As I sit down to write I have a feeling this post might be a long rambling one ( I will try to give you just the highlights). If you are here for the recipe (it’s a good one!) scroll down to the bottom and enjoy! For those of you brave enough to stick it out I wanted to give a couple quick updates on my life.

Summer has flown by, tomorrow is September and I didn’t go to the pool once! Maybe that was because 1) I was very very pregnant and I didn’t really have a swimsuit that properly covered everything and 2) that it was very very hot for most of the summer, which doesn’t mix very well with very very pregnant. Even though I didn’t get to make daily trips to the swimming pool this summer I did have a very busy summer.

My summer in quick review:
Summer got kick started by attending our friends’ beautiful wedding at Arbor Day Farm
We attended a party for my father-in-law who retired after working for the same company for 35+ years!
We went on a lovely family vacation back to Arbor Day Farm (because it was so beautiful) then headed to Kansas City (a first for me)
I baked tons and tons of cupcakes for my dad’s 50th birthday party!

The girls took their first swimming lessons.
The month of July I went to see the midwife every single week, anxiously waiting for the baby to arrive.
I didn’t cook enough and we went out to eat WAY too much (but I was hot, tired and super pregnant so that’s my excuse)
Finally on August 3 (10 days late) I delivered a healthy happy baby boy, Kasper!

Some more friends got married in a beautiful outdoor ceremony.
My oldest daughter Sasha started kindergarten (you can follow our cold lunch journey).
And we’ve been busy adjusting to our new life.

So there you go. There was the quick update of my summer and what has been keeping me so busy. Since Kasper has been born I’ve cooked more than I have all summer. It must have something to do with not wanting to drag an infant and two little girls to a restaurant or maybe it is I am too tired to actually go to a restaurant myself.

I didn’t plant much of a garden this summer -herbs only, basil and cilantro to be specific. I have high hopes for a larger garden next year. Not getting to enjoy a surplus of fresh garden tomatoes has been a real bummer (translation: not getting to enjoy a surplus of BLTs this summer has been a real bummer). Next year there will be tomatoes and BLTs! We’ve picked some tomatoes up at the farmers markets in town but it just isn’t the same. This weekend I bought a few “local” tomatoes at the grocery store. They were just OK tasting so I decided to jazz them up with pesto using up the basil in my “garden”.

Then the idea struck me basil + tomatoes + fresh mozzarella = delicious AND tomatoes + bacon + lettuce = delicious SOOOOO why not combine the two?! Make a basil + tomato + mozzarella + bacon sandwich. Oh. My. I would say this was the best sandwich I’ve ever had. Ever. Go make it NOW while you can still enjoy fresh tomatoes.

What is the best sandwich you’ve ever eaten?