Turkey Day

Arguably my favorite part about any holiday is the menu planning and food preparation, even more than the actual eating of the food. Now that I don't have extended breaks for the holidays, however, I do less cooking for big family meals than before. This Thanksgiving, I wasn't too involved, sadly, but I did make this absolutely fabulous dessert from the October 2009 issue of Southern Living. We didn't have enough individual ramekins, though, so our version was the "twist" in one large pan. It turned out super, and I'm looking forward to eating it all week for breakfast!

Bread Pudding
4 large eggs
2 (15-ounce) cans pumpkin
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (12-ounce) French bread loaf, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 10 cups)

Caramel-Pecan Sauce
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Whisk together eggs and next 8 ingredients in a large bowl until well blended. Add bread pieces, stirring to thoroughly coat. Cover with plastic wrap, and chill 8 to 24 hours.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spoon bread mixture into 11 (6-oz.) lightly greased ramekins. (Ramekins will be completely full, and mixture will mound slightly.) Place on an aluminum foil-lined jelly-roll pan.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, shielding with foil after 30 minutes.

4. During last 15 minutes of baking, prepare sauce: Heat pecans in a medium skillet over medium-low heat, stirring often, 3 to 5 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant.

5. Cook brown sugar, butter and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, 3 to 4 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and pecans.

6. Remove bread puddings from oven; drizzle with caramel-pecan sauce. Bake 5 minutes or until sauce is thoroughly heated and begins to bubble.

TRY THIS TWIST

One-Dish Caramel-Pecan-Pumpkin Bread Pudding: Prepare recipe as directed in Step 1. Spoon chilled bread mixture into a lightly greased 13- by 9-inch baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 minutes. Proceed with recipe as directed in Steps 4 through 6.