The Cheat : Apricot Turkey Sandwiches On Sweet Potato Rolls

Apricot Turkey Sandwich on Sweet Potato Rolls, originally uploaded by miss.mallory.

Not only am I a cheat (I'll explain this later) but I'm a failure. Not even a month into my resolution to blog at least three times a week and I've failed. Not even a month people. I have a very good reason though, better than any of my other previous reasons for not blogging. I won't bore you with the nitty gritty details I'll simply say this; I've spent the last two weeks caring for a close family member who quite suddenly fell into my world, who is in dire need of assistance and care. I've been not only trying to wrap my brain around this change, but have learned a lot in a short period. For a twenty something student used to her carefree lifestyle (okay, outside of the whole student piece) this change has been, to say the least, a bit life altering. It's taken some getting used to (I'm not quite there yet). It almost felt that as I approached 25 I was getting a better sense of my life, who I was, where I was going, how to feed my passions, all the while greatly enjoying my new sense of self. I feel as though I've been pushed off that track, backwards and sideways somehow. I know I'll get back there, sooner I hope, but I have also realized this whole process is going to take time, and a lot of getting used to.

Enough personal stuff, right? Let's talk food.

Onto my statement "I'm a cheat". That delectable sandwich pictured above is not something I can take all that much credit for. Putting the darn thing between a sweet potato roll? Yes. The actual sandwich? No. That creation, the wonder that is turkey and swiss paired with mayo and homemade apricot preserves was the ever amazing Rachelle's. You see, Rachelle is (I hope I'm correct in using the word is) a fellow food blogger and very dear friend. 5 months ago she all but abandoned her fabulous blog Use the Good China. Life for her too changed a bit, a new place has meant less desire to blog. I know she misses her old place, the place she first started blogging and discovered much of her creative spirit. I'm hoping she returns (soon), if you feel like it, head over and harass her to do so (I kid, I harass her enough)! Rachelle is the queen of comfort, she's a classic that one. The night before christmas eve she invited me over for tea and sandwiches. I knew I wasn't in for the plain old version of a tea sandwich and I was right. For me, a girl who believes you can obsessively love both sweet and savory at the same time (c'mon, how could you possibly choose sides?) this sandwich truly satisfies all of my tastebuds needs. The addition of the apricot preserve does magical wonders to the classic turkey swiss combo. It's tangy, sweet and sticky, the perfect pairing with moist turkey and nutty swiss. As I gobbled down sandwich after sandwich I couldn't help but wonder how I had not thought of such an obviously ingenious pairing myself. In the last couple of weeks I've dedicated dinners to this sandwich. This week, I did a test run for this weekends 'Around the Table' dinner by mixing up a batch of sweet potato rolls from Pinch My Salt. I settled on her bread because out of all the reviews I read (and ingredients) her version received the highest marks. As a born again avid fan of sweet potato, as many have said about many different sweet potato recipes, this didn't have a strong sweet potato taste I was dreaming of. But, upon further thought I realized that's kind of impossible. Potatoes whether they be sweet, golden, or any other variety aren't violent in flavor, they're all pretty mild. They were a huge hit (particularly on their own slathered with butter or dipped in pesto), gone in less than 24 hours. They took Rachelle's version of a turkey sandwich over the moon. I can't wait to bust these gems out filled with turkey, apricot, swiss, mayo, and red onion, at my first picnic of the year (a picnic I may have to wait months for, until the sun makes a more permanent return to the Northwest) until then, I'll have to enjoy them from the comfort of my kitchen sofa!