Not-so-instant Pudding

We finally made it back to a farmer's market this week. Saturday we did an all-day Birdathon for Audubon, so Sunday was our day to get everything else done. We hit the Hillsdale market for some fresh veggies and ingredients for a bread pudding recipe that Max had been yearning for all winter. It was a warm sunny day and Andie the dog enjoyed finding and eating random dropped pieces of food. There was a huge line for strawberries, but we'll wait until the you-pick ones are ready.

We bought a few vegetable starts and planted them afterward in my grandfather's garden. I won't spend too much time blogging about all those tiny plants until we start eating them. Andie enjoyed the gardening, especially the part where she broke into the bag of chicken manure and ate a bunch of it.

But back to the bread pudding. The recipe is from Debbie Madison and was brought to our attention by Barbara Kingsolver in her great book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It was about as local as we get:
Bread-New Seasons, Milk-Alpenrose, Eggs-co-worker's neighbor, Onions and asparagus and cheese and mushrooms-farmers market, Butter-Tillamook.



It took a long time and many different pans and bowls and cutting boards, but between the two of us, we finally got the pudding cooked. It got all puffy and golden, just like it was supposed to, and then we served it with a simple (local lettuce) salad. The flavors blended really well together and the texture was moist but not squishy. This local eating thing gets easier and easier as the spring goes on.