Old Fashioned Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce

7 cups white bread cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 cup melted butter
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups half & half
2 cups whole milk

Place bread cubes in a buttered 9x13 glass pan. Drizzle the melted butter over the bread. Do not mix into the bread. Set aside. In a large bowl,  beat eggs until broken up and blend in the sugars,  nutmeg, half & half and milk. DO NOT OVERBEAT THIS MIXTURE, JUST COMBINE. Pour the mixture over the bread cubes and let it all soak in, gently patting the bread down into the milk every now and then. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake pudding for 50 minutes, checking it at 40 minutes to make sure that it's not getting too brown. If it is, cover loosely with foil. Pudding is done when it is puffy all over and golden. Let cool.

CARAMEL SAUCE
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup evaporated milk

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter with the brown sugar.  Bring to a boil and remove from the heat. Whisk in this salt, vanilla and milk.  The sauce can be made ahead of time then warmed in the microwave.  Cut putting into squares and top with warm sauce. It can  also be served with vanilla ice cream.

 This recipe was delicious!  We've served it with ice cream and without ,  it's great either way!!! I used croissants in place of the white bread.  I'm sure it would work well with any kind of bread you have.