Excuses for New Recipes

I love excuses for trying new recipes. And things that I wouldn't just try on my own without the excuse. For example, August 23 was Cuban Sandwich Day. I'd never heard of a Cuban sandwich before. So I looked it up and figured out how to make it. 

Normally it would use Cuban bread, but I don't know how to make that so I made French bread to use.

I cut a loaf into 7 pieces for each of us to have one. The pieces were cut so there would be the top crust and bottom crust if that makes sense. Even if it doesn't makes sense, that's how I cut them. Tee Hee.

Each sandwich had variations of the following fillings (some of us had it all, and some don't like certain things on their sandwiches): mustard, shredded pork, ham, swiss cheese, and pickles. I put the sandwiches in our sandwich maker, which wasn't too easy because of the thickness of the fillings and the French bread but they turned out fun and yummy.

So that was our version of a Cuban sandwich. I rounded out my plate with some corn and yet another new recipe, Mexican Rice, from shelfcooking.com

You know I love finding reasons to celebrate. We'll have to celebrate this again next year. 

P.S. August 23 is also Gene Kelly's birthday so there was some dancing around and singing happening.

Plug Your Nose, It'll Taste Better

When I was younger and a picky eater, my mom would tell me to plug my nose when I took a bite of something I didn't like, as we know that taste and smell are associated. I got through so many bites of what I now consider delicious food that way.
My kids have gotten into the habit of deciding that they don't like something without even trying it. Well, I tried the nose thing with my kids. It worked... for the most part. Nichole ate all the corn on her dinner plate.

After taking a few bites, Jr. insisted that Mmmm, he liked corn (yet he never did finish what was on his plate). He did try, and I'll be honest, he ate more than I expected when we began the meal.

They did enjoy having their pictures taken with their noses plugged and Jr. Jr. looking on.