Paninis, Pinot, and the Perfect Summer Night
I feel so lucky to live in America’s Finest City A.K.A San Diego. The weather is perfect, the people are friendly, the beaches are endless, the traffic isn’t bad (trust me I used to live and drive in LA, the traffic here isn’t bad.), and there are so many things to do in our beautiful town. I mean, thousands and thousands of tourists flock to this great city of ours, yet we always leave town for vacation. Why?
Well I’m not sure why, I was kind of perplexed that I never planned a staycation in a town we loved so much. I finally decided enough was enough; I cancelled our oversees hotel reservations, unpacked (mentally) our bags, and decided to vacation in our backyard. What I soon found out, as I dived into planning our staycation, was the endless number of events and attractions San Diego had to offer. I couldn’t possibly fit everything into a mere two weeks, but I was going to give it the ole college try!
The first Saturday of our staycation started like any other weekend day; workout, coffee, grocery shopping, yard work (well, for the hubs), but by 2:00 pm we were officially in vacation mode. I heard about San Diego Symphony’s Bayside Summer Nights series and thought it would be a great start to our staycation. It’s an outdoor theater right by the bay that features San Diego’s Orchestra performances from June through September. Since our vacation started at the beginning of September we caught the last performance of the season, 1812 Tchaikovsky Spectacular. Now neither the hubs nor I are really into classical music, but we kept an open mind about it and I’m so glad we did. The music and entire experience were one of the most enjoyable nights of our staycation; we’re even thinking of becoming members! The more you know 😊
https://www.sandiegosymphony.org/
Another perk about this event is they allow you to bring in coolers for snacks. Since we reserved a table I decided to make a picnic and packed up our wine basket full of goodies. They don’t allow you to bring outside alcohol, but they have a wonderful, and surprisingly extensive, wine list so we just bought a bottle of wine to enjoy with our meal.
For our meal I decided to include a few different cheese types, pre-cut or spreadable for ease of eating, crackers (Triscuits a fav and must have for the hubs), marinated olives with feta, sliced apples, honey, and the grand finale -paninis!
The paninis were super simple to put together and even easier to eat picnic style. I used sourdough bread, spread the outsides with butter, and filled them with a combination of ham, turkey, swiss and cheddar cheese, and some Dijon mustard. I gave them about 2-3 minutes on the panini maker, let them cool for a few more minutes, cut them in half, and wrapped them in foil. Simple, but so yummy. I usually eat half of my sandwich most the time, but these were just so good I ate the whole thing (much to the hubs dismay because he didn’t get my other half).
Wine to pair?
Pinot Noir of course. Okay, okay, okay…I know it’s ALWAYS Pinot, but in my defense, I was limited to the wines on the menu and even though the list was extensive I wasn’t willing to drift too far from my beloved grape with a bottle I wasn’t familiar with. I’m very glad I didn’t because the Kistler 2015 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir was just wonderful. It wasn’t a winery I was familiar with, but now I am, happily I must say.
http://www.kistlervineyards.com/
So, if you’re looking for something a little different, and maybe outside of your comfort zone, consider attending one of the Bayside Summer Night’s concert series. Who knows, you may find a new interest in classical music or even a new winery, sounds like a win win to me! Cheers my friends.
