Warren and Gary are a couple neighbors that I met last summer while walking Sophie. It's funny we hadn't crossed paths before as we've all been in the neighborhood since 1997. They moved into their house probably a month before we moved into ours. Well, better late than never, huh? They actually looked at the house Dale and I live in now but passed on it. I sometimes joke that we got their sloppy seconds.
They had also invited their friend John over whom we hadn't had the pleasure of meeting before. He was quite a wonderful fellow. We started out with cocktails. Gary made me a Tanquerey martini. He used quite a bit more vermouth than I ever would but I won't hold that against him as it was still quite good. Dale drank red wine, Gary had a vodkatini and Warren had a rum and Coke.
Dale and I brought over a salad with a basic balsamic vinagrette. Warren made lasagna with a side of cauliflower. For dessert Warren made a bread pudding and for the bread he used panettone (pictured above). Here's what James and Kay Salter have to say about panettone in Life Is Meals:
"Panettone, the light, delicious cake emblematic of Christmas throughout Italy, originated in and is a specialty of Milan. The Admirable authority on Italian food, Waverly Root, considered it the world's best accompaniment for breakfast coffee. Made in a high domed shape that is sometimes thought to honor the domes of Lombard churches, it contains butter, milk sugar, eggs, raisins, and bits of candied fruit."
"The name 'panettone' is probably derived from pane, meaning 'bread,' and tone, the suffix for 'big,' although there are competing versions. Panettone should be warmed just slightly before serving to diffuse the buttery flavor, and it is also excellent toasted."
It worked very well in bread pudding.
(Top illustration by Fabrice Moireau)
