My Favorite Things sandwich
Have you ever read “Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant”? It’s a collection of stories in which food writers divulge their secrets of what they eat when they’re alone (and some of it’s not foie gras, that’s for sure). Each story is poetic, telling of loneliness and comfort, whether eating eggplants for months or ingurgitating ingredients that should never have been paired (think egg noodles with cottage cheese).
I have my own version of the latter. It’s my Favorite Things sandwich. The beauty of a Favorite Things sandwich is that a person can have more than one. Mine changes with whatever’s available in my apartment: Sometimes it’s peanut butter, almonds, bananas and chocolate chips on Wonderbread; once it was turkey breast, ground beef, cream cheese and bacon bits on toasted and buttered sourdough. A Favorite Things sandwich can be made of anything you want, even leftovers. The only condition is that it has to be comprised of your favorites. It also has to be eaten alone, or if you must, in the company of someone whom you trust. I wouldn’t eat a Favorite Things sandwich in front of just anybody.
Normally, each blog post begins with a food photo. This post is an exception, simply because I fear that my honesty may appall some of you. Sometimes, Favorite Things sandwiches can’t be pretty, no matter how hard you try. And while this isn’t as bad as some of the Favorite Things sandwiches I’ve had in the past, I still hesitate. The choice is yours, you may click on the link below for a visual and recipe for my latest Favorite Things sandwich. Or you can pretend I said nothing at all.
Behold, my Favorite Things sandwich: Toasted French baguette, scrambled eggs with Irish cheddar, prosciutto di San Daniele, olive oil, all topped off with a healthy blob of burrata cheese. A savory monstrosity in which I relished every bite and felt no guilt. Those are the best meals.
FAVORITE THINGS SANDWICH
Yield: 1 sandwich
2 slices of bread, your favorite kind
Favorite leftovers
Odds and ends
Salt and pepper, to taste
Procedure:
1. Place one slice of bread on paper plate. Heap sandwich contents lovingly on bread. Top with second bread slice.
2. Take paper plate to couch.
3. Using television remote, surf channels to find television show as equally satisfying as sandwich.
4. Kick feet up onto coffee table. Dig in.
Note: You may need to flatten your sandwich slightly in order for it to fit in your mouth.
– Cynthia Furey
January 9th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
I’ve been reading along for a while now. I just wanted to drop you a comment to say keep up the good work.
January 10th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
HAHAHA!!! I love you….and, I bet Oprah is on that TV of yours wile you eat the Favorite Sandwich, lol….
January 11th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Very witty and heartfelt! I’ll be passing this article along. Hey, it may become infinitely more useful to soothe our souls as gradually more of us eat-in and eat leftovers like during the last Great “economic downturn”. Still your own Favorite Things sandwich looks rather tempting…maybe I’d cut a few things. Is there a rule for the number of Things in a Favorite sandwich?
January 12th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
That sandwich was even more obscene in person!
January 13th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
That sandwich is awesome. I’ve been putting fried eggs on sandwiches lately – yolk is my new food obsession.
My Favorite Things sandwich varies too, but the best is The Italian – two pieces sourdough bread topped and toasted with Clearman’s cheese spread, and filled with very saucy homemade spaghetti and Parmesan cheese. Fantastic thing.
January 13th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Oh, and I thought my peanut butter and banana sandwiches were outlandish. Have you tried peanut butter and pickle sandwich?
I have read “Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant.” After reading your post, I spent some time trying to find it. Couldn’t find it. Grrrrr.
On the Hungarian side of my family, egg noodles with cottage cheese, lots of crunchy bits of bacon, black pepper and sour cream is a favorite meal. Yum!
It’s my first visit to your blog. I’ll be checking in often.
February 3rd, 2009 at 8:32 pm
The Favorite Things sandwhich I eat with Marvin is a ham and muenster grilled cheese with secret sauce.
February 3rd, 2009 at 8:37 pm
OMG, Cynthia, where did you get those plates? I’m pretty sure that I have the same ones.!!!! They are the plates I grew up with when I was a wee girl. My mom gave them to me when she got new plates a few years ago. Are yours Corningware?