Being at home with my parents during the holidays reminded me of a few things. Like how awesome it feels to be able to walk around without doing your hair and makeup for two days and having no one judge you. How much fun it is to watch football with my dad. How comforting it feels to cuddle with mom while watching movies. And how, despite newfangled technology, trendy foods or new dishes, mom always has a few tricks up her sleeve in the kitchen.

While I was home, my mother gave me a tip about making paninis or grilled cheese sandwiches with soft, fresh bread and cold, hard butter from the fridge. “Melt the butter in the pan first, then place the sandwich in the melted butter. The butter will then coat the bread without tearing it.” Now why in the world didn’t I think of that before?

I made a quick turkey bacon and grilled cheese simply because someone was nice enough to bring over Sarabeth’s Peach Apricot preserves during the holidays and I wanted to taste it. The sweetness of the jam would play off of the cheddar and bacon nicely. E was pleasantly surprised when I came into his office with yet another grilled cheese treat. He liked it so much he even paused “Tomorrow Never Dies” while he ate it. He put James Bond on hold for me? Now that’s love.

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