Jam & Sandwich Holiday

Yesterday we were a productive little bunch, as I had hoped we'd be. I really wanted to get the house in order and feel accomplished by the end of this holiday weekend and before Matt went back to work. Between the two of us, we got the lawn mowed, garden weeded, errands run, kitchen cleaned, lunches made for Matt and Riker for the week, and about 6 loads of laundry washed and folded. I love crossing of my to-do list before the start of a work week!

My favorite part of the day was when Riker went down for his nap and I got to work canning about 15 jars of homemade jam.

Last week Matt surprised me with a huge, 20-pound bag of fresh Jersey peaches, knowing that I've wanted to make peach preserves all summer. The peaches were starting to turn bad yesterday, so I made sure to do my jamming and not waste any of the beautiful fruits. 

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We were starving after our long day of chores, and neither Matt nor I felt much like cooking a big meal. You know sandwiches make their way onto the rotation once a week around here, and last night seemed the perfect night.

In an effort to use up some waning garden produce, I decided to make roasted vegetable and goat cheese baguettes. To make the filling, I simply peeled and sliced two small eggplants, and cut 5 tomatoes in half. Then I drizzled them with olive oil and sprinkled them with salt, pepper, thyme, basil and garlic. I roasted them at 400 degrees for about 35 minutes, flipping them halfway through, until they got nice and caramelized.

In the meantime, I sliced a baguette in half, and spread one half of the bread with olive oil and garlic powder. I toasted the baguette in the oven for about 5 minutes, until it got crispy and slightly golden brown.

Once the bread was toasted, I spread the other half with a little herbed goat cheese. Then I piled on the roasted veggies and we were good to go!

The veggies were chewy and sweet - especially the roasted tomatoes - and the bread was crunchy and salty. Perfect combo.

We ate our sandwiches while watching the finale of Breaking Bad. Is anyone else watching this show? Aaaah what a crazy ending! 

Source

That man is starting to scare me big time.

And with that, it's time to get back into work mode. Have a great Tuesday!