lunch time

Inspired by an excerpt from The Emotional Life With Respect To Sandwiches by Shawna LeMay.

If I’m short on time I would make your sandwich on Squirrelly bread: that dense sprouted grain bread that reminds me of the thousands of kilometres driven with Beth in my Toyota Matrix where we made food on the go and on the cheap. But if my day went as planned I’ll make it on bread that I bought from Saltine. It will no doubt be some unlikely combination of ingredients that further elevates the humble art of sandwich making.

I hope you like sprouts. I do. It can be hard to find them these days. E. coli is what I’ve heard, but I’m not entirely sure. Anyway, maybe I’ll use alfalfa. Maybe sunflower.

There will be cheese. Probably something sharp. I like a goat cheese and as a bonus, it’s spreadable. Not everyone likes it though. My sister-in-law once maligned it, stating it was “too goaty”. That got a laugh out of me! White cheddar is a safe bet though. I’ll use that.

I worked at a sandwich shop on Government Street in Victoria in the early aughts and if you ordered avocado you got half of one all diced up and turned into a spread on one side. There was a technique to doing it and it’s literally the only thing I remember about that job. For real. I don’t even remember the name of the shop. But there were so many avocados! It was glorious. Anyway, there will be a half an avocado (lightly salted) on one side of your sandwich. Did you know that they’re surprisingly high in fibre?

I’m out of dijon right now, which is a crime. Yellow mustard will have to do.

I’m thinking of using corned beef. I can’t remember if you like that. It’s an oddball choice, and even worse is that I’m struggling to recall if you’re still vegetarian. How could I forget that?!

I’m going to sneak some pepper jelly in there. I have a jar in the fridge that’s left over from a hospitality rider. The show it’s from was sold out, so it’s even more special. Also, it’s taking up room in my fridge and I have a thing about nearly empty jars in the fridge.

You’ll be driving, so I think that’s got to be the limit. I’ll wrap it in waxed paper, cut it in half on the diagonal and keep it held together with a pair of stickers from my kid’s art supplies. I packed an apple too; so often overlooked by me as the perfect snack. Oh, also salt and vinegar chips. I hope you think to put them inside your sandwich.

There’s a little square of chocolate that I almost at while I was putting this together. Surprisingly, I restrained myself.

I also got you a ginger kombucha, just in case that bit about the sprouts is true.