The night before: Grease a 9 x 12 inch baking dish with butter or
margarine. Remove crusts from bread and cube it. Place in a closely
fitting single layer in the baking dish. Pinch off marble-sized lumps
of cream cheese with your fingers, evenly distributing them over the
bread layer. Dice the Canadian bacon and distribute it over the bread
as well. Melt the jam in the microwave, or in a double boiler, until it
is warm and fairly liquid. Do not boil it. Drizzle it over the cream
cheese/Canadian bacon. Place a second layer of bread, cubed and closely
fitted in the same way, over the cream cheese, etc., layer. Beat the
eggs until lemon-yellow and slightly frothy. Add the half and half,
maple syrup and vanilla and stir until well blended. Pour this mixture
over the bread layers. "Squish" it into bread with your hands. Cover
tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. (This wonderful
dish can be refrigerated as much as three days before baking!)In the
morning: Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. Remove plastic wrap and bake
for 50 to 60 minutes until nicely browned on top. Slice in the kitchen
and serve warm with more maple syrup, powered sugar, butter and/ or
finely-chopped pecans. NOTE: This recipe can be made "guilt-free" by
substituting skim milk, margarine, and low- or no-fat cream cheese.