Okay… It’s no secret that we’re dessert junkies. Almost every night we have something – from light to decadent – depending on our moods, pantry offerings, and what we had for dinner.

Tonight, the pantry seemed a bit sparse (shopping day is Wednesday) but sparse does not have to mean bad. in fact, sparse + imagination was the key to tonights success!!

I spied the three getting-staler-by-the-minute kaiser rolls on the island, so my first thought was “bread pudding.” Preheated the oven to 350 right away!

Out came three eggs, 3 cups of milk, a half-cup of sugar and a splash of vanilla. I broke up the kaiser rolls and soaked everything. Back into the fridge, because I had some cream cheese in there. Broke up about 4 oz of cream cheese and dropped little balls into the batter. Back to the fridge…

Our friend Lori had sent us some homemade Peach Jelly over Christmas and we’ve been savoring it on our morning toast. It’s a great, thick, full-of-flavor jelly that cannot even be compared to that weak, blah stuff one finds at the grocery. This is Peach Jelly the way Mother Nature intended it to be! Rich peach flavor, without that sickeningly sweet taste of the commercial stuff. It’s like spreading fresh peaches on your bread. Did I mention how much I like it?!?

So… I thought… Peach cream cheese bread pudding! Of course!! I dolloped several spoonfulls into the batter, and poured it all into a buttered dish. 30 minutes later, I pulled it out of the oven, waited all of about 10 minutes for it to almost cool, and it was gastronomic heaven!

The kaiser rolls soaked up the liquid perfectly. The dollops of cream cheese melted, but kept their shape, more or less. And Lori’s Peach Jelly?!? It became little pools of peach heaven in a creamy bread custard.

Damn, it was good!