Family Sandwich Night

Maybe it's the approaching holidays. Maybe it's the coming addition (less than 10 weeks to go!). Or maybe it's the fact Daddy will soon be leaving for a very, very far away country for a week and I will miss him terribly (we've never been so far apart for so long); my heart is aching already. Maybe it's a combination of it all. Whatever the reason, I find myself absolutely loving and wanting more moments with my family. And it seems to be those moments with very little fanfare. Those are the best kind, aren't they?

This weekend, Elli and I made cookies for the first time in a long time. Then, we drove around our town looking at Christmas lights, searching in vain for a blowup lawn ornament of a Santa piloting a helicopter we had seen last year. But along the way we instead found lots of pleasant sights and a new version of "Angels We Have Heard on High" by Chris Tomlin (whose tour, by the way, is coming to our town soon -- in case anyone is on the hunt for a Christmas present for me...wink, wink). It was wonderful. I wish it would have lasted longer.

Sometimes the most memorably adventures, though, are the ones you can't plan for, the ones that land fortuitously in your lap. That's what happened to us earlier this week, and it all started with a package of turkey.

I had a whole plan of what we would have for supper, but then by coincidence I saw the "best by" date on a package of turkey I had just purchased. It was two days past it prime, but no means expired. We could have gotten upset, taken the package back to the store and demanded a refund, or we could have just made the best of it. And that's exactly what we did. Our solution: grilled turkey sandwiches served with a nice cup of hot chocolate, apple slices and chips.

Grilled Turkey Sandwiches

slices of wheat bread
butter
3 slices of turkey per sandwich
2 slices of turkey bacon, cooked
mayo
2 slices of American cheese per sandwich

Spread a little mayo on two slices of bread. Top each bread slice with a slice of cheese. Top one side with turkey and the other with the bacon. Assemble sandwich and spread the outside of each slice of bread with butter. Place sandwiches on hot electric skillet, browning evenly on both sides until cheese is melted.

I was the designated hot chocolate maker, and Daddy and Elli started in on the sandwiches. She wielded the butter knife (with a little help from Daddy) like a seasoned cook, spreading the mayo generally evenly across the bread.

And don't dare keep her from cheese (something we learned when she was a wee 18-month-old).

"Okay, now break this piece of bacon in two," Daddy told her, handing her a slice of bacon.

Well, it did break in two, just not the two fairly even-sized halves that Daddy had intended. Going with the flow, as he normally does, he simply replied, "That's all right. Just break it into little bits and put it on the turkey."

That Elli could do easily.

When they assembled the first sandwich, Elli clapped her hands, cheered and matter-of-factly announced, "I don't want to help anymore," and got down from her steps to go find her toys. Not even the promise of an advance of cheese would keep her in the kitchen. So be it.

Fickleness or a short attention span -- or both -- brought her back a few moments later, just in time to help me stir the hot chocolate, which had just started to heat up. She took control of the whisk for a few turns.

She did great, even picking up instantly on how to tap the whisk against the side of the pan if the marshmallows I had put in got stuck in the "cage."

Before long, the whole meal was ready.

"Very well done, Elli!" we told her. "Thanks for you help."

The sandwiches were great, the hot chocolate so-so (I can never make it as good as I remember my mom's), but it was really the memories and the company I was after. Warm food, cozy house, Christmas light all around, and two smiling faces I adore. No chef in the world can create that.

What is your favorite memory with your family that was a fortuitous accident?

Overall Grilled Turkey Sandwich Ratings (5 being the best):
Elli-friendly cooking: 5
Elli-friendly eating: 5
Simple: 5
Fast: 5
Frugal: 5