Brunch Paninis

One of my friends and my favorite things to do when we get together is cook. We have fun and get to visit without spending lots of money. Our favorite things to make are customizable. We all have different tastes and food ideas. Usually that means we make personal pizzas, but on Saturday morning we made brunch paninis.

Tiffany's was California style with avocado, mozzarella, spices & turkey.

It was so good we stuck her in Lexus' cage so we could have it. I picked out the turkey...

Bryttani's was a pizza panini with mozerella, spices, and turkey pepperoni.

Mine was vegetarian - peanut butter and apple slices. Sadly the pb didn't ooze out - I should've used more!

And now I need to get my own panini maker. What is it about squashed sandwiches that is to appealing? It must be the nice grill lines.

Fondue Night

Friday night was fondue night. It's becoming a tradition with the girls. Tiffany got Bryttani a fondue pot for her wedding, so of course we had to try it out together! We opened the box, washed the dishes, and got ready to light the candle, only to discover that we were supposed to buy a fuel can. Whoops...  We substituted 5 tealights. We started out using 4 but it wasn't quite hot enough.

Don't you just want to dip things in this?

See how yummy that looks?

We usually do bread and veggies as dippers but this time we tried the recipe's suggestion of red potatoes. They were a good addition, but I like the bread better.

The carrots and celery were refreshing.

And the pink lady apples. Mmmmm...

I love the holes in Swiss cheese. They remind me of the cow that the cheese came from. Maybe they should remind me of mice, but for some reason they don't.

We didn't have shredded cheese or a shredder, so I cut it into "shreds."

We ended up adding more Dijon than that little dollop you see in the picture. It just tasted so good!

Yummy Fondue

adapted from Real Simple

Serves 4

1 clove garlic, minced

1/3 cup fruity white wine

2 T lemon juice
1 T Dijon mustard (plus more to taste)
8 oz Swiss cheese, grated
4 oz sharp cheddar, grated
1/2 c Parmesan Asiago blend, shredded
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Assemble fondue pot and light heat souce. Add garlic, wine, lemon juice and mustard. Heat for about 10 minutes or until hot but not boiling. Add cheese about 1/2 cup at a time, stirring to help it melt. Keep adding cheese until it all melts. Add spices and stir. Dip away!

Fun Dippers:
1 loaf roasted garlic bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
6 small red potatoes, boiled and cut into bitesize pieces
1 bag baby carrots
4 celery stalks, cut into sticks
1 small head broccoli, cut into florets
1 large apple, sliced

Turning green

On Tuesday night we had Two Bean Soup with Kale for dinner. It was just okay. There weren't enough seasonings or something. I salvaged it but I wouldn't make it again. We froze a container for later and as I was cramming it into a slot in the freezer I discovered about 10 bags of green beans. Mom and I froze them last year when Mommom brought up a huge box from her garden. Between the green beans and the pumpkin I have a full shelf in the freezer.

Did you know that green beans are an excellent source of vitamins A, C & K? They're full of manganese and fiber as well. All those health benefits for only 45 calories per cup! That means you can eat a huge dinner!

I made Sichuan Green Beans with a brown rice and grain mixture.

We each had a HUGE serving and there are plenty of leftovers for lunch today. I made this recipe before with fresh green beans and using frozen is pretty comparable. The main difference is that they turn brown quicker, which tastes fine but doesn't make for great pictures.

And of course, wine with apple slices.

Any other good green bean recipes out there? I'm not really into green bean casserole...