Roast Beef with Roasted Tomatoes Sandwiches A few days ago marked five years on the calendar since I began this blog. Five years! A lot has changed in those 1,825 days, both in my own life and also in the blogging world. I’ve struggled a lot with whether it was finally time to say au revoir to my tiny piece of the food blog world. I’m not ever going to be the most talented or most popular and I’m 100% okay with that. I’m certainly not blogging to become rich or famous. I genuinely love this hobby of mine but there’s no doubt that it’s a lot of work and quite frankly, I’m much more interested in devoting any free time toward Brecken and Ryan. All that being said, I’m not quite ready to give up on the blog yet. I still love The Sweets Life for all the reasons I’ve always loved it. It’s a fantastic creative outlet, completely different from my daytime job. It forces me to try new things in the kitchen and gets me excited about cooking. It connects me to other food lovers—whether complete strangers or my own family and friends. There’s still nothing better than hearing from someone who has tried a blog recipe and loved it as much as I did! Will I keep blogging forever? Nope. But will I keep blogging for now? Yes! I’m still going to stick with recipes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with my Odds & Ends post on Saturday. The key for me is to keep this a hobby and not a stressor—if finding time in my evenings and weekends to work on the blog continues to feel impossible I may cut back more. My problem lately isn’t the cooking—I’m still doing a fair amount of it—it’s the photographing and posting and the time that requires. I can’t quit yet, however, because I’m still eating too many good things that, quite simply, must be shared! These sandwiches, while completely simple and ordinary sounding, fall into that category. What’s so special about sandwiches for dinner? Nothing. That is, until you roast your tomatoes and mix some horseradish and sour cream together, and suddenly you have a semi-fancy (but still fast and easy!) sandwich for dinner. Wins all around!

One Year Ago: Citrus Marinated Chicken Thighs 
Two Years Ago: Buttermilk Pancakes with Mascarpone, Berries, and Granola
Three Years Ago: Grilled Salmon with Tomato Peach Salsa and World Peace Cookies
Four Years Ago: The Fountain on Locust
Five Years Ago: Raisin Bran Muffins

Roast Beef with Roasted Tomatoes Sandwiches

Printer-Friendly Recipe
Ingredients:
-4 plum tomatoes, quartered
-2 tbsp olive oil
-1 tsp chopped rosemary
-kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
-1/4 cup sour cream
-2 tbsp prepared horseradish
-1 bunch arugula
-1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
-8 oz sliced roast beef
-8 slices multigrain sandwich bread, toasted

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Toss tomatoes, 1 tbsp olive oil, rosemary, and salt and pepper in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Roast for 20-25 minutes, until very tender. Allow to cool.
2. While tomatoes are roasting, combine sour cream, horseradish, and 1/4 tsp pepper in a small bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, toss the arugula, lemon juice, and remaining tbsp of olive oil in a medium bowl.
4. Spread horseradish cream on 4 slices of bread. Top with roast beef, arugula, and tomatoes, finishing with second slice of bread. 

from Real Simple September 2013