's cookbook A New Turn in the South, which had a very similar recipe with slightly different ingredients & quantities.

Ingredients:
2 cucumbers (regular sized, or 10-12 pickling cukes)
1/2 vidalia onion, sliced thin
1/2 cup kosher salt
celery bunch (you just need the leaves, use the stalks for something else yummy)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
3/4 tsp fennel seeds
1 & 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
8 allspice berries
1 & 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup amber maple syrup
1/2 cup water

Instructions:
Wash the cukes well, scrubbing to remove any dirt. Slice into 1/3-inch rounds.
Combine cucumber slices with sliced onion in bowl with 1/4 cup kosher salt in a medium non-reactive bowl. Don't use table salt--is has different additives in it. Cover the bowl with a thin tea towel (not terrycloth), and cover towel with about an inch of ice. Place in fridge for 4 hours.

Rinse cucumber-onion mixture with cold water in a colander to remove any salt. Tear celery leaves into 1/4-inch pieces and toss with cucumber mixture. Set aside in medium non-reactive bowl.

In a medium non-reactive pot, combine remaining salt and remaining ingredients. Stir. Bring to a rapid boil. Pack cucumber mixture tightly into jars and pour boiling liquid to cover. Leave on counter, uncovered, for 2 hours, then refrigerate.

[homemade bread and butter pickles]

Once at refrigerator temperature, done.

These will be at their best in a day or so and should keep up to 10 days...if you wait that long.


(if you prefer to can them for longer keeping, refer to your canning manufacturer's instructions.)

white sangria recipe

a few weeks ago, i was tasked with concocting a delicious cocktail to complement the fajitas & handmade guacamole station at a recent cinco de mayo fete. i had to make enough to serve 40+ folks, so this is a bulk recipe for approximately 5 gallons.

the yummy white sangria with fresh strawberries from jaemor farm. served in mason jars with paper straws.

in order to keep the beverage chilled on a hot Southern day, i froze the fruit overnight so that it would act as ice cubes without diluting the cocktail.

here's the recipe i made up...and it was quite yummy. perfect for hot summer nights on the new porch swing.

First, it was critical to stop at a local farm stand to pick up their fresh strawberries. i cannot tell you how delicious my car smelled the entire ride!


fruit:
2 gallons of fresh strawberries, de-stemmed and quartered (smaller ones halved)
3 large grapefruits, cut to 1" slices
2 pounds of lemons, cut to 1.5" slices
2 pounds of key limes, whole
1 cup sugar
additional fruit for garnish



alcoholic version:
3x 64oz bottles of White Grape & Peach juice
3x 2-liter bottles of Ginger Ale
1x 96-oz bottle of Apple juice
5 bottles of chardonnay
(for smaller batches, use 1 bottle grape & peach juice, 1 bottle ginger ale, 24-30 oz apple juice, & 1-2 bottles of wine)

non-alcoholic version:
3x 64oz bottles of White Grape & Peach juice
3x 2-liter bottles of Ginger Ale
2x 96-oz bottle of Apple juice
1x 2-liter bottle of lemonade


instructions:
1. clean and cut all fruit as indicated. mix strawberries, grapefruit, and lemons in large bowl. add sugar and stir. freeze overnight. freeze whole limes separately overnight.
2. in 5-gallon bucket, mix all ingredients for either alcoholic or non-alcoholic version. stir. refrigerate in large bucket (if your fridge is large enough).
3. when ready to serve, pour cocktail into large beverage dispenser and add frozen fruit. stir for even fruit distribution & you're ready to go.
4. since the fruit won't fit through the dispenser spout, it's great to have skewered fruit available for garnish.
5. of course, serve it in a mason jar!



cost per 5-gallon batch:
White Grape & Peach juice: 3 x $2.98
Ginger Ale: 3 x $1.00
Apple Juice: 1 x $3.52
Fruit: $10-12
Wine: $25-30

treats for my sweets

as i mentioned, we like to stay in for valentine's day. we've always cooked ourselves a nice meal, enjoyed a bottle of wine, and worn our lounge clothes. it SOOOO beats a rushed dinner at a crowded restaurant.

i surprised cricket with a homemade chocolate chip peanut butter pie (it's a WW recipe, and i saved my 11 points for the yumminess all day). he surprised me with half a dozen chocolate-covered strawberries (hmmm, wonder where the others went. those aren't points, right?). and we surprised lu-dog with some yummy treats from the neighborhood dog bakery.

[all the treats]

we pulled out one of the "good bottles" of wine - one we picked up during the oregon trip at penner-ash vineyards this summer.

[libations]

we grilled the bone-in pork chops we received as our most recent share from the Moonshine Meats CSA we recently joined. these puppies could be were mistaken for ribeyes on Facebook!

[pork chops from moonshine meats CSA]

while the chops were on the grill, i set our pretty table...err island. notice the classy candleholder - a sheet of aluminum foil. cricket accidentally ruined our carpet last love day by over-zealously blowing out some candles, so this was a precautionary measure.

[glamorous tablescape. gotta love that foil!]

unfortunately, no bus boy showed up to wash the dishes, so we were on our own there. but it was worth it!

how was your valentine's day?

juicy juice

i decided to give the new fancy juicer a try. i mean, it does look good on the pantry shelves, but this ain't no museum.

since we're pretty keen on the soda stream, i thought i'd prolong the life of some diminishing limes + lemons so we could flavor our own sparkling water in a natural way. have you seen what they charge for the flavored mixes? it's crazy. and full of sugar. no thanks.

i was proud of my little guy. and ya know what, a little mason jar fits PERFECTLY. go figure. thanks for this one, reid!

first up...limes.

then...lemons.

then...i rescued half an orange from the fridge for some fresh-squeezed juice for the chef. it was sooooo good.

i froze the juice in large ice cube trays. i didn't fill them up, just about 1/3 of the way since these are BIG cubes.

[there they sit, next to the basil butter i made this summer]

can't wait to try them in our next batch of sparkling water!

mmmm....MEAT!

Saturday was a much-anticipated day in our household. We joined a meat CSA and Saturday was the first delivery. We've been wanting to join a CSA for a while now, but it's been hard to find one that fit our schedule, eating preferences, and commitment level.

During the holidays, I day-tripped to Athens, GA for sis-in-law's tattoo, I snuck away for a bit to eat at Farm 255. There, I learned about their meat CSA offered through Moonshine Meats. And they deliver monthly to Decatur...just down the road from our house.

CSA stands for Community-Supported-Agriculture. Basically, you pay a monthly fee to receive a share of that month's crop/yield. The yield is likely the product of multiple small, local, organic operations. For us, the chance to get some amazing grass-fed local meat was a winner. We decided to go all-in for the first three months and subscribe to the big-daddy share. We figured this would give us the best experience with both the pork + beef products. If we learn that we prefer the pork vs the beef, we can scale back after the first quarter. We decided to split the first quarter subscription with my in-laws so we wouldn't have a freezer full of meat.

It was super-easy to sign up online. If you're looking for a CSA, try Farmigo's website to find either vegetables, meats, or mixed-share options near you. You can find out about seasonality, shares, and membership options or sign-up online.

Here's what we received in the first month's share:

• 2 pounds of ground pork sausage: one mild + one medium (we got to choose the hotness)
• 1 pound of ground pork
• 3 pounds of ground beef

• 2 ribeye steaks (look at those guys...even Lula was excited to see those bones!)

•  4 bone-in pork chops

plus...

• 1 top-round roast 
• 1 ham roast

We also added 2 pounds of bacon to the order. Yummmm...bacon.

The ham roast was the "off-cut" this month. Each month, they throw in a new "off-cut" to get you to try something new. If it's something unfamiliar, they send out a recipe the following week to help you figure out what to do with it.

Now it it'd only stop raining long enough to fire up the grill.

magic reindeer food

when i was little, one of our holiday highlights was putting out the reindeer food on Christmas Eve. every year, Mrs. Gidley would deliver the magic mix to our porch, and we 3 girls were delighted to get to sprinkle it on the lawn. part of this excitement may have stemmed that this brown paper bag had likely been touched by Mrs. Gidley's son, who was SOOOOOOOO cute. cute boy aside, the reindeer food was always a favorite thing.

after we'd open our Christmas PJs on Christmas Eve, we'd put on our slippers, bundle up, and sprinkle the mix on the front yard to make sure Santa's reindeer had a snack while he was so busy unloading our loot. then, we'd argue over who got to color which part of the reindeer.



Mrs. Gidley's mixture consisted of hay and glitter packaged in a brown paper sack, and it always had a hand-drawn reindeer picture for coloring. apparently, glitter isn't bio-degradable, so i had to adjust the mix to be environmentally friendly and all. but the packaging stayed the same.

Ingredients:
Oats - duh, reindeer LOVE oats
Colored sugar - creates the "magic" sparkle to help the reindeer find your house
Cypress fronds - gives it a Christmas-y smell to help the reindeer know it's safe to eat

Instructions:
Evenly disperse the oats among the dozen or so bags (about 1/3 cup each). Sprinkle sugar crystals into each bag. Top off with some cypress fronds (I salvaged mine from the porch where my garland was shedding). Give it a shake.

Fold over the top of each bag + staple the coloring label onto the front. I stamped each one with our name so folks knew where they came from, too.

You can download my coloring labels here. 2 will print per page, and they fit perfectly onto the average brown paper lunch sack. If you're distributing to a household with siblings, you may want to tack on enough coloring labels for each child to avoid a small war.

The label's poem reads:

Sprinkle on your lawn at night

Rudolph's nose will make it sparkle bright.

As Santa's reindeer fly and roam,

This will guide them to your home.

Drop them off to your friends + neighbors with school-age kiddos the week before Christmas.

cinnamon honey butter gifts

my mom has long given her friends + neighbors homemade roasted garlic butter as holiday gifts. it's delicious on every.thing. and fills the house with a wonderful garlicky aroma when she's roasting like 20 cloves at a time.

since i'm not much of a baker (and when i do bake, the treats don't last very long), i thought i'd follow in my mom's footsteps + whip up some flavored butter as gifts this year. whip up, get it?

i found this recipe from ina, and figured i couldn't go wrong. the cinnamon + honey flavors just scream holiday time to me. i knew this would be perfect for family gatherings around the holidays: french toast on Christmas morning, smeared on warm rolls, used to ice cinnamon rolls, or even used to make cinnamon toast.

as usual, i altered the recipe a tad. here's the recipe to fill 1-dozen 8-oz mason jars. i actually had enough to fill 2 additional 4-oz jars.

ingredients:
3.5 pounds of unsalted butter, room temperature (each stick of butter is 1/4 pound, so 14 sticks)
2.5 cups + 2 tablespoons of clover honey
3.5 teaspoons of cinnamon - i used roasted saigon cinnamon for a richer flavor
1.75 teaspoons of kosher salt
heavy whipping cream, about .5-1 cup
12 8-oz jelly jars, with lids


instructions:

blend butter using mixer's paddle attachment until no longer in large chunks.

add honey, cinnamon and salt into mixer's bowl until well blended. blend on medium speed until smooth.

add cream until desired consistency. the more you add, the creamier it will be. the less you add, the firmer it will be. it's really a matter of preference.

once it's creamy enough for your liking, spoon into jars, approximately 3/4 full. place lids on the jars, affix label, tie on your ribbon, and refrigerate. it's a very yummy + very inexpensive gift for the holidays!

i created little labels for my jars and printed them on 1 1/2" round labels from Avery (item #8293). i had the labels available for download, until i realized i'd misspelled the word "biscuit." shame, shame, shame. i've actually already gifted a few, so i'm just gonna go with it. please don't tell Teacher Sis.

[i misspelled BISCUITS. that makes it more personal, right? geez. i'm ashamed.]

would love to know what you try the butter on this holiday season!! and check out the other holly bloggy christmas parties across blogland:

spiced rum sauce

picked up this little gem up over at epicurious. super easy, super rich, super yum. it's perfect with the drunken cranberry bread pudding, or spoon it onto some ice cream, or drizzle it over brownies. um, or both.

ingredients:
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons spiced rum or dark rum
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

preparation:
stir brown sugar and butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat until melted and smooth, about 2 minutes.

add cream, rum, and cinnamon and bring to simmer. simmer until sauce thickens and is reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 5 minutes. serve warm.

makes about 1 1/2 cups. 

what makes it great for entertaining? well, it can be prepared 2 days ahead. simply refrigerate it in a covered dish, then bring to a simmer before serving.

drunken cranberry bread pudding with spiced rum sauce

i wanted to add a little perkiness to my bread pudding this week, so i decided to add some drunken cranberries to the recipe. yum AND festive!

ingredients:

1 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup grand marnier
1 cup orange juice

8 large eggs
3 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1-pound loaf raisin challah, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 teaspoon cinnamon

preparation:

For the cranberries: soak cranberries, grand marnier, and OJ in a small bowl for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 350.

Butter 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. 

Cube bread into 1" pieces and set aside.

 

Whisk eggs in large bowl. Add milk, sugar, cream, cinnamon and vanilla; whisk to blend well. 

Stir bread into liquid mixture, being sure the bread absorbs the liquid. 

Pour mixture into prepared baking dish. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours. 

Preheat oven to 350°F. 

Bake pudding uncovered until puffed and golden, about 1 hour 15 minutes. If the top begins to brown too early, cover with a foil tent.

Cool slightly (pudding will fall). Serve warm with Spiced Rum Sauce.