Baked Croque-Monsieurs

After a summer in France, I have to admit I'm a little disenchanted with the array of food we have to choose from here in the United States.  It seems like everything is so heavy and... fried... here.  And we eat so many chemicals I can't pronounce that it feels like I can taste the sodium benzoate and monosodium glutamate.  People aren't obese in the U.S. because of fat, or even sugar - I would argue that the big problem is the additives in the food.  Why do you think obesity only became an issue in France after American fast food chains moved in?  They had plenty of butter, sugar, and carbs before we came along!

Anyway, enough of the soapbox.  The positive side to this is that French food is awesome, and I appreciate it... a lot.  There are very few additives in the food you buy there, so everything is a little more natural, and lot more delicious.  Just a simple sandwich is a work of art.

So now I find myself back in the United States, and missing French food... Le sigh... But that's why I'm here with a recipe for croque-monsieurs that will knock the chaussettes right off ya feet! This gooey, cheesy, crispy baked ham and cheese sandwich will make you think you done died and went to paradis.  It's just what the médecin ordered.

Brown Sugar Turkey Burgers

I cannot claim credit for this recipe.  This was all the idea of my new and dear friend Rose, who is among one of my favorite people I've met while living here in Georgia.  A little background, in case you do not know me personally (rare at this nascent stage of my blogging exposure, but hey you never know), or in case you do know me personally, but not as well as all that.

I was born in Maine.  Yup, like land of the lobster, and of saying "wicked," and of Whoopie Pies.  Oh God, Whoopie Pies... I'm thinking of trying to make those, just as a heads-up, guys.  Anyway, I am a proud native Mainer.  Ayuh.

I was raised in New Jersey, from age 3 to 22.  I lived about 45 minutes outside NYC, just close enough that a day trip into the city is easy, but just far enough away that I could get to nature and greenery very easily.  I was actually one of the few in my town who was fortunate enough to live across from woods.

I went to college in New York state.  Not to be confused with New York City, this area (called the Southern Tier of New York) is highly rural, sometimes isolated, definitely different from any New York you'd think of if you're not from there.  But beautiful.  Even in the cold-ass winter.

I moved to Georgia, about 1 1/2 years ago.  Why, you ask?  Partially because my boyfriend's family was here, and they let us live with them in my transitional period between college and grad school, and partially because I was ready to try someplace new for a while.  It's lovely, marshy, and palmy here, even through all the humidity.

Who knows if I would've gotten so into cooking, food blogs, and food in general if it hadn't been for Kyle's talented mother getting me started with her repertoire of recipes.  So that's my journey so far, in a nutshell.  I'm sure you'll hear about parts of it at a later date, but for now, enjoy these burgers that Rose whipped up one night and made me drool over when she told me about them the next day.

Tuna Salad Sliders

This tuna salad is an old friend to me.  It was made entirely with things I already had in my kitchen, at hand, and I have definitely made it before.  Except before I put it on bread instead of dinner rolls.  But you know, I think the tininess gives them character.  As it does with so many people we know and love: the Munchkins of The Wizard of Oz, Peter Dinklage, Snooki...   OK maybe not Snooki so much.  Now I'm mad that I even know how to spell Snooki, gah!

I recently read a post written by a blogger named Helen Jane (whose link I found through Joy the Baker, my food blogging girl crush).  This post was about blogging, which is something I started doing nearly ten years ago on Xanga (wow), but it's also something that I feel like I'm only just getting into, since all my previous blogs were only for me and my friends (and e-friends) to see.  This type of blogging, I thought after reading food blogs like Joy the Baker, 30 Pounds of Apples, The Pioneer Woman, and others that have become hugely popular, isn't nearly as much about your own musings and inner thoughts and emotions as it is about marketing to an audience, fitting into a niche, or having this upbeat, witty, slightly self-deprecating style that many of these women seem to echo.

But I read Helen Jane's post, her lament that the internet and, more specifically, the blogging world, is being increasingly monopolized by people who are doing it for money, for fame, for recognition, for something other than themselves.  And I thought maybe I had only been seeing that side of it so far, and maybe I didn't have to make my blog fit a template that I've seen repeated a dozen times or more at this point.  Don't get me wrong, I love the blogs I've mentioned above, and more like them.

But though I might be entertained by them, their style may not be one that I want to copy exactly.  I have my own voice.

So, in my own voice, I will tell you that this tuna salad is something I've made quite a few times, and is enjoyed by me and my boyfriend Kyle and whoever else happens to be there at the time.  The addition of the relish was an interesting idea that I got from my friend Dawn, who apparently got the idea from her mom, who got it from her mom, etc.  This tuna salad is nothing fancy, it's not gourmet, but it's what I like.  And that's what this is all about, yes?  I want to share what I like with you, in the hopes that you'll like it too, and share it with someone else in your kitchen, someday, maybe.  That'd be really cool.