Gluten Free Lemon Cookies and Hansel and Gretel

 Gluten-free Very-lemony Cookies

There's something that comes over me in the springtime, kinda like a cold front comes in with the weather. It's a craving for all things lemon. I've posted recipes for lemon pie, lemon pound cake, lemon cupcakes, etc. in the past, but this pale little gluten-free lemon cookie is just what I wanted (or actually, multiples thereof, because they're small).

Again, as in a recent gluten-free recipe, I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free One-to-One flour mix. For any of you who would like a tender but not soft lemon cookie, try out this recipe. I love them, and keep them in the freezer between cravings. There is a reason for this.

The original recipe came from twopeasandtheirpod.com.  I had looked at other recipes, but this one just looked better. And I wanted to use my gluten-free flour mix.

In my opinion, there's no point in making a single batch, so what you see is the doubled recipe, and I added more lemon zest than called for, and didn't bother to put the glaze on the cookies. Who needs it?

Gluten-free Very Lemony Cookies Recipe:

2 1/2 c. Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free One to One flour mix

1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1 c. butter (yes, TWO WHOLE STICKS, in case you wonder why these are delicious!)

1/2 c. powdered sugar

1/4 c. granulated sugar

1/4 c. packed with lemon zest (I mean packed!)

1/4-1/3 c. fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375

Line jellyroll pans with parchment paper or silicone mats.

In a flexible bowl (I use a plastic ice cream bucket), combine flour, baking powder, salt, and whisk to combine. Set aside.

In bowl of stand mixer, combine butter and powdered sugar. Beat on medium until creamy and smooth. In a small bowl, mix together lemon zest and granulated sugar. Add to the butter mixture. Blend until smooth. Add the lemon juice and beat until well combined.

With the mixer running on low, gradually pour the dry ingredient mixture into the mixing bowl until all is combined. Chill the dough 30 minutes or overnight.

Roll dough into little balls. Mine were somewhere between a shooter marble and a ping pong ball. If you don't know what either of these is, you probably aren't making this recipe anyway.

Place balls on baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes. After 12 minutes, I had to flatten them with an upside down coffee mug, because they didn't flatten out on their own. Then I baked them another 3 minutes and let them cool on the jelly roll pans before removing.

My personal preference is to eat them right from the freezer. Cold and delicious!

Favorite kitchen appliance, 

my blood red KitchenAid mixer.

It's actually a deeper red than this photo shows.

Plate given to us by a foreign-exchange student

I have to tell you a story about this plate. For several summers, we hosted foreign exchange students from Mexico. One young boy (11 or 12 years old.) brought this plate as a hostess gift. Later in the summer, his parents and siblings came to visit. When one of the other children saw our son and daughter (we just had two at the time), ages 12 and 9, he said, 'Look, Mama, they look just like Hansel and Gretel!'  We thought that was so funny and cute. :-)

 Hansel and Gretel

in their early years

Hansel and Gretel

a bit older

Let me know if you like those lemon cookies!
(Take at least two. They're small.)

 ***

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Lemon Poppyseed Muffin in a Mug, Recipe, Gluten-Free

Hoping for a weekend in Duluth soon...

I've been looking through the book, 'Trim, Healthy Mama,' which seems to me like a variation on the Atkins Diabetes Revolution or South Beach Diet.  Protein is a must, and only good, healthful, low-glycemic carbs. It is not a no-fat way of eating because, after all, it's not fat that makes us fat - it's sugar (high carbs, high glycemic) that makes us fat. When I think of it that way, it's a lot easier and cuts to the chase, so to speak.

Trim, Healthy Mama has some Muffin-in-a-Mug recipes, which are, in my opinion, filling, but not as tasty as this one. I found a recipe similar to this online somewhere, but with a little tweaking, made it my own.

First, I must disclose the fact that I LOVE lemon.

Lemon Poppyseed Muffin in a Mug Recipe:

(This is a great, quick protein snack or dessert)
 
Spray a mug with non-stick cooking spray.
Whisk 1 egg into that mug.
Add 2 T. almond flour
Add 2 T. milled flax seed
Add 1 t. butter
Add 1/2 t. poppyseeds
Add juice and pulp of 1/2 lemon
Add 1/8 t. lemon extract
Add 2 g. (2 packets) raw Stevia powder
Add 1/2 t. baking powder
Dash of salt


Whisk all this together in the mug.
Microwave on high for 1 minute 25 seconds.
Turn muffin out onto a plate and let cool a bit before eating.

I tried this without the butter and then with the butter. The butter helps immensely, making it nice moist muffin with that great lemony taste!

Nutritional breakdown:

Egg:                 9 g. protein, 70 calories
Flax:                3 g. protein, 3 g. dietary fiber, 60 calories, 0 net carbohydrate
Almond Fl.     3 g. protein, 3 g. dietary fiber, 80 calories, 0 net carbohydrate
Lemon juice    1 g. net carbohydrate
Butter             34 calories, 0 carbohydrate
Poppyseeds     so little it doesn't matter, but it does matter a lot to the taste and texture

TOTAL           15 g. protein, 6 g. dietary fiber, 252 calories

I think this is about right.

I like to have half of the muffin after dinner (like dessert) and the other half later in the evening. It keeps me from eating things like popcorn or deluxe mixed nuts or Ritter dark chocolate. Usually.

So, have you ever tried one of these muffin-in-a-mug recipes? Did you like it? not like it? Was it satisfying?

And if you try this recipe, please let me know!

And if you get to Duluth this summer, please let me know that as well. :-)

***

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This smells just like a lemon poppyseed muffin!

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Paleo, Gluten-Free Muffins - Carrot, Banana, Date

Moist Carrot Banana and Date Muffins

for the Paleo Inclined

They're Grain-free and Gluten-free

For everyone who loves a tasty, moist muffin without a grain-based flour, these are the best I've ever eaten. In fact, I like them better, because wheat flour always leaves me wishing I hadn't eaten it.

My daughter sent me this recipe which she had recently tried. Her husband had announced that it was the best thing she had ever made! That's quite an endorsement, so I had to give it a try. They are delicious!

This recipe makes a dozen medium-size muffins. I used a non-stick spray on the non-stick muffin tin before spooning in the batter. Alternatively, you can use the paper liners. I just happen not to like those.

Yes, there's sugar in the fruit used, but no additional sugar.

One more thing: I've seen 1# of Bob's Red Mill almond flour at my local grocery store for $14.49 (no kidding), but also found it somewhere for $10.49 and bought it there. One can also check out Amazon.com or Vitacost.com.  Then again, I can purchase almonds when I find them at a good price  and run them through the food processor. Not a bad idea.

Update:  I just bought a pound of raw almonds for $5.49 at Farm & Fleet. This weekend they're going to be on sale for 2 bags for $9.00 (They won't work for people with an actual gluten intolerance, cuz they're processed in a plant that also processes wheat products - but perhaps those with a wheat sensitivity will be fine with these). For me, they work fine. I'll put them in my food processor. A pound is a pound, and I don't care how cute the packaging is, I'll never spend $14.49 on a pound of almond flour.

Paleo, Gluten-Free Muffins Recipe - Carrot, Banana, Date:

Ingredients:

2 c. almond flour

2 t. baking soda

1 t. sea salt (next time I will leave out the salt. I felt they didn't need it)

1 T. cinnamon

1 c. dates, pitted (and yes, you can use dates you find in little vacuum-packed bags in the bottom your freezer, even if they've been there for 5 years. Remember my Woolly Mammoth Story??

3 ripe bananas

3 eggs

1 t. apple cider vinegar

1/4 c. coconut oil, melted

1 1/2 c. carrots, shredded

3/4 c. finely chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

In a food processor, combine dates, bananas, eggs, vinegar, and oil.

Add mixture from food processor to dry mixture in the large bowl and combine thoroughly.

Fold in carrots and nuts.

Spoon mixture into the muffin tins.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Remove from oven and let sit in muffin tin for about 10 minutes before turning the muffins on their sides (still in the tin). Okay, maybe it makes no sense to you, but I like to turn them before they get stuck to the tin. I'm tired. I'm sure there's a better way to explain this...or maybe not necessary to even try...

These would probably have stayed moist for a week, just sitting on the counter with a sheet of plastic wrap placed loosely over them. I'm not totally sure, however, for they were gone in a couple days.

Don't make these just before starting on a diet. It's impossible to leave them alone.

***

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Sweet Potato Beef Stew Recipe Gluten Free

 My All-time Favorite Beef Stew

Oh, the weather outside is frightful...-15 degrees F. as I write this post on Monday night. Brrrrr. It was a good evening for Sweet Potato Stew!

The original stew recipe came from Jean at DelightfulRepast. As you probably know by now, Jean can be counted on to have delectable recipes highlighted by gorgeous photography. When I first made her recipe for beef stew, I realized that I hadn't before known that beef stew could be so delicious! Be sure to visit her site. You won't be sorry. I recommend her ice creams too, but probably not when it's -15 F.

If you check out her recipe for beef stew, you will see that I tweaked it quite a bit for my own personal preference in vegetables and my own level of laziness, i.e. wanting to make it as simple as possible.

So here it is, my version of beef stew.

My Favorite [Sweet Potato] Beef Stew Recipe, Gluten Free:

2 pounds sirloin, diced (or chopped fine)

1 clove garlic, minced

3 T. olive oil

In a large skillet, brown the sirloin and garlic in the olive oil.

Then stir in the following chopped or diced veggies (I like everything cut into smaller pieces. It's just a personal preference.)

     1 onion, peeled and chopped

     2 med-large sweet potatoes, pared and chopped
     2 large parsnips, pared and diced

     about a cup of chopped celery

In a separate bowl, stir together the following:

     1 c. GF chicken broth (Pacific brand free-range organic)

     1/3 c. red wine

     2 t. Worcestershire sauce

     2 T. tomato paste

     1/2 t. marjoram

     salt & coarse pepper

Place the mixture of beef and veggies into a CrockPot.

Pour the sauce over it and stir.

Turn the CrockPot to Low and cook for about 8 hours.

Go find something else to do. This is so easy, you're going to love it.

Serve with a green salad and a little dark chocolate for dessert.

Hershey's does not qualify as 'dark chocolate,' by the way.  You'll need a bite of Ritter Sport or some German brand we pick up at Aldi.(s)

This sweet potato beef stew is the perfect wintertime comfort food when the weather outside is frightful.

***

 This post may be linked to some of the following: Mop it Up Monday and In and Out of the Kitchen and  Cure for the Common Monday and Mealtime Monday and Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Mosaic Monday  and Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and On the Menu Monday and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and   What's in the Gunny Sack and  Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday and Love Bakes Good Cakes and  Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays  and Overflowing With Creativity and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and The Self-sufficient Home Acre and  I'm Lovin' it Thursday and  Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and  A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and  Saturday Nite Special

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Gluten Free Lemon Cookie Recipe - Mmmm, My Favorite!

 Gluten-free Lemon (and I mean lemon) Cookies
although they weren't quite that yellow, but almost

I'm not sure what it was that made me crave lemon last Saturday. Maybe it was the post-Christmas wintertime and all that talk about a flu epidemic. Maybe it was my own sudden instinctive attempt to prevent scurvy. Maybe it was the need for a burst of fresh zing-iness after eating a little too much veggie burrito bowl at Chipotle Friday night. Next time, I'm ordering a kid's portion, if there is such a thing. Whatever it was, I hunted high and low for a good gluten-free lemon cookie recipe. 

I didn't want a hint of lemon; I wanted a crispy but tender cookie that would scream lemon. 

I had a couple boxes of Betty Crocker GF yellow cake mix, and looked online to see if Jell-O instant lemon pudding was gluten free. According to my source, Kraft product labels will state that they contain gluten if gluten is present. It didn't. So I could proceed.

 My favorite kitchen appliance

(after the KitchenAid dishwasher, that is)

You've heard by now, I'm sure, about the clever little trick of turning a cake mix into cookies? Well, they say to take a cake mix, add an egg or two, 1/2 c. oil, mix, and Voile! Cookie dough.

Not so fast, hombre.

I tried that and the dough looked more like lemon sand. I realize that working with non-glutenous flours makes a huge difference and requires modifications.  I fiddled around for a while with the recipe, adding a bit of this and a bit of that until I had what resembled actual cookie dough:

Yes, it looks like regular cookie dough, but perhaps a bit softer.

I was ready to drop spoonfuls of the dough onto oiled cookie sheets (non-stick cooking spray). Here's what they looked like at that stage:

So now that I've tweaked this recipe, I can tell you that they turned out great - but it did require a test of at least two cookies to make that determination - and then another one after they'd been frozen to see if freezing affected them adversely in any way. It didn't. It made them even better.

And there's no question that these are LEMON cookies. Just exactly what I had wanted! They are crispy at the edges and tender in the center.

My Favorite Gluten-Free Lemon Cookie Recipe:

Makes 3 1/2 dozen 3+ inch cookies. (I know, those are pretty big.) You could get 7 dozen dainty little tea cookies if you like, but remember that craving I told you about??? I wasn't going to mess about with a dainty taste of lemon.  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Put the following ingredients into the mixing bowl and beat on low, then medium until well mixed and it has formed a dough that sticks together and pulls away from the side of the stainless steel bowl.

2 Boxes of Betty Crocker Gluten-Free Yellow Cake Mix
3 eggs (I think they're labeled 'large' on the box, but they're what we used to call medium or small.)
1    3 oz. box Jell-O Instant Lemon Pudding
3/4 c. olive oil
3 T. REAL Wisconsin butter  (I didn't say these were low calorie or cheap. But they are delicious!)
3 T. freshly-squeezed lemon juice.

Drop by spoonfuls onto greased or oiled (non-stick) cookie sheets.

I baked these on my heavy jelly-roll pans that had been sprayed with a non-stick cooking spray. I got a dozen on each pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 11-14 minutes. Check them after 10 minutes because ovens vary. They should be just slightly golden at the edges and not look shiny on the top.

Remove pan from the oven and set the pan on a rack. Don't remove cookies until they are cool.

Gluten-Free Lemony Goodness

P.S. I wonder if it could be considered 'made from scratch' if you're dumping TWO mixes into the bowl, rather than just one.

Okay. I was just asking.

***

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***

 

This post may be linked to some of the following: Mop it Up Monday   Cure for the Common Monday and Mealtime Monday and Clever Chicks Blog Hop and Mosaic Monday  and Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and On the Menu Monday and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and   What's in the Gunny Sack and  Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday and Love Bakes Good Cakes and  Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays  and Overflowing With Creativity and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and I'm Lovin' it Thursday and  Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and  A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and  Saturday Nite Special

Gluten Free Sage Stuffing Recipe

Gluten-free Stuffing

I realize that this is pretty late, but since I just made my stuffing and have it waiting in the refrig, I decided to pass the GF recipe along to those who may be in a panic at the last minute, hunting for a good gluten-free stuffing recipe:

2 types of GF bread. In my case, I used

Gluten Free Sage Stuffing Recipe:

Kinnickinick white sandwich bread, several slices, torn into small pieces.
Udi's whole grain bread, several slices, torn into small pieces.
I let the bread sit out for a while to dry out, and even put it in the oven at 120 degrees for a bit, for that purpose.

3 ribs celery, minced
1 large onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Alfresco GF chicken sausages, skinned and then ground in a food processor
1/2 c. pecans, chopped
olive oil and butter
1 apple, diced

Place torn bread into a very large bowl.
Heat olive oil and butter in large skillet.
Saute ground chicken sausages, celery, onion, and garlic
Stir in pecans. Pour over the torn bread.
Mix well.
At the last minute, dice the apple and stir it into the mix.
Sprinkle on poultry seasoning and stir in.
Taste. Is it good? Need more poultry seasoning?
Stir in more. Taste. Is it good? (etc.)

 Turkey in brine in a large bakery tub

and kept cold with ice

I'm brining my turkey, so I'm not going to add any salt to the stuffing. If I were not brining the turkey, then I would be adding salt to the stuffing.

Cool. Keep stuffing in 2 large ziploc bags in the refrigerator  (I use two so that I can lay them flat, so that the stuffing can cool down quicker.)

Stuff cold stuffing into the cold turkey before roasting. Do NOT put warm stuffing into the turkey. Not safe.

***

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

***

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***


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Mop it Up Monday   and Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and Gluten Free Monday and  The Chicken Chick and   What's in the Gunny Sack and  Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Make it Great Monday and Made By You Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous  and  Get Your Craft On and Tip Me Tuesday  and  Inspiration Board and You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday and  Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays  and Two Maids a Baking and   Cast Party Wednesday and   We Did it Wednesday  and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Mom on TimeOut and  Link it Up Thursday and It's Fall Y'all and Crafty Friday (Thursday) and Mandatory Mooch and  Petals to Picots and  Threading Your Way and Lisa's Gluten-Free Blog  and I'm Lovin' it Friday and Maiden d'Shade and It's a Hodgepodge Friday  and Foodie Friends Friday and Creative Bloggers and  Serenity Saturday and Overflowing With Creativity and  Home and Family Friday and A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and  Saturday Nite Special

GF Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe

 Delicious Gluten-free Peanut Butter Cookies

What to do. The gluten-free chocolate chip cookies were gone, and I like to have some gluten-free treat in the freezer. So, I decided to make peanut butter cookies this time. I have no idea how many calories they have, but I do know that I needed to eat a high protein dinner, for lunch pretty much consisted of peanut butter cookies. Don't tell anyone.

Next month I'll be making Christmas Stollen and freezing it.  Must get the ingredients soon.

Peanut Butter Cookies - Gluten Free Recipe:

1/2 c. butter
1/4 c. regular Crisco shortening
1 1/4 c. light brown sugar
3/4 c. peanut butter
1 egg
1 T. vanilla

1 c. fine rice flour
1/2 c. potato starch
1/2 c. tapioca flour
1 t. baking powder
3/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt

Cream wet ingredients. Add (mixed) dry ingredients and mix well.

Form into walnut-size+ balls. Place 2-3 inches apart on cookie sheet. (I use heavy jelly roll pans and get a dozen cookies on each.)

Bake 350 degrees for 12 minutes. After taking them out of the oven, let them cool on the cookie sheet before removing them. I baked the first batch at 375 for 10 minutes, but they didn't get done enough or dry enough for me.

The first photo includes a few of the cookies that I pressed with a fork before baking.

Of course, you can also use this recipe to make Hershey peanut blossoms. To do so, as soon as the cookies are out of the oven, press a Hershey kiss into the top of each one. Who doesn't like those, right??

This batch made 2 1/2 dozen 2 in. cookies. The full 2 1/2 dozen did not make it to the freezer, however, in spite of my good intentions.

These are very good, and are more like peanut butter shortbread. SO tender!

***

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 ***

 You'll find me at These Linky Parties:
Mop it Up Monday   and Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and Gluten Free Monday and  The Chicken Chick and   What's in the Gunny Sack and  Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Make it Great Monday and Made By You Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous  and  Get Your Craft On and Tip Me Tuesday  and Ginger Jamboree and   Inspiration Board and You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday and  Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays  and Two Maids a Baking and   Cast Party Wednesday and   We Did it Wednesday  and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Mom on TimeOut and  Link it Up Thursday and It's Fall Y'all and Crafty Friday (Thursday) and Mandatory Mooch and  Petals to Picots and  Threading Your Way and Lisa's Gluten-Free Blog  and I'm Lovin' it Friday and Maiden d'Shade and It's a Hodgepodge Friday  and Foodie Friends Friday and Creative Bloggers and  Serenity Saturday and Overflowing With Creativity and  Home and Family Friday and Sunny Simple Sunday and  Saturday Nite Special

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup - Recipe GF

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

One must be armed with a few good soup recipes for these chilly autumn evenings. This Roasted Butternut Squash Soup is one of the best. We love it, ever since I first made it a few years ago. We'd enjoyed something similar to this at Michaelhouse in Cambridge, England. Of course, my kitchen doesn't offer quite the same ambience as Michaelhouse, but it's not bad - and getting to my kitchen is much less expensive and much more convenient.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup - Recipe:
Delicious and Gluten Free

1 (very) large butternut squash, halved and seeded

4 T. butter
1 large onion, chopt
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 T. minced fresh ginger root
1-2 t. hot curry powder from Penzey's
2-3 McIntosh apples, cored and finely chopt
   (I used a couple cups of my own McIntosh canned applesauce)
1/3 c. port
1 quart Pacific (gluten-free, organic, free-range) chicken broth
(You can add another cup of chicken broth or even a cup of beef broth, as long as the majority of it is chicken broth.)
Salt
Pepper
Cayenne (to taste)

Spray cut sides of squash with cooking oil and place cut side down on large baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees until flesh is soft, about 1 1/4 hours. Let cool, then scoop flesh out into large bowl.

In large stockpot, melt butter and saute onion until tender. Turn burner to low setting.  Stir in garlic, ginger, and curry powder. Cook a minute longer. Add apples and port. Simmer for 10 minutes or until apples are soft.

Pour broth into stockpot mixture. Add salt, pepper, and cayenne.

Now here's the best part:  In times past, I would take a couple cups of this mixture at a time and puree them in my blender, then add them back to the stockpot. What a nuisance! Then, I bought a new stick blender and instead of that long process with my blender, I puree everything right in the stockpot with my stick blender. SO EASY!!

As you heat this, make sure it's on a very low setting.

Serve with fresh-from-the-oven hearty brown bread or use my good gluten-free bread recipe and soft butter. No kidding, you will thank me! ;-)

***

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Grilled Cheese with Basil Pesto & Sliced Tomatoes

Grilled Cheese with Basil Pesto and Tomato

 As I've mentioned before, I've been on a basil pesto kick this summer, due mostly to the fact that I have about 12 square feet of basil in my garden. The other day I was looking for something to eat for lunch. Lunchtime is always a problem for me, because I don't want a big meal, but it has to be more than a snack and has to include enough protein to keep me going til dinnertime.

I went for the Udi's whole grain gluten-free bread (which, by the way, had huge holes in the slices so I only got to use a few of them for sandwiches and the rest will go for gluten-free bread crumbs for stuffing a turkey or for meatloaf - so it wasn't a total loss).

On one slice of bread I arranged enough pepper jack cheese to cover every square inch of bread. We always have pepper jack on hand, for it's one of our favorites. On the other slice I spread the fresh basil pesto liberally (quite uncharacteristically, I might add). On top of that I arranged fresh, warm-from-the-garden tomato slices.

I then melted a little olive oil and a little butter in the skillet, turned it down to low, set the sandwich in the skillet, and covered it with a lid.

A few minutes later I flipped the sandwich over and covered it with the lid again.

Two more minutes maybe...enough so that the bread was golden (okay, a little too golden maybe, but I had to check my e-mail) and the cheese was partially melted.

This was UNbelievably delicious!! (so much so that I made another one today!)

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