The Ultimate Grilled Cheese Sandwich

When I was about to start 8th grade, my sister and I took our first plane ride all the way from our home in Toledo, Ohio to Las Vegas to visit my aunt and cousins. During our visit, my aunt took us to eat at Hard Rock Cafe where I ordered their grilled cheese sandwich. When it came to the table and I took a bite, I saw (and tasted) that melted between the bread and cheese was also a slice of tomato. Who knew tomato complemented grilled cheese that way? Well, it does. Now that I think about it, I've never tried to make them that way with cheddar cheese, but a few months back I came across the recipe for Tyler Florence's Ultimate Grilled Cheese Sandwich. I tried it--YUM. I've seen the recipe a million times since then, on menus in restaurants, in magazines. Just last week I came across the recipe again and just looking at the picture in the magazine made me crave it. So, last night, I bought all the ingredients and I just ate the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. I'm in LOVE!


The Ultimate Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Sourdough bread
Pesto
Sliced tomatoes
Sliced fresh mozzarella
Butter

Smear the insides of the bread with pesto sauce, then layer slices of cheese and mozzarella on one piece and cover with the other. Butter the outsides of the bread and put it on a hot griddle. (or grill pan if you want panini-like grooves) Place a heavy pan on top of the sandwich to smash it down. Cook on each side until the outsides of the bread are golden and crispy and the cheese is melted.

What are you waiting for, pack the kids up and get to the grocery store. You should have this for dinner TONIGHT!

first day of school! wake up! come on. first day of school.

When do kids start hating school? I'm just wondering because mine doesn't right now and I'd like to keep it that way. In fact, last Thursday night, Carter was pouting at bedtime, but as soon as I told him that when we woke up Friday morning, we'd be going to his preschool open house, he jumped right into bed and we didn't hear another peep. Today was his official first day and he was so excited to learn about the letter A and the number 1. As hard as I tried to coax him into letting me take a picture of him in Miss Amy's driveway, he wouldn't have it and rather than make him upset, I just didn't take the traditional first day of school picture. So, we'll just have to use the one from last year, since he's going to the same place this year, too. Last year, when I'd pick him up from school, I couldn't for the life of me get him to tell me what they'd learned but today he ripped open his backpack and said, "Let me show you." He pulled out two worksheets and a foam model airplane. I love that he loves school--and running four errands with one child wasn't too bad for me either!

Hello, My Name is Trouble

Carter left the hand soap on the edge of the counter after washing one day last week. Here's how I found Anderson later that day--trying to bathe himself and wash his hair. I told Marc later that night about it and he grinned and stated what we've known for quite some time. "I guess we got a different one this time around."

Anderson turns two in three weeks. This title might become a regular one as I chronicle the trouble he gets his curious self into. (I know-- you shouldn't end a sentence with a preposition!) You can read about a previous escapade here!

At last. . .

Here are my favorite photos from our annual Utah/Idaho vacation: {My sister's three boys stair step with mine--5,4,3,2 and not pictured is her 10 month old.}

{Carter followed this nephew of ours around for 3 whole days. Isn't his hair AWESOME?!}


{We bowled at the bowling alley in the Wilkinson Center at BYU--it was my first time bowling there even though I went to BYU for 5 years and it was Carter's first time bowling ever.}


{Carter surprised us all by wanting to go down the water slides at Lava's public pool. He went down a million times.}


{We always feed the horse in Grandma & Grandpa's backyard. He only likes grass, not carrots!}

{Just a cute shot of my baby.}

{Anderson means business at Bear Lake. See the dirt around his mouth? He ate muddy sand (for the first time in his life--he's almost two, aren't we past that stage?) and it made a ring around his mouth similar to Joker's scars.}

In Other News. . .

• We had our first stair incident since moving into our house today. The culprit? Anderson. He pushed Carter down the stairs--the entire flight of stairs. I tried to catch him at the bottom but wasn't fast enough. As I think about it now, I almost laugh because Carter truly was doing somersaults down the stairs, but get a big bulge in my throat, too because Carter truly was doing somersaults down the stairs. He landed on his face at the bottom. We are incredibly lucky that he doesn't even have a bruise.
• Anderson has been sleeping in a big boy bed for 4 nights now. Do I dare jinx myself by typing this already? Besides night #1, he's been doing great and he's napped there twice now, too. How long do I consider this a test run and then just take down the crib and call it permanent?
• It's been nearly 3 months since I've posted a picture. Thanks for sticking by my non- picture blog for so long. I have a hundred pics on my new camera, but just haven't gotten around to downloading them. Let's all cross our fingers that I get around to that soon.
• I tweaked my knee yesterday. My 18 mile run scheduled for tomorrow morning is crossed off the calendar. Luckily I know a great physical therapist that's taking care of me--I'm not aloud to run until next Monday. Uho--that'll make it almost two weeks of not running.
• I've failed miserably to keep up with my no sugar commitment. I'm starting fresh again tomorrow.

Quote of the Day

Recently, Carter has been responding to my discipline statements (i.e. If you do this again, then this will happen) by telling me that he will run away from me so fast I won't be able to catch him. Sassy, I know. Just last week, while visiting with a friend, I told her how astonished I am that my four year old is already becoming that defiant. I've seen defiant little ones, but Carter has never been that way before. My friend then told me how her son (who is 4 years older than Carter) tells her he hates her, that she's a mean mom etc. etc. I knew the day would come when that would happen. I just didn't realize it would be just a few days after that conversation. On Monday, following a scolding, Carter told me he had a secret to whisper in my ear. I leaned down. This was his secret: I'm going to tell all my friends that you are mean to me. Since Monday, he has told me I'm a mean mom at least 10 times. I feel great.