stale bread

I had a leftover half loaf of italian bread from the bakery ; it was way too stale to eat (crouton like state). So instead of tossing it I made:

Caramelized Banana Bread Pudding

1/3 cup craisins (or raisins)
3 Tb. dark rum
1 Tb. unsalted butter
3 med. bananas, halved lengthwise then sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
4 Tb. dark brown sugar
1 1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
3 Tb. granulated sugar
1/3 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
4 cups cuped french bread

In a small bowl, combine craisins and rum. Let stand 10 min. Drain, reserving rum and craisins separately.
In lg. bowl whisk milk,eggs, granulated sugar, cinnamon ,vanilla and reserved craisins. Stir in bread cubes let stand 15 min.
Preheat oven to 350.
In med. skillet, melt butter over med-high heat. When frothy, add banana slices and cook, stirring frequently until lightly browned, 3 minutes or so. Remove skillet from heat and add brown sugar and rum. Return skillet to heat and cook until rum evaporates about 30 sec.
In large baking dish sprayed with pam, spoon in 1/2 the bread mixture, then 1/2 banana mixture. Repeat to use all. Bake until puffed and golden; bout 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temp.

The Sweetest Place on Earth

D and I had the day off Friday for the holiday weekend, so we decided to head up to Hersheypark. They offer a "preview" evening-if you present your ticket for the next day you can enter the park after 7:30 pm and enjoy the park for free. So we headed up Thurs. evening after work. We had a great time, despite the rainstorm that happened. We did several inside rides that we may not have normally chosen. We took the Kissing tower ride which is a several hundred feet elevator type ride which rotates giving a birds-eye view of Hershey and the amusement park; it was neat to ride in the dark. The coasters all shut down with the rain but started running again in the last hour. S took her first big roller coaster ride on the superdooper looper- in the dark. As the name implies it has a loop. She loved it-and a rollercoaster monster was created.

The next morning we were in the park at opening and stayed until closing. We only had one brief rain shower and the weather was otherwise wonderful with partly sunny skies and temps in the upper 70's. The kids enjoyed going on the coasters repeatedly as the lines were not long 15-20 minute wait at most. As always, the people watching was interesting and quite amusing at times! We went to Chocolate World which smells deliciously chocolate-y and took the factory tour ride which completes with a piece of chocolate. Longest line of the day was for the cars, which took almost an hour. As we stood there D and I both recalled this type of ride always moves slow in every theme park. Last few rides of the day were spent on the Comet a huge classic wooden coaster and the infamous superdooper looper-5 times in a row. We left happy and worn out! We made our drive home and colapsed into bed a little after midnight. A fun time was had by all.