Bring us some noggy pudding

During the past few weeks, I've been to several holiday parties. The group of knitters that comes into the bookstore on Thursdays had their shindig earlier in the month. A few weeks ago, one of the ladies, Susan, brought in some leftover bread pudding that she had made for the holidays. She said it was made with eggnog. I usually don't care for it but that didn't deter me from sampling the dish. I must have had a wild hair that day. I'm glad I didn't skip out because it was good! I asked her for the recipe and she wrote it down for me. Not only is it tasty, it's easy!

Instead of bread, she uses Italian panettone. I have to admit that I normally skip over these guys at the grocery store but at the same time, I've always been curious about them. I was excited for the excuse to pick one out from the display at Trader Joe's.

The recipe is simple:

1 Italian panettone

1 quart of eggnog (Do not use lite! Get the real deal!)

4 eggs

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp of vanilla

Break up the bread and put it into a casserole dish. Whip the eggs, nog, nutmeg and vanilla together and pour it over the top. I used a ladle for more even and controlled distribution. Bake it for 50 minutes to an hour at 350 and then you get this...

I made it for a party with some friends the other night and it went over quite well! I've had it warm and cold and it's delicious either way! You could probably even add a touch of rum or brandy to the batter before baking. It couldn't hurt!

This was a hectic, yet wonderful holiday season for me and I hope that it was equally joyful for anyone reading this. Merry Christmas!