Kasseri (aka Kristina M)

Kasseri is a medium-hard pale yellow cheese made from unpasteurized sheep milk with very little, if any, goat's milk mixed in, in Turkey and Greece.

Not only because it is a Greek cheese, (Kristina is married to a Greek), Kasseri is an appropriate cheese alias for Kristina simply because it starts with a K as does her name.

I have known Kristina and her sister, Sophia (next post), for most of my life.  They grew up in a house just down the street from the house in which I grew-up.  I remember meeting them one day when I was on a walk with my mom and my two brothers in our neighborhood.  I must have been around 8 years old at the time because I recall the youngest of my two brothers was in a stroller and not even a year old. Kristina and Sophia were also on a walk with their mother that day and she was pushing their brother in a stroller who was not much older than my youngest brother.  The realization that this new family had a child my age, a second child close to my 1st brother's age, and a third child close to my 2nd brother's age is very clear in my mind. 

Because our families lived in such close proximity for such a long time, we had a very close, informal relationship.  All of us, including our parents, spent a lot of time at each other's house.  It was the kind of relationship my mom didn't worry about cleaning the house before her mom came over and vice versa.  In fact, it was rare if anything we did together was planned ahead of time.  It was always, "let's stop by Kristina's house and see if they are home"; or they would pull the car over on their way home from something and end up staying for dinner at our house.

One very clear, bonding memory I have with Kristina when we were young is when we had planned to meet two of the neighborhood boys for a picnic in a fort they had built in the gully behind Kristina's house.  The boys had invited us the day before and I remember being excited.  I was young enough that my mom was still cutting my bangs; she cut them the day of the picnic and they looked horrible.  Despite crooked bangs, Kristina and I went on the picnic.  I think the boys teased me, I got embarrassed and left before we got too far into the picnic.  Kristina was not affected by them as I was and tried to get me to stay.  I remember wishing I could be more like her in those "uncomfortable" situations.

Because Kristina is "slightly" older than I (sorry Kristina), I looked up to her like an older sister .  I think it is because, growing up, she was the "oldest" person I was close to (I have no older siblings or cousins).   As a result, I constantly compared myself to her. Whatever she was doing, I wanted to do too.  Especially when she was in 6th grade and I was in 5th and she got boobs!  

Writing this blog reminds me how much I love Kristina.  She is still so confident and comfortable no matter what the setting.  She is always smiling, knows how to have fun and makes everyone around her feel comfortable.  When Kristina is at the party, you know it is going to be fun.


There are few people who I can go for months, even years, without seeing and still feel as comfortable as I do with Kristina.  Thank you for giving up your trip to Greece this year to join the Grilled Cheese experience.  I am so honored you are going to be a part of all of this.

Provolone (aka Becky or "Beck")

According to Wikipedia, "Provolone is today a full-fat cows milk cheese, with a smooth skin."

Of all the Panini Sisters, I have known Provolone/Becky the longest.  My dad and Becky's mom's are siblings and Becky is the only female cousin I have on that side of my family (out of 8 cousins there are only 2 girls). Becky is 7 years younger than me. She was born within a month of my second brother, Steven. Growing up, Becky and I were not really close, but that was mainly due to our age difference. We saw each other frequently at family functions, but I was more of the "mother hen" over all the cousins until Becky and Steven graduated from high school. 

I will never forget the first real "girl" talk Becky and I had. I think she was close to graduating from high school, but she might have been older. We were in a car together at the Sacramento Airport. Becky had gone through a rough time during her early high school years but had come out of it all of a sudden and never looked back. When we were alone in that car, I asked her about that time in her life and was so impressed with her story. I remember thinking she had grown up.

Becky graduated from Chico State, moved back to Redding and married Joey, who was in my high school class. They were dating during the time of my 10-year high school reunion and Becky attended the reunion with Joey. At the time it was hard for me to wrap my head around her being at "my" 10-year reunion (it seemed like she had just graduated herself!), but as the evening wore on, I thoroughly enjoyed her company and was happy she was there. In my mind, that was the beginning of our current relationship/friendship.  


That was 12 years ago. Now, our kids are about the same age, her's being slightly older, which has brought us a lot closer. A few years ago Becky and I had the opportunity to join my sister-in-law (you shall "meet" her in a later post) for a girls weekend in Las Vegas' Caesar's Palace. The highlight of that trip, after a leaking toilet mishap and Becky's savvy negotiation skills, was our upgrade to the 1,380 square foot Absolut Vodka-inspired suite that sits atop Caesar's Palace overlooking the Las Vegas Strip. Needless to say it was quite a trip and one that I can only hope to top with our Grilled Cheese experience!


As far as Becky's connection to Provolone?  Hmmm....this is one that is not as obvious. She is certainly NOT full fat, and I am pretty sure she avoids cow's milk, but she does have smooth skin!  


Thanks for joining the trip, Beck. I am so glad to have you as my cousin and I can't wait to see what you negotiate for us in Scottsdale!  Love You, Ju

Cheese Aliases

Over a month has gone by since my last post, and with 25 women committed to this trip I'd better get introducing!  We have 15 weeks left before our trip, so I will post more than one per week to fit everyone in.

In the interim, the idea was proposed, and all jumped on board, for each of us to come up with a "cheese alias".  Each Panini Sister has chosen a cheese to be associated with throughout this Grilled Cheese experience.  The creativity in which each cheese was chosen exceeded all of my expectations.  Whether they realized it or not, each women chose a cheese that reflects their personality in some way, shape or form and I am very excited to point out those similarities!

I will title each "introductory" post with the chosen cheese and somewhere within the blog identify the commonalities between the respective woman and the cheese of their choice.

Stay tuned, the first, Provolone, is on deck and ready to be posted.....

The "Grilled Cheese" Philosophy

When I was little, going out to eat was a rare treat.  Even though my dad owned a fast food restaurant, (a der Wienerschnitzel), he never brought dinner home and we NEVER ate out at restaurants unless we were out of town.

When we did eat out, I was like a kid in a candy store.  The process of ordering my food was a really stressful experience because I never knew what to order.  I didn't ever want to "waste" such a special opportunity on an entrée that I could have at home.  So I would pour over the menu and try to figure out what I "should" order by narrowing the items down to those that weren't available to me on a regular basis.  I don't ever remember enjoying anything I ordered and I was always disappointed.

I can fix in my mind, numerous occasions where I watched the grilled cheese sandwiches walk by with their butter coated, perfectly grilled sour dough bread and processed cheese oozing out of the sides onto the steak fries laying on the plate and wished I'd ordered that. Although my mom made grilled cheese sandwiches for us at home; the slightly overcooked whole wheat bread with minimal butter and half-melted cheddar cheese was no match.  But for many years, because it was a "regularly available" food item, it never dawned on me that I "could" actually order the grilled cheese sandwich when we ate out.

I distinctly recall at some point I decided to "rebel" (against who or what I have no idea, because I was never forced to order or not order anything) and I ordered the grilled cheese sandwich.  I just did it. I remember being excited about it and I was NOT disappointed.  I was happy and proud that I made the decision for no other reason than that was what I wanted.  I didn't "should" all over myself, which is what I tend to do, even now.  I ordered grilled cheese sandwiches for a long time after that and it reaffirmed to me that there doesn't always have to be a good reason for doing things. Sometimes, we just know what we want and need to go with it.

Going back to this experience each time I am challenged with a decision is the "Grilled Cheese Philosophy" (GCP).  I use it to help me make decisions when there is no right or wrong answer; when no one else can help me because they do not see through my eyes, and when the pros and cons don't help much either.  I use it when the answer isn't clear or I don't have a strong gut feeling about which way to go.  But I most often use the GCP when I am having a hard time choosing the option I think I "should" choose, but for whatever reason don't want to.  I actually ask myself, "What is the grilled cheese in this scenario?  Which choice am I going to be happy with, no matter what vs. what might I possibly regret?"

For example, I most recently used the GCP to help me decide which color to paint the inside of our current house.  I "knew" what color I wanted to paint the walls and the painter was trying to talk me into a different color.  He even went so far as to paint two walls in my house, one with "my" color and one with the color he thought I would prefer.  Both looked fine.  His wasn't bad, but I still liked mine.  He thought I was going to hate my color once the entire house was that color, but I wasn't so sure.  What finally got me was when a friend came over and definitively agreed with the painter.  It was at that moment, I realized "my" color was the grilled cheese.  Even though she agreed with the painter, I didn't.  I couldn't put my finger on it, but I didn't care, I knew I would be mad if I let them talk me into a color when I knew I really wanted the other one.

Finally, my GCP was instrumental in helping me choose the hotel we are staying in for this trip; hence the name of the trip.  I have had the notion to plan a trip like this to celebrate my 40th birthday for over 3 years; and the idea of relaxing with my favorite girlfriends and staying in the most exclusive hotel has always been the basis of the experience.   When the actual planning started, I found myself getting caught up in details that took me down paths that were very far away from my original notion.  I eventually got back on track and the travel agent and I were narrowing down our hotel options.  (Yes, there are other hotels in Scottsdale that are a little bit less expensive and might have offered more or less of a "package" deal for us.)  However, when I gave it the grilled cheese test, the Hyatt won, hands down, no question.  I don't want to drive by the Hyatt on our way to x-resort and regret that we didn't pay a "few" extra dollars to go all the way.  This is my GRILLED CHEESE!  Thank you for sharing it with me.

Stay tuned to learn more about the fabulous women you will be meeting on this trip and how they are special to my life.....

 

First Post

Blogging.  I can't believe I have decided to start blogging.  I don't follow any blogs, so forgive me if this is not up to blogging par.  The idea of starting a blog came to me today as a solution to a "problem" I have been contemplating for a few weeks.  The fact that I am jumping on this idea without much thought is uncharacteristic of me, but I am excited about it and had a moment, so here I am.
This year, August 27 marks my 40th birthday.  To celebrate, I am planning a relaxing vacation for myself and have invited all of the women who have played the role of a "sister" to me at some point during my 40 years. My goal, which is one that I have had for a few years, is to reconnect with as many of these important girlfriends as possible (many of them I haven't seen in years) and celebrate our friendship.
Earlier this year, as I developed my invitee list I realized I have many "sets" of friends, as do most of us, including those who I met when I was 4 and 5 years of age and with whom I grew up.  I decided to include them all and came up with a list of 62 women.  I was blown away by this number and excited to see who would be able to join me on this trip.
As of March 15th, 24 of them have confirmed.  What an honor!  Almost 1/2 of the women, whom I consider to be the most important in my life, are going to join me in celebrating 40 years.
The "problem", to which I refer above, is how to introduce all of these women to each other before the trip.  There is so much I want each person to know about the important role each of them have played in my life.  I want each person to see everyone else through my eyes.  Is that possible?
That is where the blog comes in.  I realized, it might be fun for me to blog about each of the women going on this trip.  It would give me the forum to write about each friend and introduce them to the rest of the group.  So here I am starting a blog.
There is so much more I want to say, but it is way passed the time when I needed to go to bed, so I am going to stop for now.  Stay tuned.  Future posts will explain my "Grilled Cheese Philosophy", introduce each of the women who have committed to my 40th birthday vacation, and much more I am sure.....