I typed this as best I could as my mother gave her recipe, with added random thoughts, over the phone. And this is just one of the reasons why I love her.
No one’s recipe is better than anyone else’s! Depends on how and in what region of the country you were raised. I think my Mother and Grandma basically did southern cooking (early 19th and first half of 20th century) in Washington, D. C. - a southern city at that time; not now! Anyhoo, my mother made the most scrumptious bread pudding, dense, with lemon sauce (made from scratch). She died in 1994, and I regret to this day that I didn’t persist in getting her recipes. But, trouble is, she didn’t have recipes per se! Not written recipes. I’d ask her about a particular meal, and she’d say, “a little of this, a dash of that, I don’t really measure, blah, blah…” I’ve tried making it (and other recipes) and results did not compare favorably to hers.
I know she used broken up white bread, but other than that, I’m at a loss. I’ve also tried to reproduce her peanut butter fudge with no success. It was very firm and sorta crumbly. (I don’t care for soft, mushy fudge or brownies.)
My mom’s made hundreds of batches of peanut butter fudge over the years, and they come out in a variety of textures. The firmer, crumbly ones tend to be made with brown sugar instead of white, and cooked to a firmer stage than the softer ones. (ie, just cook it longer)
That’s all I’ve got though, as she’s rarely used recipes, either. My sweetie stopped asking me for cooking directions or recipes long ago, once he realized my answers were going to be ‘some of this and some of that’. 
He thinks I’m being mysterious, when I’m just being intuitive about what I have to work with. And flexible! Gotta be flexible.
Yes, it is!!
I make bread pudding with bread I get at the bakery and ask to be sliced on the thinnest setting, which gives me slices maybe 3/8" thick. I let the bread sit out overnight to stale, then make sandwiches with it, with whatever jam, preserves or marmalade I have on hand. I’ve also used apple or peach butter. I spread a thick layer on a slice, top with another slice, move on.
When it’s all sandwiched, I cut the sandwiches into cubes, toss them all into a casserole, cover with the usual sort of custard with 1/3 less sugar than usual, and bake. If I use apple jelly/butter, I might add raisins, if I use orange or lemon marmalade, I’ll add dried cranberries, if it’s peach, blueberry or apricot, I’ll add almonds.
Your mother sounds great!