Livin' the Dream in Lima

So I totally forgot to post a panini recipe last Thursday... whoops. I'm sure you were all waiting with bated breath and were very  disappointed. Well, never fear, because I've got a fabulous panini recipe tonight! Tangy bleu cheese and salty bacon come together to form a delectable sandwich. It comes from the panini cookbook I received for Christmas, 200 Best Panini Recipes  (thanks Mom!) . The  Chicken Bacon Bleu panini :   grilled chicken, crisp bacon, and bleu cheese on sourdough with a spread of barbecue sauce and sliced red onion. I had never thought of putting bleu cheese on a panini before I saw this recipe. I feared there wouldn't be enough ooey gooey cheese! But bleu cheese actually melts pretty nicely. It's no Velveeta, but it added a great tang to the sandwich.  First, spread the bottom piece of bread with a bit of barbecue sauce, and top with some grilled chicken. I actually used my panini press to grill my chicken for the first ti...

So... one of my most favorite Christmas gifts this year was a panini press. I am now the proud owner of a Cuisinart GR-3 Griddler Junior!  Beautiful grill marks! If you can remember, in the past, we've had to get a bit creative when trying to make paninis... (Think bricks stacked three high inside pasta pots.) So this little appliance is super nice! It also folds open to a flat grill, to grill meats & veggies. We haven't tried that yet. Yesterday afternoon, I stopped by Panera Bread to get a nice loaf of crusty bread for panini-making. I was hoping for some sort of cheesy bread, sesame bread, ciabatta, or focaccia... something unique. However, they only had two  loaves of bread left. Two! And it was only 3:30 in the afternoon! My choices: country or whole grain . (Aka boring or boring.)  I ended up getting the country. It also happened to be a huge loaf of bread. 20 biiiig slices... for the three of us. (No, we have not gotten a dog or had a baby; my ...

A long, long time ago (ok not that long) when I lived in the grand ole' state of Illinois, once a month during the winter my grandma would host 'Soup Supper.'  The purpose? One, to get my extended family with our busy lives all together for a few hours. And two, to eat soup. Betcha couldn't see that coming. Each family would make a pot of soup to bring to 'Soup Supper', and we would have a feast of soup and cheese and crackers and bread. There was probably a vegetable or two in there somewhere, too. (Like the chopped veggies in the soup. Heh.) I loved sampling all the different soups, but I always left completely stuffed! I guess three bowls of three different kinds of soup will do that to you. Anyways, one night my cousin Charlie brought the most delicious Cheesy Chicken Enchilada soup. It was creamy and cheesy and spicy and chock full of Mexican flavor. I don't think I even tried any other types of soup that night. And I'm not sure anyone...

While we were in Door County, we ate lots of delicious food . Obviously. One night we ate at a restaurant called The Cookery . Part wine bar, part casual restaurant - it was awesome. Being my typical self, I scoured the menu online before we left to check out the options. I had my heart set on a flatbread, but when we got there, it was not  on the menu! (Turns out it was on the wine bar menu only, and we were dining in the restaurant.) But... after a few minutes of sweet talking and schmoozing with the waiter, I was able to order it! (Okay, I basically just asked and he said yes.) I ordered the Chicken & Cherry Flatbread --house made cherry chutney, roasted chicken, caramelized onions, and gorgonzola on wheat crust. I wanted to take my plate home. It was really neat. It was so delicious! The flavors all complimented each other so well. I knew I would have to repeat the same flavors at home. And thus, the Chicken Cherry Panini was born! Yes, it's on a ...

Your welcome, you will now be singing the Subway Five Dollar Foot Long commercial the rest of the day. :) My Business Man and I have a strange obsession with Subway's Orchard Harvest Chicken Salad. It is just so good. It's light and crisp, and just so fresh-tasting! It was the one thing I craved when I finished my marathon. So yes, I had Subway for lunch after running a marathon. Not quite what you would expect, eh? (Usually I go all out and splurge on my eats after a big race.) Anyways, I was determined to make my own version of the Subway sandwich. Because, in all honesty, $5 for a sub is still quite a bit of money, when you could have enough chicken salad for eight subs for just a few dollars more. I've made this several times already... it's that good! We even made it for our assigned 'lunch' meal at our beach weekend with friends. It was very well-received. It's made up of chicken (duh!), crisp Pink Lady apples, golden raisins, dri...

Well, summer is officially upon us. And I by "officially", I mean that it is H-O-T. I judge when it is hot by determining how early I have to wake up to run. It has reached the point that the time I have to wake is much too early to be waking up on summer break. Not that I'm on summer break yet, though. 2 more days! Anyways, my Business Man and I have spent the weekend settling in to our new home. It is finally starting to feel like  somewhere we want to spend our time! Which is a good thing. Because we'll probably be here for awhile.  I have gotten to spend a lot of time in my new kitchen, which makes me happy. Aside from making 150 cupcakes Friday night, I made a Spinach Orzo Salad yesterday, and Strawberry Scones this morning for breakfast. And then there was tonight's dinner. Bruschetta Chicken . Based on this recipe  from How Sweet It Is . I had good intentions of grilling the chicken as the recipe indicates, but we had no luck in finding our bag of c...