Pan Dulce

I am bit sad that summer is over. I had a great time vacationing in Puerto Vallarta with my family last week. Everyday was pretty much pool day with cocktails on hand. We explored the city and tried out restaurants in the sleepy town of Bucerias, walked around downtown Puerto Vallarta, sailed away in a Pirate Ship Fun Tour, and braved the jungles in what they called a Tropical Adventure Tour. It was very relaxing, albeit the humid weather and the constant babysitting of my three super adorable nephews. I said the latter part of that last sentence very lovingly. I’m not joking. I love those boys.

Aside from greedily savoring Arrachera (marinated flank steak) and Huachinango (fried whole red snapper) for dinner, I was stuffing my mouth with different kinds of pan dulce (or sweet bread) while down in Mexico. I was so stoked to see local markets lined with trays and trays of pan dulce. Sugary, shiny, and crumbly. They were so delicious. I convinced myself that I will not worry one bit about my sugar-butter-flour intake with all the pan dulce I was snacking on. Heck, that’s what vacations are for, right? Gain five pounds with all the napping and eating and drinking.

Here are a few snapshots of the pan dulce we devoured before hitting the sack each night (with a tall glass of cold 2% milk… fat-free milk not widely available in Mexico). I promised myself that I will attempt to make pan dulce, specifically conchas (the very first pan dulce photo way above that looks like a shell), sometime soon. I know I will make my mother-in-law and my grandmother-in-law proud if I somehow manage to bake conchas that are minutely acceptable to their sophisticated pan dulce taste buds. Hope everyone had a great summer!