Friday, June 18, 2010

Slice of Heaven

 
I love lunch. Sandwiches for lunch, to be exact. Neither of my kids has inherited this trait yet (I don't count PB&J) -- but there's still time. Time to make them wonderful, perfectly-balanced meals lovingly placed between two pieces of tasty bread. Ask my husband, I am incapable of "just making a sandwich." He hates it. But, he loves my sandwiches...

When I worked in a from-scratch bakery and cafe in VA, we had tons of fun coming up with new sandwich combos. We used fresh bread made on-site, and every time we needed to change the menu I got so excited. These sandwiches were, um, gourmet (if you can excuse the term). But all were just good.

On our honeymoon in the south of France, my hands-down favorite meal was a picnic lunch we had on the outskirts of Bonne, in Bourgogne. We bought sandwiches in town before we went (and before the wine). Oh, these sandwiches. I still dream of them:

Fresh, perfect chewy crusty baguette, enclosing fresh sliced local ham on a creamy pillow of real salted butter, and topped with Emmentaler cheese.

GASP! Butter on a sandwich?? My life was never the same... Sip a cool, balanced white Burgundy with that and just let everything else melt away.

So the other day, I made a sandwich for myself for lunch. Toasted wheat bread, deli ham, NY state cheddar cheese, vine tomatoes (OK, these are out of season, but they're better than the mushy bland alternative), green leaf lettuce from my garden, and a slather of mayo and Dijon mustard. Oh yeah, and some S&P on the tomatoes.

And then, folks -- I took a picture of it for posterity, 'cause that's how I do.

3 comments:

  1. Yum ... and not bad photography either.

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  2. Thanks! I love our new camera, obviously. :-)

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  3. My Fav French sandwich also has butter: butter, cornichons and salami (or jambon sec, or whatever you want to call it...). They just don't make 'em like that in the states.

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