Meatball Addendum
A meatball sub is one of those Let’s-See-What-We-Can-Put-On-Bread-and-Get-Away-with-It sort of sandwiches, and the category is shared by many stellar mega-meals. The Mother-in-Law sandwich, the Eggplant Parmesan sandwich, and the Spaghetti sandwich, is a trio that springs to mind fully loaded.

$5. Let’s do the math. That’s 41.66666666666¢ per inch. Even at that low, low, low, how-low-can-you-go low price, I’m not tempted. Meat may be my favorite condiment, but I was not ment to be cond. Puffy bread? No thank you. Twelve inches of puffy bread soaked soggy in sweet sauce? No thank you. To be frank, I do not want the words “foot” and “meatball” paired unless we are discussing a medical condition, in which case, let’s take that up after our meal, please.

The sub in this photo stared me down, stretching four feet across and two feet tall. OMG, and I do not mean, Oh Meatball Goodness, that thingama-bob was huge. A true thingama-robert. Hugh-gggh. With the emphasis on ugh.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not condemning meatball subs. Notatall. No no no. But I’ll take a pass on footlong. Footlong. Footlong. Footlong. The word itself is utterly weird. No thank you. Six inches will do.

SHE IS THE SOURCE OF ALL FOOD.

Earth Day 2010 has come and gone, and the earth remains. Phew.

One of the pleasures of being a parent is school events FOR WHICH YOU DO NOT VOLUNTEER! The 40th anniversary of Earth Day at Barcroft Elementary included an extremely popular quote-unquote VOLCANO, which erupted over and over and over onto the blacktop. Whooee that blacktop must have been sticky the next day, all that diet coke and mento shrapnel. Not sure what this all had to do with Earth Day, but we hotfooted it outside each time an eruption was on the brink.

There were “stations” in the all-purpose room, manned by parents and teachers and other people who are not bothered by chaos and cacophany. We learned stuff, such as, uh, something to do with friction and a cd spinning on a table, and, uh, uh, oh I dunno. Ask a 4th grader. Little sponges, they are. Not like me, mind made of impenetrable concrete. We made food faces, don’t ask me why, although I was hungry so it worked out fine. Broad strokes, don’t you know. They get the drift – food, earth, friction, earth, reuse, reduce, recyle, earth, chaos and cacophany, earth. Connecting the dots is something kids seem to do without question. Big and little leaps, without stuntmen.

I have been hammering it into his head for almost 10 years now, and he seems to know on which side his bread is buttered. The mother side. If you are a mother, or have a mother, or have a mother figure (my figure becomes more motherlike every day…) you know about buttering her up. When the mom is happy, everyone is happy. The converse is something we never want to see…again. It is scary. I have seen the reflection of my unhappiness in my son’s eyes and it was super scary. He does know to be kind to his mother and to his mother earth. The latter’s wrath is immeasurable, and she does not bounce back at the drop of a simple little apology.

My dad had a whole lot to do with the first Earth Day and I like to brag on that. Funny to think of inventing a holiday and having it take hold so firmly, and become international. What is another word for amazing, something more accurate? Let me check the What-Is-Another-Word-For-Thesaurus. Those were some solid men, back in those days, Gaylord Nelson for one, my dad’s boss. Astonishing.

There.

Can the Jewish Deli Be Reformed?

I am so excited and happy about all the changes that are happening with food in the US, all the changes that involve any of these catchwords: grass, fed, sustain, ethical, local, individual, community, food……… I don’t care if this makes me a cliche and I don’t care if anyone uses any of these catchwords to describe me: bleeding heart, knee jerk, yellow dog…. Happy to have a happiness that is ethical, sustainable, local, grass-roots fed, and in an unprocessed state. That happiness need not be individual. How bout global? I could be sustained on that.

Let’s toast the end of tax season with Rick’s Picks pickles! We’re here to give you a well deserved break with FREE SHIPPING! Just purchase a minimum of four jars of our mouthwatering pickles, and we’ll ship to you anywhere in the contiguous US absolutely free. It’s that simple. Now is the time to treat your loved ones – that includes you! – to some wholesome pickled goodness. You can choose from one of our awesome giftpacks or mix and match as you prefer. As long as you order at least four jars, shipping is on the house.

Please remember that our free shipping offer ends Saturday, April 17 at midnight EST.

Don’t forget to include coupon code taxbreak when you check out.

Order your pickles today!

Cheers,

Rick’s Picks

Feelin’ all patriotic, taxes paid. Phrugal Phanny is the new Phat Cat. Free shipping? I’m all over it like pickle juice on the front page. I owe, I owe, so off to work I went. Home now, home sweet home, and lining up some sour rewards in the form of peeeeckles!

Oh Meatball Goodness

You get some bread with your one meatball.*

The world has never known a more perfect meatball hero. The bread is a demi-baguette from Il Forno Bakery in the Bronx, crusty without being so tough that the ingredients squirt out the sides. The cheese is excellent fresh mozzarella—not the packaged stuff that masquerades as mozzarella, smothering

most of the city’s meatball heros like a vengeful heir with a pillow. Chunky and bright red, the sauce has a bit of zip to it, but does not overwhelm the other ingredients. And what about the meatballs? They’re of small circumference, beefy, and slightly herbal-tasting.

I acquired this magnificent sandwich at the Meatball Shop, a new restaurant on Stanton Street that does only one thing, but does it very well. While the $9 price tag may seem excessive, especially with a similar-size hero available at every pizza parlor in town for $5 or $6, note that this one comes with a baby spinach salad topped with lemon vinaigrette and thinly sliced apples, transforming your hero into a balanced meal.

Read on.

Ahem, a hero is a balanced meal. Don’t you remember, from In Defense of Food, a person can practically survive on hotdogs, like for months?? A meatball sub is SO much more than a hotdog. Not that I am knocking hotdogs, cause I am not. I swear.

*ONE MEAT BALL

Little man walked up and down,To find an eatin’ place in town. He looked the menu thru and thru, To see what a dollar bill might do.

One meat ball, One meat ball, One meat ball, All he could get was one meat ball.

He told that waiter near at hand, The simple dinner he had planned. The guests were startled one and all, To hear that waiter loudly call.

One meat ball, One meat ball, One meat ball, All he could get was one meat ball.

Little man felt so ill at ease, He said: “Some bread Sir, if you please.” The waiter hollered down the hall: You get no bread with your one meat ball.

Little man felt so very bad, One meat ball is all he had. And in his dreams he can still hear that call You get no bread with your one meat ball.

Googie-of-the-Month Club
Kite Coffee Shop 1961 by Hyun + Whitney Architects | 9131 S. Vermont | Inglewood

Googie Style

Came upon this last week on Route 66 just a tiny bit east of Flagstaff. Still open and in need of a little tender loving care. Could I take it home, pretty please, and build a sandwich shop around it?

Hyperbole and a Half

is pretty funny.

Click the link above to read about the below.

Overheard today at a Starbucks:

Patron:    I love his tragedies.

Barista:    Hamlet is good.

Patron:    Macbeth is my favorite.

Barista:   Yeah, Macbeth is okay.

One or two small thank you’s to the Sublime Miss M for hooking me up with H and a Half.

D.C.’s sandwich prospects are looking up, according to Tim Carman, and I agree.

Read more:

Local Heroes

Mr. Carman’s story provides an excellent starter list for sandwich procurement in downtown DC. You will need a car, cab or bike to draw the lines between the bread dots. All the better to work up an appetite.

I don’t get it.

Will have to ask the 10-year-old who clipped it to also explain it. We have plenty of time for talking this spring break week. Two days looking down and two days looking up – Grand Canyon and Red Rocks.

He is still talking to me, although I wondered a bit after receiving a note late last week that read, “I hate you, Mom…..for now.” Sending him to bed previous to midnight is so utterly hateable. Hahaha. Yup, he is still talking to me, 24/7.

April in DC looks like a sandwich-packed month. On my to-do list:

Sauca

G Street Food

Lebanese Butcher and Market with I-Do-My-Best-to-Suit-Myself-Cynthia (They have some crazy lamb sandwiches. Lamb liver and heart sandwich? Lamb brain sandwich?)

My Ngoc post from Heather Mull in Pittsburgh

Highlands Cafe post from Along-for-the-Ride-Hei7di + Generation-Jennifer-Jenny

DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL!

The Lunch Encounter is pleased to announce,

LIVE AND ON THE PREMISES, Eric “Roscoe” Ambel

and his sandwich highlights from the Del Lords spring 2010 tour of Spain.

The first hint of goodness, jamon y queso on a croissant on the plane.

Surf and turf combo of open-faced sandwiches, jamon Iberico and a salmon “coca”.

Couple more cocas…. fabulous spanish tuna on left and a tortilla with pepper on the right. In Spain tortilla is an egg dish
with potatoes in it.

This was a fabulous pork cutlet sandwich with a tomato sauce with potatoes.

The ‘sandwich mixto’,  Serrano ham and some manchego cheese. These are everywhere and always fantastic on the fresh bread.

Mini Boccadillo. Another variation on the fabulous theme of Jamon.

This was called a Sandwich Royale but I deemed it the “Madrid Club” it had ham,
cheese, white asperegus, lettuce tomato and a fried egg on it.

I have never been to Spain. Tonight after work I stopped by my friend Silvia’s, who is from Majorca, and she sliced me a wedge of her warm tortilla while her husband poured me a tumbler of wine. Then we talked Spanish sandwiches and they told me about tortilla espana on bread. I love the confidence it takes to put something simple on bread and leave it alone. The ingredients must be top notch.

Thank you, Roscoe, for the delicious vicarious tour. While I have never been to Spain, I have seen the Del Lords, twice, at the Club 9:30 a few years ago. Delicious.