Santa did visit our home on the 25th, just in case you were wondering. I've decided to share a few of the gifts which have greatly enriched our lives.
First up, dress-ups galore have replaced any warm and common sense clothing.
An extremely loud and obnoxious Dora sofa encroaches upon most of our basement living (and running wild) space.
Abram has no need for any of the presents Santa left him, an unobstructed climb of the staircase is like winning the lottery and outshines any gift.
The life altering panini press. I have been lusting after this model from Williams & Sanoma for some time and now it is mine, all mine. I will share though.
The above is always on display in my kitchen. I am consistently intoxicated with the sweet acidity of balsamic vinegar and the moist tangyness of fresh mozzarella.
My chin drips extra virgin olive oil without shame. The roof of my mouth and tongue are raw from the abrasive crusty toasted Italian breads, but yet, I cannot stop. Like a junkie who needs her fix, I need my panini.
My favorite (so far) is the simple basil, tomato, fresh mozzarella panini.
You start with your favorite crusty Italian bread. Add a few leaves of fresh basil, pile the tomatoes on top of the basil (to avoid sogginess), sprinkle the tomatoes with salt, freshly ground pepper and oregano. Next, add the mozzarella. Place in the panini press and set the timer for 3 min.
DO NOT forget to dip every single bite into a mixture of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar with pepper.
My close second is bre cheese, spinach, pears and prosciutto on sour dough. YUM.
Enough about me, onto Brad.
I thought the drum set I allowed Santa to give Brad last Christmas would tide him over through this Christmas (drums are the gift that keep on giving, right?), but I learned on Christmas eve that I was wrong. Mommy did some very last minute shopping.
Christmas was saved and was lovely. Santa actually took it a bit easy this year because our big present lies north east of us and hopefully, will prove to be the real gift that keeps on giving.
Happy New Year!
20 comments:
A panini sounds so good right now. mmmm... Sorry about the stomach flu, we have yet to cathch that bug this season. Thank goodness.
My mouth is watering...
Why do you tempt me so? My basil bush was beautiful until about 2 week ago, and now the leaves are a terrible color of frozen black.
Hope you didn't throw up the panini, that'd be such a waste of some perfectly good basil, cheese, tomatoes and olive oil.
Happy New Year Martha!
I'm glad Santa was good to you. The dress ups look like a lot of fun. That was my favorite thing to do when I was little, but my dress ups were never as pretty as the ones today.
Ok, that looks de-LI-cious!!! When can I come over for lunch?
Amber K.
Martha...I'd cus here and ask how you are so....skinny? But when we do do lunch. I want you to make that...OK? name the time! Email or call!
You always make cooking look delicious and easy. I know that if I were to attemp that dish, it would be a giant mess and gross to eat. You make everything beautiful!
wow that looks amazing! yum!!!
Yummm. What is a good brand of balsamic v? Whatever it was we bought, it's not good.
i knew there was a reason i liked you so much! the tomato mozzarella panini is one of my all time favorite sandwiches. you have perfected it, right down to the raw roof of the mouth aftershocks. mmmm... yummy.
hope you quit puking soon so you can keep one down. it's a shame to waste such a good sandwich.
will you make a panini for me?
I'm confused...what was Brad's present?
Ever consider being someone's personal chef? Yummy! Happy New Year!!
Martha, sorry to hear about your stomach flu. Are you sure you had the flu and not just pregnancy "stuff"? Yuck!
About the mozzarella, tomato, basil...it has to be the perfect trio! Definitely a MUST on the Balsamic vinegar! So...when do you want us to come visit teach you? Perhaps next time your panini maker is hot? =) Did you get my message? Talk to you Sunday! -Kacy
SOOO sorry you've been sick. That's NO fun. You are such the gourmet. I couldn't even if I wanted to. I'm afraid my sophistication ends when it comes to food. I mean, I like sushi and curries and all things international, but I'll just never like most veggies or TOMATOES, and that's just all there is to it. I've tried. Now I'm just going to accept myself as I am.
That picture of the food looks actually gorgeous to me, I just couldn't eat it. Weird, huh? But my husband would be all over it.
Normally I would be drooling over that delicious looking panini- but I think I just threw up a little in my mouth. It feels like my frickin' first trimester all over again. When I get over this weird phase I will come back to this posting and really wish that I had a panini machine.
oooh...can you make me that too? i'll piggy back to kelly! that's looks way too yummy!
Holy crap Martha, you made me hungry. This is my first time checking out your blog. I got to it from Sarah's. I think I'll have to look up half the words in your blog because you have a far larger vocabulary than I do. You should write a book. :)
That panini looks amazing...When is lunch????
I am starving now...
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