What Matters Most Now: September 2014 entries

09/29/2014

Olive Lover's Muffuletta Sub Sandwich - Best Tailgating Game Day Food

Are you in search of the best sandwich ever that also serves as the perfect picnic or tailgating menu item? Look no further than this recipe - Olive Lover's Muffuletta Sub Sandwich.

In my book, Muffuletta is synonymous for an amazing salami submarine sandwich with olive spread. However, the recipe originates among Italian immigrants in New Orleans, Lousisiana and the Muffuletta is actually the word for the round Sicilian sesame bread that this type of sandwich was derived from.

I love olives and this recipe highlights olives in the best way. Feel free to experiment with different blends and types of olives.

It's a great make-ahead recipe that you can throw together on the day of the big game or prior to your picnic outing.

Olive Lover's Muffuletta Sub Sandwich

Ingredients:

18-inch long loaf of crusty French or a sturdy, 10-inch crusty round of Italian bread

2 cups of olive salad spread (recipe below)

1/4 pound of salami, thinly sliced (you can also use ham, mortadella, etc.)

1/4 pound of any type of white cheese (such as Havarti, Swiss, Fontina, Provolone), thinly sliced

Instructions:

1. Cut open the bread lengthwise, being careful not to cut all the way through to the other side. Scoop out some of the bread from each half.

2. Pack 1 cup of olive salad into each half, spreading across the length of the bread.

3. Layer salami and cheese in rows down each half of the sandwich. Close halves together and wrap tightly in aluminum foil. To best blend the flavors, place heavy books on top of the sandwich and allow it to rest for several hours (perfect if you are on your way to your picnic or football game).

4. When ready to serve you can either serve it cold or at room temperature or you can bake the foil-wrapped sandwich for 20-30 minutes at 350 to crisp the bread and melt the cheese.

Olive Salad Spread

Ingredients:

3 cups Greek, green, and black olives, without pits

1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

3 Tablespoons olive oil

Optional: 2 Tablespoons capers, drained

Optional: 7 ounce jar roasted red peppers, chopped

Instructions:

1. Toss all the ingredients together and refrigerate in a tightly covered glass jar in the refrigerator until ready to use and at least 24 hours before you are wanting to use in order to meld the flavors best; OR put all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse several times depending on whether you like your olive salad chopped or roughly mixed.

Note: The salad improves with age and is delicious on many types of sandwiches besides this one. It's also great tosssed with pasta.

09/29/2014 | Permalink | Comments (3)

09/15/2014

What Mattered Most This Summer

WhatMattersMostNow.typepad.com Brooke Beasley Photography

Summer 2014 Family Photo by Brooke Beasley Photography

"There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called yesterday and the other is called tomorrow, so today is the right day to love, believe, do and mostly live."

- Dalai Lama

I've missed you so much!

This summer I had to put the blog aside for a bit to focus on these special people who are ALL teenagers now! With the passage of time, I found myself longing for more time spent with my family as these four will be out of high school in the blink of an eye. I'm not ready for this period of togetherness time to elapse. Needless to say, this is what "mattered most" this summer.

10-hour road trips with four teenagers, the Hubs and one panting dog...with bad breath
The above party of six plus me, stuffed into a hotel room along the road after a much-too-late departure for said road trip due to a car that was in the auto shop being repaired for a fender bender thanks to an irresponsible twenty-something who ran a red light, colliding into our vehicle, resulting in a too-small rental car for three weeks of the summer
learning how to play tennis alongside the teenagers and the sheer bliss experienced while retrieving one missed ball after another because we were laughing at our foibles and playing on, as true Oregonians, despite the rain showers on a hot day in Central Oregon
celebrating my parent's 50th wedding anniversary at Sunriver Resort with all the grandkids and the realization that we were gathered because two people fell in love all those years ago and thinking about all the work invested in making a marriage last and what a great payoff comes from all that work and all that love
living like a tree, learning how to cling tightly to the earth, remaining rooted yet willing to lean and bend; moving with the wind and storms yet rebounding, firmly standing, at peace with the movement swirling around
floating in a lake and a reservoir with the warm sun and cool waters nourishing and inspiring me to "listen closely" and tune in (while tuning out the crying babies and barking dogs, of course)
being brave, embracing change and planning my life to be an experience of growth - all while letting go of what I cannot change
joining the Hubs' family of 45+ for a family reunion and fostering family connections, traditions and memories our kids will never forget
turning off the cell phone, unplugging from technology and being present (and how very difficult and nearly impossible that was for me to pull off this summer with work, even while on vacation)
sitting on the back deck on a warmer summer evening with patio lights illuminating freshly harvested fields, contemplating how wonderful this life is and how much I still need to give back to this world
participating in my first "color fight" (throwing powdered color at an opposing team) with the extended family and remembering how much fun it is to run around being silly and playing
seeing the light in others and treating them as if that is all I can see
listening to my almost 14-year old daughter's six-year old voice in a video as she read a story with her sweet little lisp as her tongue readjusted to a mouth of missing teeth and hearing the clock of time tick as she morphs into a young woman before my eyes
making room for spontaneous badmitton games or time making homemade ice cream while desperately trying not to "waste" that precious time as my kids sit next to or across from me on a crowded couch that in a few short years will be empty
playing golf with our budding golfer Connor with him not only driving the car to the golf course, but then advising me as to which club to use, the distance from the flag, how to adjust my stance and then experiencing one of the best golf scores I've played in many years as a result of his "guidance"
hearing the 15-year old summarize the summer telling me, "I'm not sure why, but this summer was the best one in a long time." (15-year old teenagers can't quantify moments as being the "best ever", by the way.)