Vermont Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Maple and Mustard

If it weren't for men, I'd say that grilled cheese sandwiches are the perfect dinner. I think most women and children would agree. Men, on the other hand, are perfectly happy to eat a grilled cheese sandwich as part of a dinner, perhaps as the appetizer part. You have to train men to recognize that grilled cheese, or soup, or even a baked potato, and worst case scenario-a bag of popcorn can quaify as dinner. They will put up a fight, but don't give up. Or compromise and let them have their bag of popcorn and a bowl of cereal as a well balanced meal. And let them have their grilled cheese sandwich with a bowl of soup. (It has to be tomato soup with grilled cheese, in my bossy opinion.) Here's my favorite grilled cheese in the world. We discovered it on a trip to Vermont with my sister Heidi and husband Mikey. We were all instantly enraptured. (It was lunch time and for men a grilled cheese sandwich can be cautiously accepted as lunch.) You might be tempted to think that apples are a strange addition but they are perfectly at place with the sharp cheddar cheese, buttery sourdough bread, hearty ham and maple mustard dipping sauce. I've also swapped out the apples for tomatoes and it was equally good. If you are going to have grilled cheese for dinner, then this is the one. Be firm. He's going to love it.

Vermont Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Estimated Cost: $6.00 for 4 sandwiches

4 tablespoons yellow mustard

4 tablespoons maple syrup

8 slices sourdough bread

softened butter

deli sliced ham or turkey

thin slices of apple-any variety

sharp cheddar cheese

In a small bowl, combine mustard and maple. Spread just a dab very thinly on insides of two slices of bread. Stack one slice of bread with cheese, apples and meat. Top with other slice of bread, mustard side in. Butter outsides of bread and cook in preheated frying pan over medium heat for two minutes. Flip, reduce heat to low and cover and cook an additional three minutes, or until bread is toasted. Serve with extra maple mustard dipping sauce.

Halloween Supper-Upper-Upper

Growing up, my generous parents would host an open-to-all front lawn Halloween party, complete with grilled hamburgers and hotdogs, chili, cinnamon rolls and the like. Trick or treaters would march up in hordes to our house on the hill for a savory break from their sacks of candy. It didn't matter if they knew my family are not. There were some people that we only knew because of the Halloween party. Everyone, strangers and kin alike, was welcome. (You can read more about our Halloween party here on my Rachael Ray blog project. Click on Timely Traditions.) When I grew up and had a house of my own, we hosted a Halloween party too. But now that we live across the street from my parents, well, I'll just do what comes naturally and let mom and dad take charge. Actually, this year's will be a bit bigger than usual, since the Halloween night party is being combined with a church trunk or treat activity, all right across the street from my house and right in front of my parent's home. My dad is still going to grill his burgers, but this year they are stepping up to popcorn and cotton candy machines as well. I'm not even sure what to pass out to trick-or-treaters, since I'm pretty sure they will be getting all that they could possibly want across the street. King Sized Candy Bars? Quarters? Fruit Roll Ups? Nintendo DS for all? Maybe I should just give up and pass out chewable vitamins and toothbrushes.

I'll be conjuring up a few different versions of chili for the party, like this yummy chicken and green chile slow-cooker version. I credit a Martha Stewart recipe for the idea of using dried beans and a little flour for thickening in the slow cooker. It works like a charm. Since the kids are not even remotely interested in eating dinner before trick or treating, an easy crock pot recipe is ideal, since dinner is hot and ready now or later.

Chicken and Green Chile Slow Cooker Chili

Estimated Cost: $6.00 for 4 servings

Money Saving Tips: This one relies on dried pinto beans so it's budget friendly already, especially if you've got chicken and canned green chilies on hand. Green salsa is also called salsa verde, but you can also use canned green enchilada sauce.

1 and 1/2 cup dried pinto beans

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup chopped green chilies, or 1 (7 ounce) can

1 cup green salsa (Herdez is my favorite) or green enchilada sauce

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 to 1 teaspoon dried cumin

3/4 lb. boneless, skinless chicken

if desired sour cream, chopped cilantro, tabasco for serving

Coat the inside of your slow cooker with cooking spray. Combine beans, broth, flour, chilies, salsa, onion, and cumin. Place chicken on top. Cover and cook on high for 4-6 hours, or low for 8-10 hours. Remove lid and reach in to the crock pot and shred chicken with fork. Stir into chili taste for seasonings and add salt and pepper if needed and serve.

Give the kids some tortillas and scissor and let them cut Halloween shapes. Sprinkle with a little chili powder and bake until crispy.

And one more kid friendly lunch idea.: Let your bigger kids cut the shape of a Jack-O lantern out of a slice of cheddar cheese. Place it on a toasted English muffin and smear it with a smidge or barbecue sauce. Broil until cheese is melted and add a little green onion stem.

And a little peek at last night's activities: Here's my little cowboy and his goblin pumpkin...

And here's my Sailor-girl. She's dressed in a very old Snow White costume (not her Halloween costume-just an old dress-up number) and holding a Snow White Minnie-doll to carve her Snow White pumpkin....

Disney pumpkin carving kits give you little translucent eye and lip inserts. They look eerie in the day time, but at night they really work. You can see them a little better below....

Coming Tomorrow:

More Halloween Dinner: My Favorite Vegetarian Chili

Monte Cristo Sandwiches with Strawberry Jam

What to make with your Homemade Strawberry Jam..(scroll down for recipe)I can't say the words "Monte Cristo" without thinking of the Count of Monte Cristo. In sixth grade, my dad stocked my bedroom bookcase with a library of classics. To this day, I'm not sure if he just needed more storage for his own books, or if he was trying to encourage the three of us that shared the upstairs bedroom to put down the Sydney Sheldon novels and dive into good literature. Proximity was everything. It took no coaxing to endear to characters like poor Edmond Dantes, pining for the beautiful Mercedes, spending years in jail, discovering buried treasure, and ultimately avenging himself of the agonizing injustices and sailing off into the sunset with his new love.
This sandwich is almost as exciting and full of contrasts as the novel. On the one hand you have the savory blend of ham and turkey, sharp mustard and nutty melted cheese. For sweet revenge, you have the (hopefully homemade) strawberry jam and a dusting of snowy powdered sugar. It's that successful balance of opposing elements that makes sandwiches-and novels- a treasure to be savored again and again.

Monte Cristo Sandwiches with Strawberry Jam
Estimated Cost: $6.00 for four sandwiches
Notes and a Confession: I used a loaf of homemade wheat bread, but any sandwich bread will do just fine. I made one for me with no meat-just Brie. C'est magnifique!
1 egg
1/2 cup low-fat milk
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
pinch of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
4 slices wheat bread
deli sliced ham
deli sliced turkey or chicken
deli sliced Swiss or Gruyere
1-2 tablespoons butter
strawberry jam (use your HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY FREEZER JAM)
powdered sugar
In a pie pan, whisk together the egg, milk, mustard, nutmeg and salt and pepper. Layer meats and cheese on wheat bread. Dip sandwiches into egg mixture. Heat butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add sandwiches and cook until browned on both sides and cheese is melted, about four minutes per side. (I covered the skillet to help melt the cheese.) Cover tops of sandwiches with strawberry jam and powdered sugar.
Coming Tomorrow
Sweet and Salty Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jam Bars