You Didn't Lead Me Wrong, Mario

Today was my last day of class for this quarter. I had a pretty intensive set of exams set for my students, but I think they pulled through. To celebrate, DH & the kids and myself went to a local Mexican restaurant for lunch beforehand. I have been craving Mexican food of late...perhaps because I know that all of our friends in Arizona are enjoying gorgeous weather now while we shiver here in the Pacific NW. In any case, I had my fill of salsa and fajitas before supervising the exams, and in the mellow mood that pervaded the house when I got home, DH & I played on the Wii while our kids alternately cheered us on and devised clever new games like "camp out" in DS' room, which as far as I can tell consisted of moving objects around to form a "camp" and then turning the lights off. *shrug* No one was hurt and no bones broken, so I consider that a good game.

Anyhow, the subject of dinner came up, and we really didn't want anything heavy. DH suggested French toast, and I was struck with the serendipitous remembrance of a Mario Batali cooking program I saw once, where he made French toast with pannetone. For those of you who have never tried this ambrosia-like, soft, sweet, heavenly really nice bread, it's a soft, eggy yeast bread filled with soft raisins and candied citrus peel, and occasionally pistachios. Really nice, and although as my foggy memory suggested Mario had made a French toast bake with it, I suggested to DH we use some of the pannetone I purchased at Costco for the purpose.

Ahhhhhhhh!!! Words fail to describe how lovely this dinner was. Topped with some of our maple syrup, it was light and delicious. The fruit & citrus gave it a really nice flavor, and I devoured three pieces before I stopped myself. SO GOOD!! Of course, DH was miffed that I planned to give Mario all the credit in my blog. He said, "I didn't follow a Mario Batali recipe you know! I just used the pannetone to make the french toast!" So consider yourself credited, DH. I think this will become a regular Christmas staple in our house, yes-sirree.

It's a dangerous time of year for indulgences. You want to be able to say, "what the heck, it's Christmas, I can eat (a pint of ice cream) (a huge slice of TWO pies) (three appetizers)!" Um, no. I'm afraid the scale is not kind to that way of thinking come January. In fat, (Haha) I am pretty sure I am still sporting 10 extra pounds from last Christmas. So I really ought to make an effort to avoid saying yes to myself all the time. *ahem* Right after I mop up this last piece of pannetone french toast...