Bread Pudding/French Toast Casserole

It's a dessert -- no wait, it's a brunch dish -- no wait, it's both!  A flexible and easy to make dish that everyone will love.

1 loaf of bread -- Challah is great; Italian bread too, or something similar, but nothing that's too crusty. A GREAT bread to use is one of Tasetfully Simple's beer breads --either white or whole wheat.
4 eggs (you could substitute egg beaters if you're watching your cholesterol -- you won't notice the difference)
2/3 cup milk (whole is best, but any kind will do -- I made it with Almond Milk once and it was delicious)
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp real vanilla extract
1/2 cup blueberries (or any berry you like, cut up into blueberry size pieces)
1/3 cup brown sugar
2-3 tbsp. butter (optional)
1 bag frozen berries (mixed, or any one kind of berry is fine)
2 tbsp. honey

Cut up the loaf of bread into bit sized cubes.

Mix the eggs, milk, cinnamon and vanilla extract and add the bread cubes. Toss thoroughly, until the bread absorbs all the liquid.

Put this into a well-greased baking dish, and toss the berries on top, spreading them around. If fresh berried aren't in season, frozen ones will do fine, but defrost them first and let them drain a little so the pudding doesn't get watery.

Cover with a thin layer of brown sugar. If you want, dot butter over the top for some extra richness, but this is purely optional -- trust me, it's delicious and rich enough without it!

Cover with foil and put in the oven at 350 degrees, and bake for 35-40 minutes, until it's hot all the way through. Take off the foil for the last 5 minutes so the top gets a little crunchy, but the middle doesn't dry out.

While it's baking, put the berries into a sauce pan with the honey. (Don't waste your money on fresh berries -- you really won't notice a difference for the sauce). Simmer this on low until the berries totally break down. Stir frequently, and you can use a potato masher to help speed the process. Put the mixture into a fine, mesh strainer, and push out as much syrup as you can with a spatula or spoon.

Pour a few spoons-ful of this over each serving of the pudding.