Category Archives: Uncategorized

Toast Poast Number 7 For All Mankind

Posted on January 16, 2016 | Leave a comment

Turning towards collaboration rather than competition in this new year. A hard turn. Collaboration is my preference, but I am pulled by competition. Me, me, me and mine, mine, mine.

Hierarchy versus democracy. How do we turn towards democracy after being raised in a hierarchy – adults ruling children? Hierarchy has got to feel more comfortable out of familiarity. And now, being adults we gotta compete to find our place and keep ourselves there. It just feels normal and right.

And so wrong.

Ugh, what a tedious struggle. And futile. Separating, isolating, ineffective.

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So, vertere, to turn. And versus, its past participle. To turn. So, yeah, how about turning towards, rather than away from. Towards, not in defiance or dominance, but compassion, collaboration. Towards.

The etymology of versus is fraught with contradiction. I take that as a message towards being conciliatory, not conflictive.
In Latin, versus: turned toward or against
To turn, turn back, be turned, convert, transform, translate, be changed
Are we not changed through collaboration?
Cognates: Toward,  befall, fate, destiny,
What befalls one, literally. To turn, to bend
In Sanskrit, vartate: turns round, rolls
Turn round towards, bend, change, transform.

Are we not bendy, inclined, turning, flipping before landing, butter-side-up? Let your fate befall you. Turn towards it and transform!

Thank you, Sorry-Birds Ellen!

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May You Put Your Christmas to Bed with a Late Evening Sandwich

Posted on December 25, 2015 | 4 comments

From pièce de resistance

to

resist putting that between two pieces of bread.

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Photo by Renee Comet, who is a peripheral Christmaser, beginning and ending with the food – respectable parameters. For heaven’s sake, why throw out the baby lamb with the bouquet garni? Styling, btw, by me!

I wish you all, all, all, those I know, those I know a little, those I do not know, those I would like to know, those who are unknowable, a Christmas that is a respite from the sturm and drang of life as a human in 2015, from life as a human in the 21st century, a day when wonder overwhelms, awe precedes all else, and your heart feels so big and s0 heavy that your legs must work extra hard to carry it.

Merry Christmas to all, every last one of you.

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Shameless Self Promotion Number 100,000

Posted on November 26, 2015 | Leave a comment

Tis the Season for Sandwiches

So, this is ran yesterday on the Chesapeake Fine Food Group blog. Full disclosure: CFFG is and has been my client for many, many years. The catalog is gorgeous and the food is topnotch. Honest.

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National Sandwich Day may fall on November 3, but sandwiches are surely most honored on the days following Thanksgiving, when everyone’s  fridge is loaded with amazing seasonal fixings, particularly if you think to cook – or buy – enough for leftovers.
Note to self: make plenty.

Should you sit down to Thanksgiving dinner mid-day, by bedtime you’ll be in need of a tide-me-over to breakfast. My favorite under these circumstances has always been the antidote to the feast – simply Roasted Turkeyhttp://www.mackenzieltd.com/roasted-turkey Turekyor Herbed Turkey Breasthttp://www.mackenzieltd.com/herbed-turkey-breast on thin-sliced sandwich bread. Still have a bit of Thanksgiving ambition in you? Add a swipe of Blue Cheese-Chive Butter http://www.mackenzieltd.com/savory-butters-one-of-each-flavor and a leaf of crispy lettuce.  That should do for a sandwichy nightcap.cts35

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, reprise the groaning board with a customized gobbler – the Turkey/Stuffinghttp://www.mackenzieltd.com/cranberry-sausage-stuffing-1990 /Cranberry Relishhttp://www.mackenzieltd.com/cranberry-orange-relish triple threat. I like a little warm gravy on the side for dipping – the American dip, so to speak, which ought to be a classic.

cbc_pic_3Day three, the Saturday following Thanksgiving, and you are, undoubtedly a little tired of turkey. Let’s hope Macaroni and Cheese http://www.mackenzieltd.com/side-dishes/casserole/macaroni-cheese?___SID=U was one of your Thanksgiving sides. Hey, how about a grilled macaroni and cheese sandwich? It’s a thing, you know, and for good reason. Two nice slices of bread, both buttered on one side, a thick slab of mac-and-cheese in the middle, and grill away. A little bit of bacon orhttp://www.mackenzieltd.com/honey-cured-ham-8-9-lb if you’ve got it, would not gild the lily.

And finally, to top off the weekend, turkey or ham Biscuitsbcs24_1http://www.mackenzieltd.com/classic-biscuits-simple are in order for Sunday brunch or lunch. That and a long afternoon nap should segue you comfortably into the post-holiday weekdays. Week days that will, if you are lucky, be punctuated by a few more turkey sandwich lunches!

 

Photos by Dean Alexander and styling by me!
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Vive Le Sandwich!

Posted on November 15, 2015 | Leave a comment

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Taking the lead from a German friend who  chose to spend the day enjoying life to the max. Spread a nice baguette with an imprudent quantity of nice butter, sat down in the sun and ate it.

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Mr. Zevon 2

Posted on November 12, 2015 | Leave a comment

Dear Mr. Zevon

For today: My grilled cheese loving kid, who reminds me every day that unconditional love is our strongest and most enduring power.

YDF,

Midnight Snack

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All Sandwich News Need Not Be Local

Posted on November 11, 2015 | 4 comments

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According to a news release, the chain will open a Hagerstown location, its 29th, on Friday at 17301 Valley Mall. Primanti is a sandwich mainstay in Pittsburgh and other parts of Pennsylvania. Other outposts are in Ohio, Florida and West Virginia. Read on here.

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I like regional stuff to stay regional. When I can get whatever I want wherever I am it just doesn’t taste as good. Can’t blame Primanti for wanting to make a buck, but I will be sad to see this.

They also ship nationally for a mere $109. A bus ticket is cheaper and the adventure is longer lived.

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Kewpie Mayonnaise

Posted on October 20, 2015 | 10 comments

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Kewpie Mayonnaise

So, found an interesting new-to-me product and a luxe sandwich while at my day job. Kewpie Mayonnaise gave me that never-seen-it/now-it-is-everywhere experience.

To my good fortune, Meat and Livestock Australia– think super high quality lamb, beef and goat meat, used my foodstyling services this summer to help put together fifty images of fifty recipes. Working with recipes, rather than simply products, is always a learning experience for me and gives me a peek into other cook’s mindsets. The experience varies, which is probably part of the definition of experience.

 

Grass-fed Bulgolgi Style Beef Banh Mi
Yield: 4 servings
Portion Size: 1 sandwich
Alternate cuts:
Amount Prep Ingredient
4 loaves sliced Baguettes
1 cup prepared ahead Liver Spread
2 pounds 1/4” thinly sliced Australian Grass-fed Strip Steak
12 each ¼” thinly sliced Brie Cheese
½ cup picked Red Ribbon Sorrel Leaves
½ cup picked Cilantro Leaves
1 cup pickled, chopped Mix of Carrot, Daikon and Bell Pepper
¼ cup sliced Jalapenos
½ cup   Kewpie Mayonnaise
Method of Preparation
1.     Toast the sliced open baguettes until slightly crisped in a toaster oven, around 1 minute at 350F

2.     Spread the liver pate evenly on the bottom side.

3.     Add the sliced brisket, around 4 0z worth and spoon a little bit of the sauce that settled.

4.     Place 3 slices of the brie cheese over it.

5.     Add the Jalapeno, cilantro and pickled vegetables.

6.     Spread the kewpie mayonnaise on the other side of the bun.

7.     Season with salt and pepper and serve

 

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Recollections from Shirley

Posted on October 10, 2015 | Leave a comment

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Soup and sandwich, one of the pinnacles of modern pairings.

Today is my mother’s birthday and she turns 88. Still cooking, still frugal, still sharp as a tack.

Recently, I asked my mother about a soup she made often when she had kids at home, Calico Bean Soup, something I loved, something that may not be such a hit with kids – the ones I know – these days. What has changed? I do not know. Still, I’m going to make it when the weather turns cold again, upping the ham to win over the teenage boys around here.

There are lots and lots of Calico Bean Soup recipes on the internets. Did you know it was a thing? I did not.

In my mother’s words:

I made that bean soup here (in Alexandria, VA after we moved from Wisconsin in 1966) because the church sold the packages of beans.

I called two old members of the church, each of whom remembered something. One informant thought there were 13 kinds of peas and beans, but no one is sure anymore. It was called Calico Bean soup and had the following: at least 2 colors of lentils, kidney beans, lima beans, Great Northerns, pea beans, black beans, adzuki beans (hard to find and not many used), maybe yellow peas, maybe green split peas.

They went to a  health food store in Alexandria to buy the beans/peas, then mixed up the beans in a big garbage can, packaged them, and included a recipe using a ham bone and an onion.  

Jo Jackley said that once it began to cook, all the beans turned the same color, but the shapes and sizes were different. Bea Bobotek still has a package from some years ago.

Calico Bean Soup

From A Hollin Hall Sampler” page 14, available (still!) at Amazon

This is a good basic recipe which you can vary to suit your own tastes. One of our church cooks uses 2-3 pounds of beef short ribs instead of the ham bone, also adding 1 can of beef bouillon for more beef flavor. Toward the end of the cooking time, she adds cut-up  vegetables, carrots, celery, and onions and pops in some pasta at the very end.

Package of beans sold by church, containing 15 kinds of beans, both plain and exotic.

Wash beans thoroughly. Place in a large kettle, cover with water. Add 2 Tbsp. salt and soak overnight. drain in the morning.

To the beans, add: Ham bone or 2 ham hocks and water to cover.
Simmer slowly 2 1/2 -3 hours.
Add: 1 large onion, chopped
1 28-oz. can tomatoes
1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
1 large pod red pepper (optional) or 1 tsp. chili powder
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Few dashes Tabasco (optional)
Simmer another 30 minutes or so.

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The Sandwich Generation

Posted on October 4, 2015 | 3 comments

Approaching a decade birthday I sometimes feel that I’m taking a slow walk to the gallows. Approaching the same birthday I sometimes feel I’m leaping into ecstasy, exaltation, euphoria, the essence. Pulled. In. Two. Directions.

Simultaneously,   I’m enduring the most isolating stretch of parenting – shepherding a teenager. Maybe it’s not the most isolating – could there be a tougher stretch upcoming? –  but it feels that way.

My parents are elderly. I’m fortunate (gross understatement) that not only are my parents alive, but we are close, they are flourishing, they live near by, love my son and are people I admire and respect. I’m grateful, thrilled, glad.

Sometimes I am distressed, distraught, discouraged, despondent. Simply put, looking at the beginnings of old age, loving parents who are in old age, loving a child who is (as he should be) scaring the living daylights out of me while blowing my mind with his wisdom, wit and wonder, feels like a leap into the wild blue yonder. AND like being smashed between two pieces of firm bread.

Guess what, there is a name for people like me. We are a demographic. Of course we are. The sandwich generation.

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Make Me a Sandwich, IN BED

Posted on September 20, 2015 | 1 comment


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Though the whole women-making-sandwiches thing can sometimes feel like a truly archaic stereotype, the whoopie cushion of sexism, it apparently isn’t dead yet. Just ask Fox News host and former Real World cast member Rachel Campos-Duffy and co-host Andrea Tantaros, who think that offering your husband grilled cheeses on the reg is the key to preserving your marriage.

A few weeks ago, Tantaros received flak for recommending that women make sandwiches for their men after sex. “After you engage in a little horizontal hula, make him a sandwich,” she argued. “That’s not called the 1950s! That’s called kindness!”
Read on (if you can stomach it) here.

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