My husband reminded me a few days ago that it had been a month since I last posted on here. Yikes. A month? Seriously? I swore the last time I posted that I wouldn’t let so much time elapse between posts again, but here we are. Oops. I’d love to say that life just got in my way, and in a way that’s true, but sheesh. This blog means more to me than to completely let it slide, so I spent a couple of nights at work last week making a calendar of post ideas and post dates that I WILL actually stick to. Of course, at this point I’m seven and a half months pregnant and working 50ish hours a week to save time for my maternity leave but still! The blog must go on….or something like that.
Speaking of being seven months pregnant, holy cow! I’m seven months pregnant already! This time has seriously flown by, and while I’m anxious to meet our little guy (did I mention it’s a boy? If not…hey guys, it’s a boy!), I will miss being pregnant a little bit. You know, aside from the back pain, and the food aversions (which haven’t helped my blog!), and the fatigue. All the good stuff will be missed. But! We’re having a baby really, really soon! Eek! We’ve been finishing up his nursery lately (with a nautical/pirate-y theme) and starting to wash all of those teeny tiny little clothes (we’ve been given SO many clothes!) and putting together car seats and strollers and cribs and swings and such, and it is really just so much fun. Now we just need our little guy to make his appearance in about seven weeks!
We celebrated our last holidays as a twosome this year, and as a result we treated each other a bit more than usual in the gift department. One of my awesome gifts from C was a Cuisinart Griddler
We’ve been pressing pretty much anything we can think of between bread these days, but one of my favorites (aside from simple salami and havarti…SO GOOD) is my copycat sandwich from Press 101, a panini restaurant in the Dr. Phillips area here in Orlando. I ordered it a few years ago for the first time at the suggestion of my realtor, actually, and it is a combination of flavors I never would have gone for on my own. This sandwich is an awesome combination of turkey breast, tart green apples, melty brie cheese, and honey mustard, and it is seriously delicious bite after bite. I like it best made in a panini press, but you could also make it toasted like a grilled cheese in a frying pan. I’ve loosely listed the ingredients here so that you can alter the proportions to your personal taste and based on the number of sandwiches you are making.
Turkey & Brie Panini
Ingredients:
Thinly sliced or shaved oven-roasted deli turkey
Brie cheese (I leave the rind on, but you can certainly remove it if youprefer)
Granny Smith apple, core removed and thinly sliced
Honey mustard, either store bought or homemade
Thick crusty white bread (I used an artisan ciabatta loaf from my local Target bakery)
Directions:
1. Slice the bread into two thick slices, then spread both slices generously with honey mustard.
2. Layer the bottom piece of bread with a thin layer of Brie, then a layer of apple slices, then the turkey, and more apples. I like to put a couple of thin pieces of Brie on the top slice as well to make sure everything sticks together well.
3. Spray the bottom plate of your panini press with cooking spray and then place the sandwich on it. Lightly spray the top of the sandwich before closing the press. Let grill for 5-7 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the bread is nice and toasty!
4. Enjoy 🙂
This sandwich is hearty enough by itself but would also be great with a cup of soup or a salad on the side. If you try it out, I’d love to hear what you think of the ingredient combination!
Insatiable 
Mmmm… love the flavors of this sandwich. *drool* I love my griddle too. I use it even for grilling veggies like portobello mushrooms especially in the winter when it’s too cold to BBQ. Congrats on being so close to delivery! How exciting!!
That’s a great idea! We’ve mostly used ours for sandwiches so far, but I can’t wait to try it as a grill as well 🙂