I am beyond excited that last week has come and gone.  First of all there are no more sick people in my house, including me, hallelujah.  And second, my mom is coming to town on Wednesday!  I have an exciting new project that I will be announcing at the beginning of the year which I cant wait to tell you about, but also I have a ton of work to do.  So Gram is going to occupy the babe while mommy works works works...and of course we will have some Christmas shopping and wine sipping and all of that in between.  Speaking of wine, I will be making these brie and roasted thyme cranberry paninis to be enjoyed in between sips and I think you should make them too.

I am a huge fan of brie.  To me a cheese platter isn't complete without it and some of my most favorite nights involve a wheel of brie, a baguette, and a bottle of wine (and stretchy pants).  So naturally when I was thinking about the perfect cheese to pair with this roasted cranberry situation, brie came to mind. 

The cheese perfectly balances the tartness from the cranberries with it's decadence and creaminess.  Not to mention, these paninis are super gorgeous in every way and just look like the holidays to me.  They would be perfect for any holiday entertaining you might have and would be super adorable cut into smaller bite size mini paninis for the perfect appetizer.

Do yourself a favor and make these pretties asap!

Ingredients:

• 1 Bag of Fresh Cranberries
• 8 Fresh Thyme Sprigs
• 1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 8 Oz. of Brie 
• Ciabatta Bread (or whatever your favorite panini bread might be)
• Softened Butter for the panini bread

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Toss cranberries with olive oil, sugar, and cracked pepper and spread out evenly on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Sprinkle the thyme sprigs over top of the cranberries and roast for about 20-25 minutes until the cranberries burst and are caramelized.
• Remove the thyme stems and toss the cranberries together.
• Spread butter on both the top and the bottom of the ciabatta bread.
• On the bottom half spread the roasted cranberries evenly and then top with brie slices.
• Place the top of the bread back on to create a sandwich and cut into single portions.
• Grill the sandwiches in a panini press or using a grill pan with a cast iron skillet on top and let the cheese melt and the bread get crispy.
• Serve immediately.

Aren't they so pretty?  I

P.S.  I hope you all are having such a happy holiday season!