Thursday, September 10, 2009

My Gourmet Grilled Cheese

I'm sorry I forgot to post a Get Ready for the Weekend Wednesday item yesterday. The holiday threw me off schedule and I completely forgot it was Wednesday yesterday. In any case, I thought it would be good to shake things up a little bit so I'm trying something different this time.
I am a very fortunate person because we have a GREAT dining center at work. Last week, I ordered a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich with tomato basil bisque soup and was completely blown away by the meal's quality. It was one of the best lunches I've had EVER.

Since I have a bit of an obsessive-compulsive thing when it comes to food, I searched high and low for a recipe that will help me duplicate my grilled cheese dining experience. Unable to find one, I went ahead and created my own.

I'm sharing my recipe below (thanks, Jen for suggesting) just so I can get some variety in my posting. If you're going to try the recipe, let me know how you like it. If you're going to make a variation, let me know of that too so we can all improve.

Gourmet Grilled Cheese

Two slices of Yellow Texas Toast bread (very thick slices)
2 slices of Medium Cheddar cheese
2 slices of Medium Colby cheese
2 slices of Applewood Smoked Bacon or Center Cut Bacon
4 thin slices of Granny Smith apple
½ teaspoon (or less) of orange marmalade
Soft Butter or Whipped Butter

Cook the bacon in the microwave to your liking. For this sandwich, I prefer to have my bacon just done and not crispy.

I butter the outside of my bread first and lay the bread slices, butter side down, on wax paper.

The sandwich assembly is the key part of this. Layer cheddar slice on top of each bread piece then top with slice of colby. Put the bacon pieces in a criss-cross pattern on top of one side; arrange the apple slices on the other side. Spread a little bit of orange marmalade on top of the apple slices, then put the sandwich together.

Cook your sandwich in your preferred method (I personally use a sandwich/panini press). Eat the sandwich while it's still hot with tomato soup or a glass of milk. Enjoy!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Get Ready for the Weekend Wednesday - 090209

Let's Dance Edition

I'm looking forward to the fall season of So You Think You Can Dance starting next week, so my head is full of leaps, twirls, jazz hands, high kicks and booty shaking. In honor of my love for dance and all sorts of body movements, let's see what's going on in the world of dance this weekend.

iConnect at the Ford Ampitheatre

You know, hip hop dancing is not really what you think it is. It truly is a very challenging and legitimate art form. The Culture Shock LA Dance Troupe has put together a very today look at communication via digital touchpoints with a very "young" dance genre. Don't take my word for it - here's what they say about the show:

Dance for the digital age. Hip hop artists from Culture Shock L.A. stake out the frontier where technology and human interaction collide. Download an evening of brave new dance!

When: Friday, September 4 at 8:30 PM
Where: Ford Amphitheatre on Cahuenga Blvd.
Click here for more details


A Hopeless Chance to See a Legend Up Close

Mikhail Baryshnikov! He's starting his tour of Three Solos and a Duet with Ana Laguna right in our backyard. Unfortunately, the show has been sold out for a while and it's a bit steep for my meager budget. However, if you're fortunate enough to have connections, I highly recommend you see the show.

When: Saturday, September 5 at 7:30 PM
Where: Broad Theatre at Santa Monica College
Click here for more details


Let's Put Some Spice to Your Weekend

From a very young genre with young, upcoming dancers to classic ballet with a legend. Dance is very diverse and we will need a full month to explore every aspect of it. I just want you to get a taste of the different flavors of dance so I highly recommend this next pick.

If you've never gone to see flamenco dancing, I highly encourage you go to Forever Flamenco! This show has been going on a while at the Fountain Theatre. This venue is perfect for this type of dance - it's small (about 75 seats), intimate and the acoustics are great. You get the full effect of flamenco's passion, sensuality and intimacy the way it was meant to be experienced. It's not like watching it while you're waiting for your tapas to be served, amid a lot of noise, commotion and other distractions.

When: Every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month (This Sunday, 9/6 is the first Sunday of September)
Where: Fountain Theatre on Fountain Ave. & Normandie
Click here for more details

I know this is a long holiday weekend for a lot of people. Enjoy your Labor Day Weekend, stay safe and keep on dancing. Just to get you pumped out, play the music below and get moving! See you next week.