You should get a bear tattooed on your ass.

Vacation's over! Vacation's over! WHY. WHY. We had to leave the Traverse City Penthouse, and my best pal and I parted to our respective, distant homes (but not for much longer! Xtina will soon be moving nearby. Epic blogging will happen often!).

The memories of vacation linger, however. As do the tastes. As promised, the DESSERT from Wednesday night's lovely meal.

Butternut Squash Cranberry Walnut Bread Pudding

Say that ten times fast, bitches.

INGREEDZ:
1 loaf cranberry walnut bread (it's usually best if it's a day old or so)*
1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk (we used almond)
1 1/4 cups butternut squash (thanks Frog Holler!), cooked and mashed
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup flour

*Our bread came from Pleasanton Bakery in TC. Yum.

Preheat oven to 350. Slice the bread into 1x1 inch cubes (I mean, you could do them smaller if you wanted. I just did it that size). Set aside. Mix together "milk", squash, spices, and syrup until well combined. Sift in flour and stir until mostly incorporated. It will be VERY liquid-y. But we're gonna amend that shit with some HEAT, son. Place this mixture into a saucepan, and heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. You will see your mixture gradually start to thicken over time. When it has the consistency of, perhaps, a chowder-esque soup, it's time to remove it from the heat. In a casserole dish, pour some of the pudding mixture over the bottom. Then layer on some of the bread. Then layer some pudding. Then layer some more bread. Get it? Continue this until everything is used up. I would make sure to finish with the pudding mixture on top. Get it? Got it? HOLD IT.

Let's put this sexy dish in the oven. Ours was in there approximately 35 minutes. At the 28-ish minute mark, I took the dish out and sprinkled it with large coconut flakes, so they would toast (CLASSY). Let it cool just a bit before mowing down.

NOW LET'S CLASS 'ER UP FOR A NIGHT OUT.

Realizing that this masterpiece needed ice cream, Xtina, myself, and guest Nick ran to Tom's (the grocery store) to score some vegan-friendly variety of this frozen delight. Lady Gaga guided the journey. We chose a caramel breed.

The end result (I misspelled that relust before correcting it. I don't think that was necessarily wrong, though):
Bread pudding+caramel ice cream+spiced chocolate shavings+bottle of Black Star Farms Be Dazzled wine (an excellent contribution from our guest)



Go forth.