While I was making dinner ... more on that later ... Ben and Zack were making Halloween crafts using those fun sticky foam pieces in shapes of pumpkins, bats, etc. Well, Zack couldn't quite get the concept of taking the paper off the back to stick foam to foam as he's used to stickers you peel and stick. Imagine. Ok, so these buggers have paper on the back and Ben was patiently trying to show Zack how to pull them off and then stick. Zack didn't have the time for this and he told Ben that he was going to "go get my hammer, be right back, Ben" and when he returned, he proceeded to wham each sticker down to the foam. It was hilarious!
Ok, now dinner. I had planned to make chili tonight. 70 degrees, or just about, and not chili weather. So, I thought about these turkey, apple and brie panini sammies which sounded good and quick so that I got busy. I don't have a panini press (oh Santa!), this isn't Giada's kitchen so I had to cover the bottom of a heavy cast iron skillet with foil (no brick, get the idea) and that was to be the 'press'. All through this process I was imaging what DH would think about this girlie type meal when he got home but I kept going to town on it. Ok, so I layered the olive oiled bread with brie cheese, apple slices and turkey. The recipe called for apple butter and that might have been the best addition that I didn't have but oh well. The sammies were really quite high and they landed pretty well into the grill pan and then I enjoyed smashing them down with the heavy cast iron pan. They cooked QUICK (can you say, burn baby burn?) so I turned them and about that time DH came home. The look on his face was priceless as he examined the contraption I had mustered to make the meal. He, smart man that he is, walked out of the kitchen so I continued to turn the sammies to achieve the nice dark color they were on the other side and smoosh them down again. They cut very prettily but the taste just wasn't as good and certainly weren't like any panini sandwich I've had at Panera!
I didn't force the boys to try this disaster so hastily made them something else. Ben couldn't remember what I called these sandwiches so he called them panorama, Zack just laughed, DH said there was too many tastes going on and that it was complex. I had used raspberry preserves instead of the apple butter for some moisture but that didn't help at all. Yepper doodle, it was disappointing. Some nights you just shouldn't cook. Needless to say, I'm starving.
