Good Thursday morning.
For some reason, I don’t eat a lot of sandwiches – at least, not things that conform to the standard definition of a sandwich, as in stuff smushed between two slices of bread.
I prefer my sandwiches open-faced because I like to actually taste what’s inside the bread, and usually the middle-to-bread ratio is, in my humble opinion, off, erring too heavily on the carbohydrates and not enough on the filling.
Also, there’s nothing worse than a soggy sandwich, and unless one is very careful in the initial construction, utilizing the condiments as a sort of moisture barrier, things can go very wrong very fast.
I guess an open-faced sandwich these days is referred to simply as “toast” (as in “avocado toast,” the breakfast/brunch staple of hipsters the world over). I do eat a lot of toast.
But sandwiches remain hugely popular – probably for their convenience factor. Americans reportedly consume 300 million of them every year. (I’m not entirely sure how that data is compiled, so take it with a grain of salt).
On any given day, 47 percent of Americans reported consuming a sandwich – with a larger percentage of men (52 percent) doing so than women (43 percent) – and about half of those were eaten during lunchtime. The preponderance of those sandwiches were some sort of cold cuts or fish, even though the most popular sandwich in the U.S. (at least as of 2019) was grilled cheese.
According to another website, the most popular sandwich IN THE WORLD is the BLT, which I find very hard to believe, since it’s too tough to get right. Mealy tomatoes, sad bread, less-than-crispy bacon…so much can go wrong with the BLT.
Give me a PBJ any day – but peanut butter on BOTH sides of the bread to appropriately insulate the jam (not jelly, sorry, and red, NEVER purple, unless blueberry preserves) and prevent leakage.
That world sandwich list is interesting, though, apparently the Ruben, which was never a favorite of mine – too sloppy, too much going on – is No. 2, while the Croque-monsieur, which is basically fancy French grilled ham and cheese, is No. 3, and the Philly cheesesteak is No. 5. Avocado toast clocks in at No. 9, close on the heels of No. 8, the lobster roll, which IMHO is FAR superior.
I think the real answer to the “what is the best sandwich” question is really: It depends on who’s eating it, and also maybe on who’s making it.
The whole question of where the sandwich originated is up for debate. You’ve probably encountered somewhere along the line the Earl of Sandwich story, which dates back to 1700s London.
Otherwise known as John Montagu, the earl was so absorbed in gambling and did not want to leave the table sustenance that he placed some meat between two slice of bread and was able to consume it in situ.
And voila! The sandwich was born. Sorta.
The concept of putting filling of some sort between two slices of carbs actually was first recorded in 1st Century BC when Hillel the Elder started the Passover custom of putting haroset (chopped nuts, apples, spices, and wine that is meant to symbolize the mortar Jews used to build pyramids when they were enslaved in Egypt) between two matzohs to eat with bitter herbs.
Fast forward to the Middle Ages, when trenchers – basically slabs of stale bread – were used in lieu of plates. Meat and other foods were piled on top, and the stale bread absorbed their juices. These could be consumed without utensils – very sandwich-like.
There’s a lot more where all that came from, if you want to dive down the rabbit hole of history on sandwiches, click here.
Today, if you hadn’t already guessed, is National Sandwich Day. A number of national chains are celebrating with freebies and/or discounts. Popeye’s is going all out with a weeklong buy-one, get-one offer that kills two birds with one stone (see what I did there) that celebrates both National Sandwich Day AND National Fried Chicken Sandwich Day (Nov. 9).
Sandwiches are good picnic food. They lend themselves nicely to consumption on a bench or at a picnic table etc. And today is going to be another unseasonably warm day – mainly sunny with temperatures in the mid-60s – perfect for outdoor dining.
In the headlines…
President Joe Biden said the midterms are a “defining moment” for democracy as threats of political violence and voter intimidation loom over the upcoming elections.
In a televised address from Washington’s Union Station, just blocks from where a mob stormed the Capitol to disrupt his own ascension to the White House, Biden hoped to put the democracy question front and center for the final days of the campaign.
The president denounced Republicans who refuse to accept the results of next week’s midterm elections as “un-American” as he warned that the country’s democratic traditions are on the line in the first national balloting since the attack of Jan. 6, 2021.
The full transcript of Biden’s remarks can be found here.
Biden’s approval rating edged higher with just a week to go before U.S. midterm elections when his Democratic Party is expected to lose control of the House of Representatives, a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll completed yesterday found.
A handful of Biden’s most important federal agencies are stepping up efforts to monitor and counteract “disinformation” on social media platforms, even in the face of criticism that the administration is attempting to silence conservative or opposing viewpoints.
At least three dozen lawyers and law firms that advanced Donald Trump’s failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election are working for GOP candidates, parties and other groups, legal complaints that could lay the groundwork for challenging the midterm results.
The White House deleted a tweet touting an increase in Social Security checks for seniors after numerous observers pointed out the raise was a result of high inflation.
The deletion came after the social media platform added a “context” note pointing out that the increase was tied to a 1972 law requiring automatic increases based on cost of living changes.
Former President Bill Clinton appeared in the Hudson Valley to offer star power and messaging advice to two Democratic candidates for tight House races, serving as another indication of the pressure Democrats face to try to keep control of Congress.
Former President Obama warned during a campaign rally in Nevada that violent incidents like last week’s attack on Paul Pelosi will continue in a political climate rife with “demonizing” of opponents.
Obama used an interruption from a heckler at a campaign rally in Phoenix as a teachable moment, denouncing divisive political rhetoric that he said had spurred a man to attack Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband.
One of the most senior Democrats in the House demanded to know why the Capitol Police did not do more to prevent the attack on Paul Pelosi and questioned what the agency was doing to improve security for members of Congress and their families.
U.S. Capitol Police said they weren’t actively monitoring cameras installed at Speaker Pelosi’s San Francisco home at the time her husband was assaulted and that the agency had begun an internal security review into the matter.
A new Wall Street Journal poll found that suburban white women are favoring Republican candidates in this year’s midterms by a margin of 15 percentage points.
George Will thinks Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris should bow out of the 2024 race now for the good of the country.
“Democrats should promptly face that fact, and this one: An Everest of evidence shows that Vice President Harris is starkly unqualified to be considered as his successor,” Will added.
Trump filed a lawsuit in Florida state court trying to stop the New York attorney general from obtaining records from the trust that holds ownership of the Trump Organization.
Trump announced the lawsuit on the Truth Social platform last night.
Trump reached a settlement in a civil case brought by protesters who said they were attacked by his bodyguards in 2015, a deal that will spare the former president and his family business the prospect of two simultaneous trials in New York State court.
One of the government’s final witnesses in the seditious conspiracy trial of members of the far-right group described attempts by Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers militia, to urge Trump to keep his grip on power.
The Justice Department offered to allow Kash Patel, a close adviser to Trump, to testify to a federal grand jury under a grant of immunity about the former president’s handling of highly sensitive presidential records.
Judge Beryl Howell of the DC District Court reportedly has granted Patel immunity from prosecution on any information he provides to the investigation. Patel’s grand jury appearance hasn’t yet been scheduled.
Trump’s attorneys saw a direct appeal to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as their best hope of derailing Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 presidential election, according to emails newly disclosed to congressional investigators.
A judge sentenced Parkland gunman Nikolas Cruz to life in prison without parole, after two days of testimony from the victims and their families.
Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer sentenced Cruz to 34 life terms for the 17 killed and 17 injured in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
The Federal Reserve lifted interest rates by 0.75 percentage point to combat inflation and signaled plans to keep raising them, though possibly in smaller increments and to higher levels than previously anticipated.
The Chinese industrial park where Foxconn Technology Group’s most advanced iPhone plant is battling a Covid-19 outbreak entered a weeklong lockdown, after videos of workers fleeing from the site spread on social media.
A New York woman is facing charges after allegedly distributing phony COVID-19 vaccine cards on social media, authorities said.
The Cohoes woman has surrendered to the State Police.
A consulting firm based in Alexandria, Virginia is closing in on finalizing a state contract to evaluate policies and decisions made in New York throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hospitalizations are rising again in New York City with the spread of new COVID-19 subvariants that are better at evading immunity. Cases of flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, are also increasing.
After Rep. Lee Zeldin crowed that his Republican bid to topple Gov. Hochul has rattled local Democratic officials, the New York governor asserted that her campaign was surging through the finish line with six days until Election Day.
Zeldin has shown aptitude for finding a quick path to reinvention that has helped fuel his political ascent. Now it has put him closer than any Republican since George Pataki to one of the nation’s most influential political posts, the governorship of New York.
Tax and spending cuts would be on the menu under a potential Zeldin administration in Albany, the Republican nominee for governor said.
Supporters of the dueling candidates for governor say campaign signs are going missing at an alarming rate ahead of the final day of voting on Nov. 8 in the tight race.
In parts of the Big Apple, city workers and even a lawmaker – Democratic Assemblyman Peter Abate Jr. – are taking down Zeldin’s campaign signs.
A political action committee controlled by Knicks owner James Dolan that flooded local TV with ads last year decrying the spike in crime, is now spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on pro-Hochul ads.
Individuals and businesses that rely on state contracts and tax breaks have been throwing tens of thousands of dollars at Hochul — despite months of accusations about alleged pay-to-play schemes with campaign donors — as her tight race enters its final days.
Hochul has blown off an Oct. 30 deadline to release a key mid-year report on the state’s record-breaking $220 billion budget after bragging about meeting the mark last year.
The Big Apple’s guitar-slinging Naked Cowboy has made it clear that he wants to turn New York red, backing Zeldin for governor.
In the week since Mayor Eric Adams and Hochul announced they’d send 1,200 officers into the subway each day, fare evasions and arrests in the system have skyrocketed, according to MTA CEO Janno Lieber.
The NYPD’s top cop bucked Hochul by again calling for a rollback of bail reform, as Adams refused to take on his fellow Democrat less than a week before her tight race against Zeldin comes to a head.
Three Assembly districts in Erie County have become “battlegrounds,” with Assembly Democrats spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to retain the seats, while Assembly Republicans are donating significant amounts to pull an upset in one of the races.
A $4.2 billion initiative is on the ballot in New York for Election Day next week. It’s the largest for environmental protection in the state’s history and is officially known as the “Clean Water, Clean Air, Green Jobs Act.” What will it buy? Click here to find out.
Staten Island Democratic House candidate Max Rose’s campaign sign was defaced with an anti-Semitic message in West Brighton. This is the second anti-Semitic incident involving a Rose campaign sign.
The Republican candidates in two of New York’s most competitive congressional races have palled around with people who participated in the raucous pro-Trump rally that devolved into a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last year.
CBS and its disgraced ex-CEO Les Moonves will pay $30.5 million to settle a sexual misconduct and insider trading investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
James’ office found that CBS, whose parent company is now Paramount, concealed allegations about its former chief executive from investors.
Top New York state officials will review recommendations from the Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board about how the state should spend up to $1.5 billion in opioid settlement funds.
A PAC ostensibly established to support Eric Adams’ agenda on public safety and education as well as candidates aligned with him raised a little over $1.3 million. But most of the money went to the group’s leader, the Rev. Alfred L. Cockfield II, and his associates.
Adams’ nearly empty migrant tent city on Randall’s Island is finally getting filled up — thanks to over 100 Senegalese men who moved in with the help of a Bronx imam who found out about the vacancies there.
A city correction officer suffered a broken eye socket and other injuries when a detainee attacked him in a Manhattan court holding area — an incident that the correction officers union says argues against a City Council bill to ban solitary confinement in the jails.
The city’s powerful teachers union is holding an “astonishing” vote of no confidence against a Department of Education cabinet member who recently came under fire over the apparent ousting of hundreds of early childhood staffers.
Elon Musk’s proposal for a Twitter Inc. subscription program has reignited the debate over the issue of spam and fake accounts that was at the center of the billionaire’s effort to get out of buying the social-media company.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez mocked Musk’s plans to charge for a blue Twitter checkmark, sparking a war of tweets that continued through last night.
A small but growing number of celebrities, actors and artists say they are ditching the social-media platform over fears of what it could become under Musk’s leadership.
CVS and Walgreens said that they had reached tentative agreements to pay about $5 billion each to settle thousands of lawsuits over their role in the opioid crisis, a development that could signal the beginning of the end of years of opioid litigation.
The Astros’ Cristian Javier and three relievers shut down the powerful Philadelphia Phillies, tying the World Series and accomplishing a feat that hadn’t happened since 1956 – the second no-hitter in World Series history.
