Pioneers and Paninis

You don't suppose Laura Ingalls ever ate a panini sandwich, do you?

I didn't think so either.

Oh well. I tried.



The kids and I just finished reading "Little House in the Big Woods."

They hung on every word and asked 1,274,045 questions about homesteading and the like.

So, great mom that I am, I decided we would have a "Little House" finale celebration!

Eat authentic food, dress up like the characters, and sit down on our wooden rocking chairs to watch the mini-series of my childhood, with Michael Landon.

Nice try, Super Mom.

Little House Authentic Dress
That bonnet on my table? Well, at least I got it out. I couldn't coax anyone into wearing it.

They asked if I had one too. I suspect they would have worn the bonnet if I had one to don. On second thought, I might be glad I didn't track down a bonnet and calico dress. I like my pj's just fine for movie night.

Ok. So we at least looked at the bonnet. No authentic dress.

Little House Miniseries
We did watch the movie though! All. Weekend. Long. I picked up the 2005 Disney miniseries...and we've loved it! My kiddos have been absolutely glued for the one-hour segments.

Except it didn't match up with the book we read! Stink!

Once again...I tried! At least we knew the characters, right? Covered wagon or log cabin, to my kids, it didn't matter. It may as well have been Mars!

On to the authentic food.

Little House Authentic Food
Hmmm. Pioneers ate...bread. Right?

And they made their own cheese!

(No. I didn't make authentic "Little House" cheese.)

Bread and cheese makes...

A sandwich!

There you go! Authentic!

Ok, maybe not. Maybe I just really wanted to make and eat paninis.

(This is not a food blog. This is not a food blog. This is not a FOOD BLOG!)

I'm caving in to a "food" post and diverting from Little House until further notice!

It was just too fun not to post about.

These delish "Greek" paninis were created by my adorable friend Ellen. You can visit her website here.

I grabbed some almost expired ciabatta rolls off the clearance bread cart a few weeks ago (they've been in the freezer since then, in case you were wondering.)



I spread them with Ellen's Greek sauce: chopped artichokes, parmesan, garlic, and sour cream. The sauce tasted awesome after a day or so to "mature."

Turkey, cheese, and assorted veggies, too.



And then grill 'em to pieces! Lots longer than I thought, actually, till the bread got crispy and the cheese almost browned a little.




Now tell me you don't want to take a bite out of your screen!



Poor Ma and Pa and Laura. I guess they were just born to build log cabins, and I was born to eat paninis.