Home is where the sandwich is

My mother is a champion sandwich maker. Every work night, she begins an assembly line of sandwiches for the other workers in our family, rolling out all the ingredients, putting them all together and packing them up in neat little packages.

Many of the fixins, my mother makes from scratch. They used to be peanut butter and homemade jam. The jam came forth in huge batches every summer, measured, simmered and poured into glistening jars enough to fill sandwiches all year long. Then came the Dutch chocolate confections disguised as sandwiches that we used to get teased for eating. Now, the first tender sprigs of lettuce grown in her garden rows will make their way into turkey, bacon, lettuce and havarti sandwiches to feed tough guys who get their hands dirty. Then stop for lunch to praise the woman who grows enough lettuce to feed this army.

-Happy Mother’s Day with love from Young Elvis

Mum with a baguette cut in half, ready to make a massive sandwich

Comments

Monty’s Bakehouse wrap, Air Canada

I’d rate this wrap as strange. Its packaging created expectations of a more appetizing experience, which it was not. After a vastly superior egg salad sandwich from London Heathrow, I could not greet this airplane freebie with serious interest, but at least it was hot, and at least I could review it for this blog. Steaming contents were oozy and largely undistinguishable, but suggested some kind of red pepper or sundried tomato origins.

Specialty Sandwich, Amtrak train dining car

Advertised as the "Specialty Sandwich" on board the Oakland to Los Angeles Amtrak train, this $9.75 grilled cheese seems a safe vegetarian bet, just as a bagel and cream cheese does when faced with weird processed meat choices aboard the VIA Rail in Canada. The specialty allegedly features gruyere and smoked cheddar, however each cheese was tasteless, plastic, and greasy, cooling to reveal six slices of highly processed cheese product. The crisp, somewhat grainy bread absorbed cheese sweat from inside, completely obliterating any relief that the mustard or tomato could have provided, and was thoroughly saturated in a meaty residue from the grill on the outside. This sandwich leaves the kind of mouthfeel that a glass of water cannot wash away. Note: pack toothbrush in carry-on.

Kim Anh Subs, Calgary

It's no secret I'm a fan of the Vietnamese sub. Hell, they've prevented my vegetarianism . But I do enjoy the vegetarian option now and again, especially when it's warm marinated soft tofu rather than the shredded fake meat variety. In Calgary one weekend, a friend and I found ourselves stranded in the city due to a snow storm, so lounging around 17th Avenue, cold, tired, hungry, and near broke, we popped our heads into Kim Anh Subs where he had ventured once before. Offering a whole wheat sub bun option, Kim Anh's subs were a bit more expensive than what I'm used to for a sub of this style ($3.50 is my price range), but it's Calgary, so what can you expect.

You Say Sandwich, We Say Yeah!

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