A Bit of Shopping, a Bit of Cooking and Old People Acting Bad

I'm working my way through redesigning the team website. I'm muddling along with the help of videos from my friend's web design class and the videos over at Lynda.com. Dreamweaver is an awesome program, but oh so complicated, just like all of the other Adobe programs. It is both exciting to see it develop and frustrating when it does not go how I want it to go.

Ellie and I also spent a bit of time shopping. This time we were looking for me. For over a month I have been stopping by shops that I thought might have something I could wear to the cotillon balls that each of the kids will have. I brought a lovely, flowy skirt from Coldwater Creek, but both Ellie and Ethan declared that it looked like an old lady couch. So the hunt continued. Most of what is out there is my size seems to be too old, too much like a gypsy/hippie, a shabby country princess or simply too expensive. We finally found some good stuff at Upscale Plus, a consignment shop near my house. It is black with large pink flowers, green leaves and a simple ribbon sash. We then picked up some nice flats and a cropped sweater. I am both pleased and relieved to have found something that I like.

We had Don over for dinner to hear about his trip to California and make sure that he had company on Grandma Eleanor's birthday. He will mark the occasion by placing roses by her grave marker. The family was happy to find that I made Monte Cristo sandwiches. I've used a few recipes over the years, but this seems to be the best one. One of the recipes I based this one off of had you deep fry it. I thought that was too much, so I have it in a spot of butter instead. We finished up the evening by watching "Young at Heart," an excellent movie.

Monte Cristo Sandwich
2/3 cup water
1 egg
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 slices wheat bread
4 slices Swiss cheese
4 slices turkey
4 slices ham
4 tablespoons jelly (raspberry, strawberry or boysenberry)
4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons Butter
3 tablespoon confectioners' sugar for dusting

Directions

1. Heat up a skillet on medium high. Make the batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg and water. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper; whisk into the egg mixture until smooth. Set aside in the refrigerator.
2. Assemble sandwiches by placing smearing Dijon mustard on one slice of bread and the jelly on the other slice of bread. Next, place a slice of turkey on one slice of bread, a slice of ham on another (If you do not have both ham and turkey, you can simply use two slices of the meat that you have on hand), then sandwich them with the Swiss cheese in the middle. Cut sandwiches into halves, and secure with toothpicks, if needed (I don't usually need them).
3. Dip each sandwich half in the batter so that all sides are coated. Melt a bit of butter in the hot pan and place the sandwich in it. Turn them once they have browned nicely. If the cheese is not melting quickly enough you may need to put a lid on the pan briefly. Remove toothpicks and arrange on a serving tray. Dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving.