Let me know how it works for you Carl.
Geez, I'd hate for it to ruin your whole batch tho.
I'd almost be afraid to try it, but don't ya hate it when the raisins all sink to the bottom? grrrr! lol

I don't think it's gonna ruin it. But I don't think it's gonna change the location of the raisins. In the bowl soaking in water, the raisins were definitely plumper, but still heavy.

Anyway, the pudding is in the oven now. We'll know in a couple of hours or so how it turned out.

Marge has gone with her sister to Zumba. I'll get the grill ready now, and the two potato salads are already made (MIL - Mom-in-law - likes it with mayonnaise; Marge & I, with miracle whip salad dressing.

Only other thing to do besides grilling the steaks when Marge gets home is to start some baby butter beans cooking.

I'm way too methodical to do much cooking, but Marge appreciates it on occasion.

Happy Birthday Marge!!!!
Hope you all enjoyed your dinner. Steak and potato salad sounds good to me. Been thinking about the same meal lately. As a matter of fact I just mentioned that to someone else here a few days ago.
I'm a Hellmans gal myself. LOL

It was mighty fine. I have always liked ribeye steak the best - for flavor and juiciness, but these New York Strip steaks were about the most tender I can recall. All the meal was good, and the Birthday Woman enjoyed her day. I had set up the day as an event on Facebook, for a toast/roast for her birthday, and many people dropped in for a comment.

Bread pudding was wonderful, as always. It's not that big of a problem to get the raisins in the serving, if one remembers to take the spoon all the way to the bottom when scooping out the serving.

But the raisins were still at the bottom. Stuck less, though, so maybe that's a reason to soak them.

Good to hear the Birthday gal enjoyed her day
Sounds like you did good with the meal Carl. You're a helluva guy Brian has all he can do to flip a burger! lol

Couldn't get the Bread pudding out of my head..so I have one in the oven as we speak. Used your basic recipe with a little spin of my own. I used regular sugar and BROWN sugar..a bit more cinnamon...and rather than mixing the bread in to the liquid I tore up the bread and put it in to a greased casserole dish first then poured the liquid mixture over the top.( I vaguely remember my mom doing it that way) I also sort of layered the raisins between layers of bread and sprinkled some on top after the liquid. Not ure how much raisins..I just sort of ran with it LOL

We'll see. SMELLS pretty darn good I can tell ya that!

Sounds good. In time, I could probably be a good all-around cook. I was a Pizza Hut cook for 3 years, and in Washington State, I managed a Mexican Food fast-food restaurant (patterned after a full-service restaurant in Spokane). And I spent a while as a bachelor. Then, I survived a lot on frozen left-over pan pizza, warmed up, and cereal, with fried egg sandwiches as the occasional difference. But even then, I'd pull out the Betty Crocker cook book, and try some dish - maybe once per week.

And when both Marge & I worked, I would try to be in charge of the meal the nights she'd be going into work. So we traded. And the one not cooking would do the dishes & clean the kitchen. Nowadays, mostly she cooks, but some dishes are my province - like omelets, and fried eggs. Marge does the poached eggs. And either of us can do the scrambled eggs (with cheese) the way we like it.

But back to the pudding. I'm getting to where I can kind of wing it, also. I might try that using some brown sugar also.

I don't exactly mix the bread and raisins in, but just spoon them in. Also, like many cooks, I suspect, I combine steps - adding butter & vanilla to the milk while it's heating. Then I pour in the dry ingredients, and mix them right into the milk, and then pour in the beaten eggs.

Here's hoping your pudding is just how you like it. I have seen recipes for some that are classier/fancier than mine - like Paula Deen's for example. But I like the simplicity of mine. And like we've said, smooth & creamy and good.

With only one batch (I didn't do a double batch, since I was in charge of the entire meal), there was only enough left for about 2 or 3 servings. But when Marge got some for lunch today, she asked if I wanted some. I said, no - it was for her. She was happy with that. She admitted to only being polite.

P.S. I love your avatar. Last night, I was commenting to Marge how I have been liking the commercials for the Yellow Lumber people - where a continuing "drama" unfolds. And I recalled how cheated I felt when that coffee commercial which had started an excruciatingly slow "romance" abruptly ended with us hanging.

Anyway, I can't wait to see what the next bit of dialogue is between Levi & Ziggy.