Livin' the Dream in Lima

It's that time of week! Panini press time... This week's sandwich is a roast turkey sandwich with tangy goat cheese and sweet caramelized onions, on focaccia bread. Yes, Panera had some more exciting bread options this week.  I discovered a package of cranberry goat cheese hiding in my fridge from a Trader Joe's trip back in December - it was like finding a hidden treasure! I had totally forgotten about it. (No worries, it was still perfectly safe to eat.) I spread the bottom of the focaccia with the goat cheese. If you can find cranberry goat cheese, please  use it. It definitely ups the flavor of this panini. I imagine you might be able to mix dried cranberries into regular goat cheese as well. I then topped that with some roast turkey. We found the best turkey deli slices at Sam's Club... they actually taste like real meat, not slimy nasty stuff.  Then the caramelized onions. They take a bit of time but are so totally worth it. Then a bit...

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 ...

...is Thanksgiving sandwiches. Yes, it might seem weird that I'm talking about using up leftover turkey when the real Thanksgiving hasn't even happened yet.  However, typically I never have any leftover turkey. One of the downfalls of traveling for the holiday. So this is a first! We've got loads of turkey. (I'm definitely going to be freezing some so I can make some easy dinners during the month of December.) Have you ever seen the episode of Friends -  The One with Ross's Sandwich ? Ross took a turkey sandwich to work... and someone ate it. But it wasn't just any  turkey sandwich. It was a Thanksgiving leftover turkey sandwich. Specially made by Monica. With a moist-maker  -a gravy-soaked slice of bread in the middle.  If you haven't seen this episode, you must ASAP. Here's a link to a clip of Ross's hysteria: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrnCsrjysxI  . In fact, it might be a good idea to go and watch all the Thanksgiving episodes from ...