The night's best...

There are simple diversions to every day normalcy that make life fun and interesting and notable.  Not that there aren't fun, interesting and notable things that happen in day-do-day life, of course there are.  And most certainly a true gift is noticing those moments when they come and go so quickly.

But today is not about that... It's about the unique stuff... Special, once-in-a-while things that are the pretty pink scarf tied to an already fabulous vintage purse. 

Today is about the Oscars, sort of.  I have, for very many years, hosted an Oscar party for my girlfriends.  I have done it every single year for as long as I can remember, with the notable exception of the year I gave birth to my Middle Son when I watched the Oscars from my hospital bed.  He's 23, almost 24 now so that gives you an idea of the scope of this tradition.  The guests have been transitional but for more than a decade it has been the same steadfast, consistent, solid epic foursome of me and my three girlfriends who now create the four sides of the feminine foundation upon which I build my strength.  So this year was no different.  There were only three of us this year, with girlfriend number four down and out with the flue.  And of course she was missed but we carried on in her absence with true aplomb. 

What made this year extra-special was that the gals were able to stay overnight and we all took today off work. No rush out the door immediately after the Best Picture Award... No worries about how much not to drink.  No easing off on the fun part-way through the night as we each independently start gearing down on a Sunday night in anticipation of the Monday ahead of us. 

And to top the fun off... Grilled Cheese Monday!! Today, we enjoyed a smoked salmon with herbed goat cheese grilled cheese.  It was yummy but we all agreed that it would have benefited from either arugula or apple slices.

If that's the only room for improvement (and it is), than a perfect night it was! 

Oh, and Seth was pretty good too.

Table for One

Back to the grill I went today (well, to the panini press to be exact but grill sounds so much more poetic).

I love to cook, love it.  But I rarely (I would say never but that would be at least a slight exaggeration) cook for myself.  Cooking for one is no fun.  Cooking, no matter how inspired and delicious it is, requires an audience for appreciation.  I can tell myself as many time as I want that the dish I took the time to prepare was yummy but is that enough?  Don't we all seek confirmation and congratulations from others, even if it's for the more mundane things in life... In fact, don't we need it for the mundane things more than anything else?

But today I decided to shift the focus just a bit.  I thought, why put off what is becoming a delicious and joy-filled tradition, just because I am alone?  In fact, maybe I should savour the moment alone so I can appreciate it even more when it is shared.  And on top of all that, I deserve a yummy grilled cheese on a winter's Sunday afternoon.  Absolutely!

So create I did...  Inspiration this week came from my favourite granny smith apples, tart and sweet at the same time.  Coupled with aged cheddar and caramelized onion jam with egg bread as the host of the epicurean party, this was another delightful combination.

I enjoyed every bite at my table for one.  Lucky gal I am.

Third time's the charm

As things tend to go during Holiday Season Madness, Grilled Cheese Sunday this week was the victim of packed schedules and last minute changes, but happen it did!  And as most variations from the best laid plans go, it was a resounding success!!  Sometimes it's the things you don't plan for that are the best surprises!

My dear friend came by (that was planned but only after a reschedule per the Holiday Season Madness to which I previously referred) and the ingredients were her inspiration... And inspiration they were!

We made the trek to my local artisan bakery and found a loaf that sounded like it would pair well with the combination she had brought... What was that, you ask?  Get this...

Mango & ginger Stilton and spicy cranberry jelly.  The bread of choice?  Fig walnut loaf. 

A cacophony of flavours?  Too much (then again, when have I ever said "too much" to anything?)?  Certainly not normally planned!  But a delight in every way!! It was yummy and creamy and spicy and something I will be treating guests to many times over in the future!

And the lesson learned from this Grilled Cheese Sunday?  It may sound weird at first pass, and it may be unexpected but those are often the best treats.

Second Round

This is a test. This is only a test. 

Spurred on by my youngest son who I can best describe as an interesting balance between artist and antagonist, I am making Grilled Cheese with Bacon.  Seems normal.  But this Grilled Cheese sandwich has bacon instead of bread. 

My instincts say, "That's just not right." 

My arteries say, "What are you trying to do to us???" 

But my sense of adventure and refusal to not take a culinary double dog dare, make me do it despite all consideration of logic and health.

It went as expected... Messy.  Intensely indulgant.  Overwhelmingly rich.  But really really good!  I could only have a few bites of mine and my dear friend who joined (as she did at the inaugural Grilled Cheese Sunday) couldn't eat much more of hers... But it was good!

I don't think this recipe will be a frequent option on Grilled Cheese Sunday but I could be convinced to make it again if my son were to visit... And I could be convinced to have a bite.

All things in moderation.  Both the good and the bad.

Inauguration

Today was the first "Sally's Grilled Cheese Sunday" but hopefully not the last.  I chose grilled cheese sandwiches as my heartbreak recovery indulgence of choice and today they did not let me down.  Of course, it wasn't the grilled cheese that made the day special...

It was planning something new and fun and reminding myself that there is much love and fun to be had, often in the most mundate, every-day activities.  It was sharing the experience with one of my girlfriends (who is by every definition except biology, a sister to me).  It was silliness of the preparation and sharing that with friends.

It was great in every way.  And on top of all that goodness, the sandwiches were yummy.

If you're interested, we made two kinds; two-cheese (with Muenster and cream cheese with diced red peppers) and grilled cheese with salami (with mozzarella and old cheddar and some tomato sauce).  Extra cheesy goodness... Our agreed-upon favourite was the two-cheese grilled cheese so that one will appear at the next Grilled Cheese Sunday for the next cheese-off.

Stay tuned.  There is more goodness to come; that is clear.

Grilled cheese

It feels like I've become less of myself than I used to be.  I think it's important in a relationship to jump in with both feet if this is what you want in the long run, if you're willing to go the distance with that person, if you can see yourself with him or her when you're both old and wrinkled and less charming than you are now.  But if jumping in with both feet means losing what makes you you, it's not a good thing.  Life's lessons keep coming.

So I am surrounding myself with what I feel makes me, me.  I am soaking up the love of my sons and girlfriends; I am rediscovering the hobbies I've loved but let go of over time using the excuse I've been too busy to enjoy them.

And I'm going to cook.  I know I've said that I wasn't going to do this because cooking leads to eating and eating leads to getting... well... you know.  But I have a grand plan.

Grilled cheese and friends.

I have few happy memories of when I was growing up but most of them involve food.   Sunday roast beef dinners.   My mother's recipe for macaroni & cheese and the simple grilled cheese sandwich.  Although her macaroni and cheese recipe was not unusual in any way, it was amazingly good and I swear by it to this day.  I am so dedicated to the simple purity of it that the idea of modifying it in any way just doesn't feel right to me so I am left with grilled cheese sandwiches.

My mother's grilled cheese was the most simple kind... Kraft singles, bread, butter.  Ketchup on the side.  That's it.

But the options now for grilled cheese are endless.  I searched on a Canadian cheese producers' website "grilled cheese" and no fewer than 980 recipes came up.  Nine hundred and eighty!!

That's a lot of options and on just one site.  So I am going to start having Grilled Cheese Sundays.  I'll start next week (because it's already almost dinner time here and although I think it's perfectly acceptable to have grilled cheese for dinner, I'm not prepared) with a couple of recipes for comparison. 

I don't think this is going to become more than a weekly or every-other-weekly habit that fills the tummy while it warms the heart but if that's all it is... That's enough.