The money is in the product tie-ins

So my blog dreams haven't quite hit the big time, yet. You know, no book deal, no screenplay, no Oscar...
But I have reached a new milestone--the product tie-in. Check out the Secret Santa gift Beth received from her co-worker, Tracey.How awesome is Sandwich Night Bingo? Thanks, Tracey! I hope Beth lets me play with it!

#300!!!

I ate #300 for dinner on Friday night. It was a delicious panini made from Trader Joe's sourdough, brie, apple and hot pepper jelly. What a journey I've had, counting my sandwiches. How many more will I fit in before 2009? What will next year bring?

Ham and Cheese-tastic

Our last Sandwich Nght was a nasty night weather-wise. 2 inches of snow fell during the evening commute. That doesn't sound that bad, but it turned all roads between St. Paul and Minneapolis into parking lots and turned my windshield wipers into worthless icy sticks, capable of clearing only a two inch arc of glass at their ends. Awesome.
We were expecting several people from St. Paul and I naturally assumed they wouldn't be crazy enough to venture out. I was wrong, of course. Kate could not resist the siren song of hot ham and cheese and slogged her way over. Karen did cancel, but she'd been driving in it all afternoon with two crying kittens so that's understandable. Angie and Katy did manage to drive the 12 blocks to come too.Enough of that! My real point is: Is there such a thing as too much brie? I kicked the festivities off right with a 2 lb. wheel of brie I purchased because it was on special at the supermarket. They lured me in with a free sample of baked brie and hooked me with the low low price. Having a wheel of brie is quite liberating from a sandwich point of view. You don't have to use it sparingly since it's the expensive cheese. No, you can pile your sandwich high with it's creamy buttery cheesy goodness. Aaaahhh.
(I started the day off with a Warehouse Panini Party: Ethan and I went halfsies. Mine was brie, roasted red pepper and hot pepper jelly on sourdough. His was Cory's super awesome meatloaf and brie on sourdough. It was a lovely warm-up!)At Sandwich Night, I had Black Forest Ham, brie, cheddar, Swiss, American, roasted red peppers, apples, and as many condiments as I could unearth from the fridge. We heated up the panini press and it was off to the races. I made two sandwiches. The first had ham, brie, apple and Dijon mustard. That was quite yummy. The second had ham, brie, swiss, cherry chipotle mustard and honey mustard. That one was even better.
Angie carefully sliced her bread into thinner slices so she could make four sandwiches on thin bread. As you can see, they are quite lovely.
And Katy defied the poisonous gluten (to her, at least) by making open faced hamwiches. I really wanted her to press some cheese between two pieces of ham in the panini maker but she opted for the toaster oven. Rebel.
For entertainment, Beth and I introduced our guests to the Biggest Loser. You should try eating fatty foods while watching it. It's fun!

Words of Wisdom from Milwaukee

My friend Joe sent this to me from the Milwaukee Public Museum. I hope the sandwiches were tasty. Now there's another reason for me to visit that institution!

Sandwich Night Tuesday!

It's time for another Sandwich Night, don't you think? I've chosen Tuesday since it works for most people. Our entertainment options include The Biggest Loser finale and Heroes on tape from Monday night.
The hat chose hot ham and cheese as our sandwich. So many options for cheese and condiments! I'm thinking of making apple mostarda...

Closing in on #300

It's terribly exciting, isn't it? I went through a bit of a sandwich drought over the last couple of weeks. I'm not sure why--other things sounded better? I was too busy sleeping in to make my lunch in the morning? Who knows?
This past weekend I came back with a vengeance, though. It started at lucnh on Friday with the always delicious turkey and cranberry jam, this time on sourdough with spinach. Yum. For dinner Friday, I tried the pork Azteca sandwich at Pepito's. It was nice and spicy, with all sorts of stuff on it. It was the type of sandwich you can't put down once you start eating it or else it will goosh everywhere.
On Saturday I braved the early afternoon No Coast Craft-o-rama crowds at the Midtown Global Market in order to get a falafel combination sandwich from the Holy Land Deli. It was totally worth the wait in crazy parking ramp traffic. I managed to escape the line and found a spot on 10th Avenue, just across Lake from the MGM. There's a tip for all you folks looking for close and easy parking! The sandwich, which I ordered with hot sauce and tahini, was as fabulous as always. I ate it while watching the Craft-a-thon competition in the central seating area. I didn't stick around for the awarding of prizes, so if anyone did, let me know. My bet was on the Caffeinator team with their weird looking stuffed animal.
I rounded out the day with a chicken parmesan sandwich from Pizza Luce. It was really good. The chicken is marniated and cooked without breading (so not technically a chicken parmesan, but who's checking?) and toasted up with red onions, tomato, cheese, and red sauce. Lovely!
I finished out the weekend with a grilled ham and swiss at home on Sunday. That's a good companion for a football game, I think!