Leftovers Grilled Cheese

Sometime in January, I had a craving for a tasty grilled cheese. But I wanted something different. no ordinary sandwiches for me! Thankfully, I had some dill havarti left over from a dinner party a few nights previous to the grilled cheese hankerin', so I got to cooking!

Sliced tomato and the cheese, which was from Trader Joe's.

I obviously had to use the entire rest of the block of cheese. None of this "save some for later" nonsense...

I put some Morningstar Farms veggie bacon in there too.

Okay, maybe it was a bit too much cheese...

Overall a great combination! I almost didn't need the bacon because the flavor of the dill havarti was so strong. But it added a nice crunch and "smoky flavor," which is what I believe they're going for with the Fake-Con. Fake bacon, get it?

Best breakfast sammich I've ever made

Ingredients:
Sour Dough Bread
1 Avocado
1 Slicing Tomato
a couple slices of cheese
1 egg

Make it grilled cheese style. Make the egg right before you think the cheese is about to get really melt-y. Take one of the bread slices and put avocado and tomato on it. When the egg is finished cooking (I made mine over-easy) but it on the cheese to melt it even more. Wait a minute for the cheese to melt. Put the pieces together. And enjoy the SHIT out of it.

Tofurkey Obsession

There are certain things from my vegetarian days that I occasionally get a relentless craving for. Currently, it's Tofurkey. I am eating like two packs of the deli slices (over-roasted is my favorite) every week. Here's a delicious sandwich I made for lunch: basically a grilled cheese with tomato with a layer of Tofurkey. Mmmmm.

the southeast connecticut grinder

A grinder (also known as a sub, a sandwich, a hero, or a hoagie) is basically the best invention of mankind.

I returned to my homeland of SE Connecticut last weekend and I was excited at the prospect of consuming a grinder. Not a sub. A grinder. So on the last day we were there we stopped by the grinder shop we used to go to all the time when I was little and we went to the beach.

In retrospect I am terribly sad that I didn't get a photograph of the inside of Renaldi's One Stop Grinders, located at 588 Hartford-New London Tpke in Oakdale (my hometown). The inside of Renaldi's is hilarious. Its a tiny tiny little shack located next to the package store (same name, Renaldi's). At the register, I kid you not, they sell smoking paraphernalia. Only in Oakdale, guys. Only in Oakdale. The old glowing Pepsi menu with the list of their types of grinders is to the right of the register. Victoria and I order a turkey grinder and an italian grinder.

We made our way to the beach and decided to eat our grinders before we got sand all over them. What can I say. Grinders are somehow different then the subs here in Wisconsin. The bread is fluffier and despite that its always white bread its somehow very flavorful. Shredded lettuce, tomatoes, a little american cheese, and whatever kind of meat you decide to get. We opted for oil over mayo as we were going to the beach without a cooler. Basically grinders (and Renaldi's grinders in particular) are the best kind of sandwiches. In my opinion. So simple yet somehow completely delicious in everyway, shape, and form.

Summer Sandwiches of the late 70s, early 80s

Three sandwiches I remember growing up, often made when Mom wasn't home or paying attention, that I think of fondly in the summer months. All on white bread, all with pretty much zero nutritional value

I think of them in the context of Saturday morning cartoons. Wearing those awesome super lightweight summer pajamas or underoos while sitting in front of the TV with the sun leaking in through the blinds.

The best one was the Sugar Sandwich. To make this one, you need some slightly soft butter. Back then Mom used to leave the butter on the counter so it was the perfect consistency. And you gotta use the real shit, no margarine, Smart Balance, or any of those other poor excuses for butter. Spread the butter onto a slice of white bread. Spoon as much sugar as you can onto the butter. Shake the excess sugar back into the sugar bowl (try to avoid adding breadcrumbs to the sugar bowl). Repeat sprinkling and shaking until every millimeter of the bread is saturated in sugar. Eat the crusts first then role the rest up into a "cigar". Savor every delicious, crunchy, creamy, sugary bite.

The next best was the Chocolate Chip Sandwich. This one sort of fills the pre-Nutella niche. Fill a bowl with milk chocolate chips and microwave them until they have a fudge-like consistency. Spread on a slice of bread and cut into small pieces. Eat with a toothpick like a movie star.

The third sandwich was more for later in the day, lunchtime, after the cartoons, the Potato Chip Sandwich. Toast two slices of bread and spread with mayo. I'm a Miracle Whip girl but use whatever you like. Stack potato chips -the classic Ruffles work the best- on top of each other on one of the slices. Stack them like ten chips high. Cover the pile with the other slice and smash the hell out of the sandwich so that the chips crumble. Enjoy it with Pepsi over ice.

Awful Sandwich Mistakes

Dudes. DUDES. I was at Panera yesterday and I ordered a Sierra Turkey sandwich and I got home and it was TUNA. Goddammit. I HATE tuna.

This is the worst sandwich mistake you can make in my world. Besides...I don't know. A sandwich made of raw chicken.

BARF-O-MATIC!!!!

Where's the Avocado, Atlanta?

I have to take a moment to register my Extreme Sammich Outrage- ESO for short. Not once, but twice in the last week I have ordered what promised to be delicious sandwiches at Atlanta restaurants and have been sorely disappointed.

The first time, I was at the Corner Tavern, the newish one in the Old Fourth Ward. I debated between ordering the delicious Asian Tuna steak Burger (with red cabbage slaw and sesame dressing) or the Super T which said it was a "steamed sandwich" (steamed hams?) turkey, jalapeno jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado and vinaigrette on a baguette. The tiebreaker for me when faced with decisions like this tends to be the presence of avocado. Girl, I love me some damn avocadoes. So the Super T it was and boy was I hungry!

Boy was I bummed when I got the sandwich and it was thickly sliced turkey (yeck!), shredded iceberg lettuce and a pinkish tomato all on a soggy-ass hot dog bun (probably the effect of the steaming). And NO AVOCADO TO BE FOUND. What the eff Corner Tavern? Don't make promises you can't keep, jerks.

Then on Friday night I was at Apres Diem in Midtown. It was 10:30 at night and still 90 degrees in Atlanta, so I was a little pissy to begin with. And sweaty. And a little heat burned due to some uh, delicate waxing earlier in the day. You know, all the reasons a girl might crave and deserve a damn good sammich.

My honey got the Roasted Portabella Sandwich which features grilled portobello mushroom and eggplant, roasted red peppers, and Feta cheese served on focaccia bread with lettuce, tomato, onion, and sun-dried tomato mayonnaise. He had them replace the feta with herbed goat cheese and it was ridiculously good.

What did I get? The Veggie Melt which promised to be thinly sliced roasted yellow squash, zucchini, red onions, and portabellos with avocado to top all under a blanket of provolone. What did I really get? A limp soggy sandwich that was missing not only the avocado once again, but the portabellos too! OMG, Apres!?!

The silver lining in all of this is that my smarty sweetie brought me 4 avocados from the Farmers Market yesterday so at least I have some delicious avocado sandwiches in my future. But in the meantime, I'm giving Corner Tavern and Apres Diem two knuckle sammiches in their ever-loving, avocado-lacking faces!