A Mild Variant

My Good-Pal-Susan went to Amsterdam and brought me a tube of mustard. And a big chunk o’ gouda. Thank you, terrific friend, neighbor and hard-core mom-squad mate.

A mild variant is the mom I would like to be. Am I? No. As the snake oil of a face cream salesman in Nassau chirped, “Ooh, spicy.” He was not laying a compliment on me. Have I done my son a giant disservice by reinforcing reactivity? Yes indeed I have. His gap year(s) could be seen as an opportunity to create a gap between then and now. A chance to dial it all back, become a milder variant of myself and hope for a little less friction and push back. Only time will tell, as it does always, the slow reveal that is child rearing.

Photo by Mark Snead. I fried the pork belly and squeezed the mustard.

My world has been widened by the Marne addition to the fridge door. The aluminum tube is, as claimed, handy.  And our world? The bigger, the better. The smaller we are in it, the better, too. An assist in parental perspective. We are mere specks in a giant universe. Mustard seeds perhaps, if we grow slowly and soundly.

 

 

Whatta Waffle

 

So yeah, I made this. The first one was too big and I couldn’t get it out of the waffle iron in one piece. I ate it anyway. The second one was smaller and more manageable. Aesthetics-wise it was better, too – not broken.

Waffled Mac’n’Cheese Ham and Cheese Sandwich

Macaroni and cheese – a normal batch, about 4-6 cups, or whatever you have leftover
Cheese slices of your choice – I like sharp cheddar, but fontina, mozzarella,       brie – anything that melts is good
Sliced ham

Spray a sheetpan with vegetable oil cooking spray, or cover it with a non-stick baking mat, and spread the macaroni and cheese on it, making a large rectangle, about 1-inch thick. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least an hour.

Preheat the waffle iron.

Cut the macaroni and cheese into squares or rectangles that will fit easily into your waffle iron, with room to spare. (If you make them too big the iron will not close.) Use a spatula to lift one macaroni and cheese piece onto the preheated waffle iron. Cover it with sliced cheese and ham. Top with a second macaroni and cheese piece.

Close the waffle iron and let your sandwich cook until very, very crispy. Let it cook a long time – like 10 minutes – or it will not lift out in one piece. Lift out carefully with a thin spatula and eat while hot. It will be DELICIOUS!

Critically Massive

Holy Macaroni, Mac + Cheesewich Strikes Again!

Between-bread critical mass.

Tried to tell you it was a thing. Thing, as in, thing being an epically benign word for a cataclysmically crackin’ happenin’. The mac and cheese sandwich.

Pechluck

Occurring across borders.  Inter and intra-incidents.

THE PINNACLE (see above)!: Big A** Sandwiches

You saw it HERE!:  Heister’s

THERE!:  Watchung Delicatessen

And EVERYWHERE!:  It’s a Thing Hotdogs

It’s official!: Adam Richman’s Best Sandwich in America – Big Ass Roast Beef

So, yeah, you don’t have to take it from just me. Not from little old lonely macaroni me. Nope.

The Proof is in the Macaroni

The Watchung Delicatessen is a thing, thang, thung. They are famous for the Bennie Mac, so I’m told. I told you the mac and cheese sandwich was a thing.

            

            

Here stands the brilliant technique for loading the Bennie Mac. A chicken cutlet is the landing pad.

There’s things and there’s things. Macaroni is amazing, no doubt, and makes one curtsy to the inventiveness of humans. Peaches we have nothing to do with, thank goodness. They are perfect as they are. Possibly particularly in New Jersey.

It’s a “Thing”, Do What You Wanna Do

What’d I tell ya? Mac and cheese sandwiches are not the next thing. They are “the” thing. Now.

Spoke with Eckhart Tolle just yesterday as he, serendipitiously, spooned hot mac and cheese onto a beef on weck. Beef on weck? For real?! For real. Does Mr. Tolle live in Buffalo? you ask. Who knows, dear. He lives in the moment.

Spotted a few blinged out dogs in “Better Homes and Gardens”. Joe Yonan did these recipes. Shame shame, I did not catch site of the photo credit. No hot dog for me!

Smells Like Cheese Spirit

What was that silly book that came out about ten years ago that chronicled serendipity and accorded coincidence with cosmic omniscience? Not that I read it or anything. Had I read it, my disdain would lack the joy associated with ignorance.

At any rate, I’m getting the feeling that macaroni and cheese sandwiches are about to become a “thing”.  Just a hunch.

Sandwich nerds – snerds, you know who you are – you read it here first. Watch this site for further sitings. My radar tells me that a tipping point is upon us – mac and cheese tipping and dripping into, onto and over bread. Mark my werds.