Do you see anything wrong with this picture? Let’s take a closer look, shall we?
Don’t worry, that’s a squirrel risking life and limb to rob a bird house in our neighbor’s yard – HA!! Maybe you had to be there, but this was one of the funniest things I have seen in a really long time. Look at his little body all stretched out! I’m still laughing 30 minutes later! 
In other news – homemade panini presses be damned – LOOK! 
The amazingly generous people at Cuisinart heard my pleas for a real panini press – not a pan stacked with protein powder & baked beans – and sent me a Cuisinart Griddler for all my grill, griddle and panini press needs!
This puppy does it all.
Not only does it have separate griddle, grill and panini heat settings,
but it also lays flat so you can use it as a flat top grill.
Or, easily flip the plates to use it as a griddle! Pancakes, anyone? 
On the menu tonight: Pumpkin Turkey Paninis using my new Griddler!
I kept the panini/grill plates facing out and warmed up the appliance while I assembled my sandwiches.
I started with a loaf of fresh French bread,
cut myself off a portion, and dug out the insides. This leaves more room for filling, and makes for a crispier sandwich, IMO. (I didn’t end up eating the bread I dug out this time – win!)
Then I got out the goods – Pumpkin Butter from the North Carolina girls!
Sweet, spicy and a great “glue” for pressed sandwiches.
I slathered some onto the top half of my bread,
and layered low-sodium deli turkey and swiss cheese on the bottom.
All together now – his and hers – and PRESS!
(not my arm)
Woo! Look at those babies sizzle!
One of the best features of the Griddler is the floating hinge. It’s great for not burning one end of your sandwich while the other end remains cold and non-crispy. You know what I mean.
Several minutes later we had paninis!
This is the crispiest, crunchiest bread I have ever had. No lie.
Look how taking out the inside of the bread makes for such a thin and crunchy outer shell. It really lets the fillings shine through – such as the pumpkin butter. Oh, the pumpkin butter! Future sandwich combos need not apply. Hot turkey, swiss, and pumpkin butter is where.it’s.at!
Served with some simply roasted asparagus to compliment the sandwich.
4 very enthusiastic thumbs up (IGE + IBE) for these sandwiches and the Cuisinart Griddler. We honestly could not be happier that we have this fun new appliance. I see pancakes, burgers, skewers and many more sandwiches in our future!!
I am off to complete a Total Body Circuit then hit the hay by, fingers crossed, 9pm. I’ve had a persistent twitch in my left eye (I know, random) for the past several days, which I hear can be attributed to not getting enough sleep and/or too much caffeine. Early bed time and water it is!
Good night. 
~~~~~
Do you keep any appliances out on your countertops?
We keep the toaster and butcher block (not really an appliance, but still) out on the counter. The Kitchen Aid mixer, mini food processor and blender are banished to the cupboards!
LOVE the Cusinart Griddler. Can’t imagine life without it. Very versatile!
That Griddler looks awesome! I have a Cusinart panini maker and it rules. You’re sandwich looks awesome. I love, love pumpkin butter. We keep our toaster, toaster oven and KitcheAid mixer on the counter.
We totally almost bought that one!!! We ended up not getting a panini maker in favor of another Calphalon pan, but i will be getting that sometime soon! How cool!
Oh I so need one of those. I’ve been piling up my cans on my sandwiches. It works great, but kind of a pain.
Awesome Press! I usually don’t get too excited over fancy kitchen gadgets, but this one is something I can see myself using quite often. I can only imagine it makes the best sammies!
We try to keep our appliance appearances at a minimum. The basics are out, like the toaster, the coffee maker and an electric kettle, but everything else is stored away. Less clutter in the kitchen is my goal.
Have a good night and good luck with the eye thing.
I can’t believe that squirrel! Too lazy to fight for his own food:) And you’re so lucky! No more weighted down pans mimicking- you’ve got the real deal here, sister!
I want want want one! I just looked it up on amazon to see if they sell them here, in the UK, and they do! I just have to wait till christmas . . .
My kettle and toaster are out all the time but everything else is tucked away. I don’t have a huge amount of counter space but could not imagine having to take the kettle out the cupboard to make coffee. Every morning I’d stumble into the kitchen and think I’d been robbed!
Omg Im so jealous!! I need one of those right now!!! Haha! I’ll have to see if they’re selling them anywhere around here!
Sweet panini press! I keep my blender, toaster, and microwave on the counter.
Those are so awesome! We have NO counter space so only a microwave and a blender are out
hahhaha that is so funny!! And oh my goodness, when I have my own place I am purchasing one of those. What beautiful panini’s!
We have the coffee pot and toaster and thats it on our counters. I like having space in our small kitchen.
We have that panini press/griddle. Its amazing!
my gf and i LOVE our griddler…we used it tonight to have a very similar panini as a matter of fact! we’ll have to try the pumpkin butter sometime; we used a spicy honey mustard
it is definitely great for pancakes too…hopefully you’ll end up loving it as much as we do! 
Wow… Cuisineart hooked you up!!! I’m SUPER jealous!!!!
That combo is out of this world good! And it’s very ironic because I had the exact same thing for lunch today except on Great Harvest Dakota Bread instead of the French bread. Pumpkin butter and cheese and turkey is like… the best combination oh, ever!
I’ve had my Griddler for years, and have been very happy with it. But it sleeps in the pantry. Only the toaster oven gets counter space. Blender, mixer, Griddle, et al. sleep in the dark.
We keep our George Foreman grill, toaster and Kitchen Aid on the counter. The rest is banished to the cupboards.
Not on the note of paninis… but worthy of stopping in:
Did you know that tomorrow is Free Pastry Day @ Starbys?? With a purchase of a drink and with a coupon you can get a free pastry before 10:30am
Awww – squirrel!
And WOW, girl! A panini maker?!
DREAMY!
Loved your 1st homemade panini – pumpkin makes everything better!
Have a great week!
Brazilian XOXO´s,
Gabriela
We have that same Panini press, it is great! The things we have our on our counter are the kitchen aid mixture, coffeemate coffee pot, and the panini press.
XOXO Court and Whit
Ooohh! That looks like a fun new toy. I want one! I try not to keep things out on the counter, but we have a definite storage issue so I try to keep my gadget purchases to a minimum. Those sandwiches look delish!
I’m so jealous of your panini press, thats so exciting!! I will miss pictures of your homemade press though… At my apartment the only appliance we keep out is our beloved George Foreman, I use him for everything!
We have several squirrels that try to rob our bird feeder. A friend gave us a sling shot and we use it to scare away the squirrels. Luckily we aren’t very good shots and we haven’t hit anything yet.
Woo hoo for griddlers & crazy squirrels!
How do you lift your mixer in and out of the cupboard? Mine weighs too much to move off the counter!
Loved the ad!!!!
~Kim
Yummy…I had a similar sandwich tonight, except I used apple butter instead. I love the sweet/savory combo in sandwiches. We keep our wine fridge out and that was it, until our cuisinart conveniently started staying out due to my husband and I have just not put it away, largely due to using it constantly!
My husband and I love our griddler! It’s perfection in an appliance. I need to try the turkey, swiss and pumpkin butter combo.
I love paninis with cranberry relish too!
:O wow you lucky thing, getting that for free!! How jealous am I!?
We have the toaster and the kettle out – I hate having things out but my sister is MESSY and she leaves the George Foreman out (and pans, plates etc….) ALL the time..grr!!
my parents have the panini griddler – they love it!
Squirrels are desperate
Toaster stays on the counter tops. I don’t really have any other big appliances – ironically enough i do have 2 blenders (those stay put away) and so does my food processor. I HATE having clutter on the countertops!
Oh my gosh that grill looks amazing!!!! I’ve really got to try one of those!
I’ve had mine for about a couple years now and it’s used more than my toaster! Makes the best sandwiches!
We don’t keep any appliances on the counters, just the block of knives. If only we could get rid of that pile of random mail/junk that never seems to go away, we’d be set. Our bills are almost all paperless so I’m not sure where it even comes from!
That squirrel photo is killing me, so cute! I once saw a picture of a raccoon who had his left legs on the side of a canoe and his right legs on the dock. The canoe was slowly floating away and he was all balanced & sprawled out over the water. (Maybe you have to see it, but it makes me laugh just to think of it.)
I have too many appliances on my countertops – blender, toaster, electric can opener, juicer, commercial size coffee bean grinder, & espresso/coffeemaker. There are about 10 more various appliances in my cupboards! I have too many…
We were on the same page this weekend! I made oats in a jar saturday morning & turkey paninis WITH pumpkin butter and TOTS on Sunday for dinner!!
That squirrel is hilarious.
Just kidding. Mine’s getting worn out. Might be time for something new.
George foreman all the way!!
That squirrel is hilarious!! I love the cuisinart griddler. I grill asparagus on mine. I just use evoo and s&p on mine, but the hubs likes them a little sweet so I brush them with evoo and roll them in some brown sugar. They get carmelized and a little crunchy…he loves it. The best part is that the plates come off and go right into the dishwasher. Easy clean up = less time in the kitchen and more time with the hubs. IMO,it’s a win….win situtaion. Enjoy!!
So groovy that they sent you one of those gadgets! I have the microwave, toaster oven (which I LOVE) and toaster out on the counter. I love pumpkin butter. I try to stock up when we travel…I can usually find it cheap at the little small town Amish grocery stores…and it always tastes better than the commercially packaged stuff. Heres an unhealthy way to eat it….nuke a little till it’s warm & dump it over vanilla ice cream. To Die For!!
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I need a toaster … Can this appliance be used to just toast one slice of bread, english muffins, and bagels? I’m guessing it may use more energy than a toaster … does anyone know? I’d rather buy one of these than a toaster! Thanks for your help ~
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Thanks to this post I bought one of these over the weekend. Hands down best $$ I have ever spent on an applicance! Love ours!!
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I LOVE my Griddler. My husband is now a Panini freak. (L love them too.) I bought this and have loved using it very much. Recommend it too. P.S. Love the blog!
I love my Griddler too! Have you ever tried making waffles (or a waffle variation) with it? If so, let me know what recipe you used!