I feel like my fingers need a stretch. There is absolutely no holiday I love more than Christmas, and to do it justice, I completely break off from the blog for a couple of weeks. We go big on the 25th, but Bo’s background is part Serbian, so we always make sure to acknowledge that Christmas as well. I mean, if you can have two Christmas’, why in the hell wouldn’t you!
So, tonight is Christmas Eve, and tomorrow we’ll be celebrating with another great dinner. You may have noticed a few awesome little giveaways leading up to the 25th… Well, I saved one for tonight, because every Christmas needs a present (yes, I know it doesn’t NEED a present, but isn’t it better with one?).
One of you lucky readers are going to get a gorgeous bamboo cheese board, a set of six cheese markers (they’re white porcelain and you use a whiteboard marker to write on them – I’m obsessed!), and $25 is free cheese via vouchers, all from my friends at Alra Dofino cheese. Seriously, I don’t know what I did in my life to warrant friends in the cheese industry, but lord am I ever happy about it! To enter, just leave me a comment below telling me your favourite moment from the holidays this year. I’ll pick the winner Friday January 8, 2016 at noon (sorry, open to Canadian residents only). Congratulations go out to Mel for winning this awesome little package! Thanks to everyone for participating!
My favourite moment? It was probably watching Anna driving her new truck down the road while Oliver ran beside her in his new gladiator costume.
Back to the food though – I’m sharing with you what I’ll be having for lunch today, while Sophie naps, and I sprawl out on the couch and read a magazine. Yeah, I’m working hard today.
I’m the type who finds one item of food that I love, then that’s all I eat (in variations), until I’m sick of it. Lately, it’s been pesto. It doesn’t matter what time of day it is, if I need a snack, it needs to have pesto on it. You know what goes great with pesto? Cheese. So, I’m slathering some good bread with pesto, adding a few slivers of pear, and then some nice and thick slices of Arla Dofino havarti. Toasted until crisp and golden on the outside, gooey cheese melting out the edges and down the sides… Just thinking about eating this again is making me drool.
Enough jabbering, I know, get to the recipe. Here you go – It’s the best five minutes you could spend this week, I promise! Don’t forget to tell me what your favourite moment was over the holidays in the comments to be entered in the giveaway! (sorry, Canadian residents only). Congrats again to Mel!
Grown Up Grilled Cheese with Pesto, Havarti, and Pears
Ingredients
- softened butter
- 2 slices good quality, hearty bread (I like to use a good multigrain rye bread)
- 3-4 tbsp pesto
- 6-8 thin slices of pear, about 1/8"
- havarti cheese, sliced ¼" thick
Instructions
- Butter the outside of two slices of bread generously. Heat a pan over medium-high heat, and place one of the slices into the pan, butter side down.
- Working quickly, and carefully, spread 1-2 tbsp of pesto on the bread in the pan. Top with the pear slices, and then the havarti. Spread some more pesto on the non butter side of the second piece of bread, then place on top of the sandwich, butter side out.
- Cook until the bottom of the sandwich is golden brown and crisp, about three minutes. Carefully flip the sandwich over and repeat on the second side.
Mel @ The Refreshanista
Mmmm, grilled cheese! I’d love to win those goodies 🙂 my favourite moment of the holidays was telling my fiancé’s family we’re pregnant on Christmas morning!
Katrina
AAAHHHHH!! Congratulations!!! Nothing better than a baby announcement on Christmas 🙂 We got to do the same thing for Anna (our second), that was the best timing ever for an announcement like that. Here’s hoping for a smooth running pregnancy for you!
Katrina
Congrats Mel! You’re the lucky winner!!! I’ve just sent you an email laying out what I need to get this sent off to you! Thanks to everyone who commented!
Lisa K
My favourite memory from the past holidays was having Christmas dinner with my family in Mexico.
Katrina
Ok, if you tell me this happened on the beach, I may have to hate you forever. That is MAGICAL sounding!
suki
My favorite memory from the holidays is to play games and have dinner with my family! 🙂
Katrina
Ooohhhh! That’s a good one! I’d completely forgotten – when I was a kid we used to always play rummoli after Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner. I can so vividly remember my great grandpa sitting across from me cheating, lol! That’s a tradition I really need to bring back, so thank you for the reminder 🙂
Kellie
We put Duck eggs in our daughter’s stocking
She loved them
Katrina
I so want more information here! Is it because she’s going to hatch them and have a whole bunch of adorable baby ducks running around? Were they to eat (I assume also good, just seems so wrong after thinking about adorable baby ducks), or are these just some cool new thing, not actual duck eggs, and my daughters and just too young for me to know. This is going to keep me up tonight…
Brenda Penton
My favourite moment was watching my kids open their gifts.
Katrina
Ok, I LOVE seeing this, because I felt the same. I also felt like I couldn’t say it, because facebook was full of “kids get too many damn presents” posts. Bloody hell, I love watching them open them!
Dana
Mmm, gourmet grilled cheese at it’s finest.
My favorite moment over the holidays was being able to see my parents. I recently moved far away after having lived in the same town as them for my entire life and it’s been tough! So that was pretty amazing 🙂
Katrina
I’m glad you got to spend the holidays with them! My husband and I often get a pull to just pack up and move somewhere else for a change (mainly florida, because I’d give just about anything to have an annual pass to Disney and a pool), but it’s the family pull that keeps us rooted. I can’t imagine how tough it would be 🙁
Laura
Yum! That is a good lookin sandwich! My favourite moment during the Christmas Holidays was watching my 4 year old ski for the first time..with a BIG smile on her face! At the end of the day she asked if we could go skiing again tomorrow. I think she LOVES it with is good news for us as we are closer to all 4 of us being about to go skiing together!! Merry Christmases to you!!
Katrina
Oh my goodness! I can not imagine the cuteness overload that would happen watching a four year old head down the slopes! I haven’t skied since I was a teenager… I’ll be a disaster when I take the kids to try it out in a few year, lol. And thank you 🙂
Jaime Busato
My favourite moment over the holidays was watching my children’s faces on Christmas morning and spending time with my family for a big huge holiday turkey dinner with all the fixins! Can’t wait to do it all again next year! Hopefully in my new house I just bought! ?
Katrina
Congrats on the new house! That’s the best feeling 🙂 My Christmas sounds a lot like yours!
Sharin Watt
My favourite moment was happened Christmas Eve when my niece announced she was having a baby boy. I’m going to be a Great Aunt and she is going to be a Mum again. Best present!
Katrina
Yay!! Congratulations to both of you 🙂 baby announcements on Christmas are just the best!
Isabelle @ Crumb
I spent a week of my holiday break in Rhode Island with my sister and my two nephews, who are totally awesome and growing up way too fast for their aunt Izzy’s liking! It’s always nice to spend some quality time with family, especially when there’s tons of good food and drink involved. 🙂
PS: This grilled cheese probably won’t pass the sniff test with my five-year-old nephew, but his auntie would be all over it. Love the combo of pear and harvarti… sounds amazing!
Katrina
🙂 thanks Isabelle! Being an aunt is THE BEST!! my cousin is due with my niece on February 2 and it can not get here soon enough! When she had my nephew a year and a half ago it was the best feeling ever 🙂