Bread Pudding

As much as I love bread pudding, I had never made it before yesterday, and now I'm wondering why I never did before! It is super easy to make, and quite fun, as it's a bit messy, too. It makes the perfect dessert, or if you're like me it's dessert AND breakfast the next day! Another great thing about bread pudding is you can pretty much put whatever you want in it. There are the basics you need; the eggs, milk or cream, etc, but you can add chocolate, as I did, or dried fruit or nuts would work, also.  And it's not overly sweet, which to me is perfect! This is a great recipe to make if you have a loaf of bread that is getting stale, as you really need day-old bread to make this the right consistency.
What You'll Need:
1 loaf of bread (I used Italian, really I think any bakery-style loaf of bread would work. I wouldn't recommend using pre-sliced store bought sandwich bread for this)
3 eggs
2 cups milk or cream (I used cream because I had some I needed to use)
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tbsp vanilla
3/4 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
2/3 cup chocolate chips (or fruit, nuts, etc. Whatever you want to add. Or don't add anything at all, if you wish)
What to Do:
-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
-Cut the bread into about 1 inch pieces, and place in a baking dish that's been sprayed with a non-stick cooking spray.
-In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, milk/cream, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and vanilla
-Pour the egg mixture over the bread pieces, and mix well to make sure all of the bread is soaked in the mixture. Really, the best way to do this is just to get in there with your hands. It's messy, but the best way to get the job done.
-Let the bread soak in the mixture for 30 minutes
-Scatter the chocolate chips over the top, mix again
-Bake in the oven 35-45 minutes, or until the edges pull away from the dish & the center is still a bit wobbly. Let the pudding sit for about 20-30 minutes before eating.