Saturday Sandwiches

As you may have noticed from the post times of the photographs, I had a spell of insomnia again last night. I finally did get back to sleep and slept until 7:30 AM. It had rained overnight, according to my damp patio, so I checked the gauge and found we'd gotten about 1/8 of an inch of rain.

I stripped the bed and started the washing machine, then I made a pot of coffee. I decided that the Peace Lily was in danger of becoming a casualty of the cat wars, so I put the smaller plant out on the porch for the summer, moved out the fake tree and put the plant stand over in the corner, with the Peace Lily on top. Hmmm... not sure I like it... looks a little weird.

Next, I started cleaning the house and doing more laundry. Midway through the morning, Carla called, suggesting playing cards at my house this afternoon. Sounded like fun, so I said yes. Now I have a deadline (3:00 PM) gulp!

I had planned on going out to "Linen's and Things" as they are going out of business (yet another victim of Michigan's suckey economy) so I stopped and thought about an appropriate "something" we could munch on while playing cards.

Not sure why or how, but I came up with tea sandwiches. So, I put the bedding in the dryer and the kitchen and bathroom rugs (along with some kitchen and bath towels) in the washer. I took a shower and headed out, after getting four ounces of cream cheese out of the fridge and letting it warm up to room temp. I was looking for like three things at Linens and Things: Two were already sold out and the third (whisks) were only on sale for 15% off. So, not much of a deal, but, I got two of them anyway.

Next I went to Meijer's and got almost everything I needed. The little cocktail rye bread (but baked fresh by the Meijer's bakery), Braunschweiger (German liver sausage), an English cucumber, whole wheat bread, little pretzels, Cheez-its, a dozen large eggs and some sprouts.

The sprouts were just insurance in case I can't find watercress, BTW. So, I left there and went to Westborn Market and did, in fact, find watercress. I bought that and 8 ears of Florida sweet corn (I can't help myself!) and then I headed back home.

It's now after 12:30 PM. So, I made the bed up and put 9 eggs on to hard-boil. I threw the next load of clothes in the dryer. When the eggs were done, I shocked them with ice water and, once dried, I put them in the freezer to chill out. Then I started to assemble my tea sandwiches. Using stuff I had on hand and the stuff I bought, I made:

- Deli rye with salami, Swiss cheese and deli mustard
- Deli rye with salami, Monterey Jake cheese and deli mustard
- Open face deli rye, buttered and topped with a thin slice of Braunschweiger (the way my Father ate it and the only way it tastes "right" to me)
- Tuna fish sandwich (one can of tuna fish, drained, three hard-boiled eggs, chopped, one teaspoon of mayonnaise and (my substitution for a cup of fine chopped celery) three scallions, sliced fine (both white and green), salt and pepper and served on whole wheat bread (with the crusts cut off - tea sandwiches, remember?)
- Egg salad sandwiches (6 hard-boiled eggs, chopped, 1/4 cup of mayonnaise, 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard, salt and pepper, put on toasted sourdough bread (crust cut off) and topped with watercress leaves
- English cucumber, sliced thin, topping the softened cream cheese, after mixing it with two tablespoons of small, snipped fresh chives. That was spread on fresh sourdough bread (crust cut off).

I was finished by 2:30 PM, so I went and laid on the bed to rest my legs and read. A little after 3:00, I heard the front door open and got up to greet my guests!

First we toured the back yard and my vegetable garden. Back inside, they had brought poker chips, cards and the game "Skip-Bo." I filled two bowls with little pretzels and Cheez-its, we fixed drinks and began to play Texas Hold-em. I was doing okay at first. Winning hand after hand, in fact. I got all Jake's chips, but then my luck turned and Carla kicked my butt! So, I switched the game to five card draw poker (something us old farts actually know). Again, I did okay, but eventually Jake cleaned me out. Carla explained I don't have a good poker face and they always knew when I had good cards or bad. Damn! It's the only face I got!

There was a Severe Thunderstorm Warning until 8:00 PM for our area, but all it did here was a slight sprinkle.

I got out the sandwiches (they were on three platters, covered with Saran Wrap, in the fridge). We all tried some (I forgot to put out the dill spears and/or olives, BTW) and the results were mixed. For example, Jake liked the Braunschweiger, Carla hated it (she said it tasted "wild, like blood"). We all agreed the egg salad was good, but nobody could really taste the watercress effect. Apparently either the mayo or the Dijon mustard canceled it out. It seemed the overall winner of the night was the tuna sandwich. It really was damn good!

We switched to Skip-Bo and played that for a long time. Finally, we headed out to the front porch for a smoke and chatted a while about things. Carla eventually excused herself and went inside. Finally, Jake and I went inside to join her, only to find she had cleaned everything up and also loaded the dishwasher. They left at that point (around 8:00 PM) and I went in to write all this down.

So, now its 10:00 PM and I am going in to watch boxing on HBO.I got through the first fight and half of the second before falling asleep.