cheesy bacon and egg slice

this is from AWW's Best Recipes from the Weekly. i love this cookbook. actually, i love lots of the old cookbooks. they have recipes which are comforting and reflect a slower pace of life. if you look at the cookbook shelves in bookshops these days, a considerable amount of space is devoted to speed - you know - dinner in 30 minutes, fast food at home...you know what i mean - there's even fast eddy on telly. i'm sure i could cook as fast as he does if i had everything at the ready for me too. but do i want to? whatever happened to cooking being relaxing? all this speed just sounds like a stressful finish to a stressful day. surely something slow helps one wind down? this is a slow recipe. the people at the weekly even tell you that it's better if you take your time about it (i copied the introduction to this recipe verbatim from them - not my words), and qualify it by saying that it's even better that way.
instead of making a casserole for a slow meal, try this. it's a different slow, one which you can stick in the fridge and forget until the next day and won't tempt you with cooking smells hours before you can eat it.

this is one of the tastiest and handiest recipes we have created in the kitchen. the whole dish is prepared, covered, refrigerated overnight and baked when you are ready the next day. it can be baked on the same day, but the flavor is not quite as good.

1/2 loaf unsliced white bread
125g grated cheddar cheese
5 rashers bacon
2 shallots
1 small green pepper
6 eggs
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon mayonnaise pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1 small red pepper

trim crusts from bread, cut bread into 2.5 cm cubes, place bread in single layer in ovenproof dish. sprinkle with cheese. cut bacon in 2.5cm pieces, fry until crisp and brown, drain, place over cheese, top with chopped shallots and chopped green pepper.
whisk eggs with fork, add milk, mustard, worcestershire sauce, mayonnaise, pepper and basil. pour over bread mixture, top with chopped red pepper, cover with plastic food wrap, refrigerate overnight. next day bake uncovered in moderate oven for 50 - 60 minutes. serves 6