78 thoughts on “June 22, 2020: It’s Official”

  1. My goal is to make the perfect sandwich. Today’s entry, 12 grain bread, mayo, micro greens, smoked mozzarella slices, uncured pastrami. I’m looking forward to lunch.

        1. I've been contemplating starting a micro green garden in my basement, but so far I've been too lazy to clear some space.

              1. Just made beer-battered fried zucchini blossoms, sage leaves from the garden, mushrooms, and pickles. Yummo. Batter is flour, salt, and beer

    4. Y'all are inspiring me to up my sandwich game. Today I had hummus with cucumber, tomato, and lettuce from the garden.

      (This was all sandwiched between TWO slices of bread, Philo, so don't give me none of that salad crap.)

    5. Okay, it was good. It wasn’t as good as I had hoped. The greens were actually the star, which is a damning critique of the Columbus pastrami.

    1. I'm a big fan of the Yellowbird Habanero, great taste and it gets close enough to the "too spicy to enjoy" line without going over.

      1. It’s meat contained by a piece of fully-baked leavened bread, with condiments, eaten without aid of utensils. How is that not a sandwich?

            2. Contained is much broader. Sandwiched also necessarily implies 2 parts to the item doing the containing - 2 slices of bread, for example.

              1. Ok, I see what you’re saying, but I wonder about this:

                I’d like a sandwich to accompany soup or a salad because I’m watching my carbs. I put ham & cheese on a single slice of bread, add some mustard, and then fold the bread over, creasing it without cutting it into two pieces. Is this not a sandwich?

                2. I see that as the same problem as the bun that hasn't been sliced all the way through, but then is filled.

                  And I think, without deeper reflection, so I might change this, that the answer to that is that the relevant difference is one of function, not form. Functionally you've operated as if you have two pieces of bread (or two half pieces). Formally, you haven't gone through the steps to separate them, but we all know you could have, if you weren't so darn lazy, and that normally a sandwich like you describe would be made with two separated pieces of bread. So, functionally, it is the same, you've just taken a short cut.

                  The difference between that and, say, a pita, or hot dog bun, is that functionally they are supposed to operate as a single item. They aren't supposed to be two different slices of the same thing, they're supposed to be the same item wrapped around the filling. So if a hot dog bun rips into two, the hot dog doesn't suddenly become a sandwich. Formally, it is two slices of bun between which is held meat, but functionally it wasn't supposed to happen that way.

                  So I think the relevant question is function, not form.

                  1. If a hotdog is not a sandwich based on the bun, how is a cheesesteak a sandwich? They are both filling inside a cylindrical-shaped bread that has not been sliced all the way through.

                    If you are denying that a hotdog is a sandwich based on the function of the bun, then logically you must also remove the cheesesteak from the sandwich category.

                    3. I see the point. This is, certainly a grey area. But I think, again, form vs. function matters here.

                      Formally, they are similar. Functionally they are designed to be different. The hotdog bun is designed to be held such that the joint is the bottom part of the item, such that the hotdog does not drop out. The cheeseteak (or any similar sandwhich) being not-sliced through is not a feature in the same way - the bottom piece of the bread is, just like in a sandwich, the bottom. The fact of it not being sliced through isn't the functional design of the sandwich. If it were sliced all the way through and the top part set on top of the filling, you wouldn't think to say it was broken. But if a hotdog bun is sliced all the way through, you would (in fact, my kids say it all the time).

                      So there must be something different there. It's certainly a bit of a nebulous idea, but the more I think about it, the more I think function vs. form captures it.

                    4. Mic drop? Please. It was a mere question, and an answerable one at that.

                      But I say to you people who only tear down: you are not so clever as you think! It is easy work to destroy. But let us see how you rise to the challenge of building? This is important work, constructing the taxonomy of sandwiches! Would you relegate all contained foods to sandwiches? Is a pop tart a sandwich? Is a pizza roll a sandwich? Your destructive efforts only serve to darken this world, to bring chaos and unrest into places where others construct order and dignity.

                      I challenge you who only would destroy: build! Build your own taxonomy! Construct, like a sandwich must be constructed, your own definition of a sandwich!

                    5. So, one rotates a cheesesteak/banh mi/po’boy/hoagie such that the joint is placed on the bottom — say, to mitigate drippage while consuming — does this rotation negate the foodstuff’s innate sandwich-ness? Or, if the hot dog bun is split on the side (which is how we usually buy them), rather than the top, does it become a sandwich because the joint is to the side?

                      What about a lobster roll, where the bun is split on top? Not a sandwich?

                    6. Personally, I'd put the lobster roll into the gray area with hotdogs.
                      I don't think rotation changes the innate sandwichness - neither would cutting it with a knife and eating it with a fork.
                      I think Higgs' analysis re: hotdogs other problems is sufficient to deal with the sideways cut bun, and the question is therefore moot, and not justiciable.

                    7. I'm pretty sure Phyllo has sunk here to discrimination based on the shape of the characteristic filling. He's exhibiting anti-tubularism.

                    8. Hardly anti-tubularism. I love me tubed meats. You're just reducing proper taxonomy to rejection, when there is no indication of such rejection. I need not call a hotdog a sandwich in order to properly appreciate a hotdog. Indeed, requiring that kind of one-size-fits-all approach is deleterious to the enjoyment of the wide variety of foods that exist in the world.

                  2. If someone offers to make you a sandwich, and you say "sure, I'd take a sandwich", there's no way that you would think you were getting a hotdog. Because it's not a sandwich.

                    If I put lunchmeat on a hotdog bun, is it now a hotdog? No, it's still a sandwich. So it's not the form or function of the bun.

                    So I guess it comes down to the form of the meat. The hotdog has a casing that encloses the actual meat filling. If the casing is intact, it's not a sandwich. If you're going to make a hotdog sandwich, the hotdog needs to be sliced either lengthwise or chopped up into discs. I've done lengthwise slices on bread when I was out of buns, and I would call that a sandwich. This holds for bratwurst or summer sausage or kielbasa, IMO.

                    In CH's case, he prepared a hotdog, then decided to make it into a sandwich with pita bread. I think that's still a hotdog, because he didn't change the form of the hotdog, but his intent to make a sandwich does muddy the waters. I'm okay with him calling it whatever he wants since he made it.

                    And then I just thought of a sandwich with breaded pork tenderloin or breaded chicken or fish. Hmm. Well, since those are definitely sandwiches, I guess breading is not the same as casing, at least in my mind.

                    And I did find this quiz while googling stuff, so that was fun.

                    1. This is an effort I can get behind - maybe the filling does matter. Perhaps the reason a hot dog is not a hot dog is because of the type of filling.

                      That said, given the nature of "sandwiching" though - an item being squeezed between 2 things - I do feel like the outside part of the item matters too. If you take the same filling and put a tortilla all the way around it, it becomes a wrap, not a sandwich, right? So it has to be more than the filling.

                    5. I'm okay with him calling it whatever he wants since he made it.

                      Ruh roh. We are now on the precipice.

                      which is to be master?

                    6. also Lawful Good.

                      Which just confirms my suspicion that Phyllo is just trying to usurp my bid to be Chief Pedantry Officer for the wgom.

                    7. Is it really usurping if you're just bidding for it, and have not yet secured it?

                      Bam! Pedant that!

                      ...

                      Also, we all know AMR will win.

  5. We just finished our summer plans, which were to get a play system and a patio installed. Now we can finally hang out in our backyard a lot, which is nice. And also grill on the patio instead of the driveway. I even grilled today on my lunch break from work!

    1. A patio to replace the awful composite “wood” deck installed by the original owners has been on our wishlist for several years. I wonder how many patios & other outdoor living spaces will be built this summer or planned for next year.

      2. Good luck getting a decent amount of treated wood anywhere near Sioux Falls. Pretty much every little town near me has multiple deck or porch renovations going on as I drive through, it's pretty impressive.

        Also, composite "wood" is an abomination. Blech.

        2. pressure-treated wood is an abomination. 🙂

          I much prefer cedar or redwood. Some people seem to really like Trax or whatever that stuff is called. I can appreciate Rhu's dislike of staining.

          Our current patio is tiled. No more staining, but plenty of stains.

            2. So, cedar/redwood and POC boys are peers, and composite decking and French dips are peers?

              Missing is information on the intercept shift between the two pairs and the within-pair slopes.

              Edit: WTAF? WHERE DID "POC BOYS" COME FROM? PO' BOYS.

    2. I was watching in Arlington on a bar's rooftop patio. I thought the roof might collapse it was bouncing so far.

  7. Chickens come home to roost.

  8. My cousin had been successfully fighting lung cancer for the past eighteen months, but took a big turn for the worse in the last couple of days. Now, I just found out that she just died leaving behind four children with the oldest just turning thirteen.

    Cancer sucks. Hug your kids.

    3. Oh man, that’s awful. My condolences.

      My studio mate of 27 years was diagnosed with esophageal cancer about 6 weeks ago. They were going to do surgery to try and remove it but further tests proved it has moved to his liver. The operation has been scratched and he started chemo last week. Three rounds of that and then radiation. In addition to being a wonderful artist, he’s a terrific guy, and one of my best friends. I’m not taking it very well, but I’m putting up a brave front for he and his wife. Cancer sucks.

    4. My youngest sibling was 13 when we lost Pops to cancer. Losing a parent at that age is cruelty. And with three younger children, too... I’m so sorry, Pirate.

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