Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce

Coming from a family of nine children it goes against my upbringing to waste food.  Since I live alone, I can rarely finish an entire loaf of bread on my own before it goes stale.  I feed some of it to the local birds but the remainder either gets thrown away or needs to be recycled.  This recipe is a great way to use up a good portion of a leftover loaf.  You will need the following items:

Starting at the top and going clockwise, we have a covered casserole dish (if it doesn't have a cover you can use aluminum foil), 3 eggs lightly beaten, butter (you'll decide how much to use), 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1/2 cup raisins, 8 slices of bread (homemade bread is especially good), 1/2 cup sugar and 2 cups milk.

Start by preparing the bread.  Butter one side of each slice like so:

When all eight slices have been buttered set one slide aside.  Take the first slice and place it butter side up in the bottom of the casserole.  Take the remaining six slices and arrange them around the bottom slice, overlapping each slice slightly.  It will look something like this:

Set this aside.  Now mix together the eggs and sugar until all sugar is dissolved.  Add the remainder of the ingredients making sure each ingredient is thoroughly mixed through.  It's easier to do this if you leave the raisins for last.  When finished, pour the liquid mixture into the center of the casserole and place the last slice of bread on top, butter side down.  It will look like this:

I take these pictures myself and I wasn't able to photograph this next step because my hands were wet.  Place your very clean hands on the top slice of bread and press the entire thing down until all bread is soaked through.  Place the lid on the casserole and set it aside for ten minutes.  At the end of this time, place it in a 325 degree oven and let it bake for 30 minutes.  Remove the lid and continue baking an additional 30 minutes.

To make the Whiskey Sauce - place one stick of butter in a saucepan and melt over very low heat.  It is important that the heat be kept low as if it's too high the butter will burn.  When the butter is completely melted, add one cup of brown sugar and stir to dissolve.  Then add one tablespoon flour and mix it through.  When all have been blended together add 1/2 cup of boiling water.  Continue cooking and stirring until the mixture turns clear.  At this point remove it from the heat and add 1/3 cup of whiskey.  I use a good Irish whiskey, like Jameson's but any whiskey will do.

Serve the whiskey sauce hot over the bread pudding.

Bon appetit!