hontonoshijin

hontonoshijin
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Eureka, California, U.S.A.
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May 08
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Born 1944 in Alligator, Mississippi. Son of a Southern Baptist preacher. Eight books, last two with Knopf. Novelist, poet, painter, mathematician. No humorous self-deprecating comments because if you knew me you could supply them yourself.

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APRIL 2, 2009 10:56PM

Sugar, Butter, Mayonnaise, and White Bread

Rate: 6 Flag

Those were the ingredients of my two favorite sandwiches when I was a boy and freshfaced.

 The sheer luxury of a sugar-and-butter sandwich!  A thick layer of butter and a layer of sugar between two slices of white bread.

 That's where the saying came from of course (the best thing since sliced bread).  You didn't have to make it yourself, what a luxury, and each slice was perfect and beautiful and it tasted better than home-made, light and fresh, and didn't go stale as fast, and on and on.

So anyway slather that butter on one slice, sprinkle heavily with granulated sugar, slap the other slice on top of it all (maybe buttered too if you were feeling self-indulgent).  All the nutritional energy a growing boy needs.  Fat and carbohydrates.

Salted butter of course.  Unsalted butter was unknown.

 Or if I was craving less desserty sweetness, a heartier gustation, there was the reliable and simple mayonnaise sandwich.  A slice of white bread layered thick with mayonnaise and put together with another slice.  Mm mm.  You could taste the starch turning into sugar in your mouth, working a magical spell on the creamy and slightly salty slide of the mayonnaise.

 Took the edge off, for sure.

And mayonnaise, not Miracle Whip, okay?  For crying out loud.  My mother used to pretend there was no essential difference.  Anything in the pearly offwhite mucousy class of condiments, I guess.  I'm quite sure she tried this con because of relative price.  I admire the effort.

But Mirkle Wipe as it will forever after be to me because of the pronunciation of a stepdaughter, Mirkle Wipe was vinegary, tart, tongue-puckering.  Mayonnaise was mild with a stately and (slightly salty) but inevitable progress.  Mirkle wipe was slash and burn.

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I had forgotten about butter and sugar sandwiches! My mother made them for me when I was little... the crunch of the granulated sugar with the salt of the butter... yum.
Condiment sandwiches can be pretty tasty. I like mayonnaise with some cucumber relish and mustard. I'm just going to take your word for it on the sugar/butter ones.
I remember the butter sandwich, sometimes I would actually just go for the stick of butter straight up. In Australia, where my husband is from, kids eat fairy bread...white bread, butter, and a healthy does of rainbow sprinkles.
Mayonnaise sandwiches. Been there, done that. When things were good we had cheese sandwiches.
My best friend's mother was my babysitter for most of my childhood. She had six kids, plus three or four "child care" kids (as she called us), so getting us fed quickly was a priority for her (otherwise we'd just take over the kitchen for an entire day), so she served white bread and mayo sandwiches(though I think she used Miracle Whip) with tiny cans of Vienna Sausages, which we called "Vi-ENNY" Sausages. That meal is one of my fondest memories, although my stomach would revolt after such a meal these days!
Yummy. Wonder Bread, Mayo,
O Chocolate Ovaltine Granules.
O Lard. Skippy Peanut Butter.
Visit Barnum & Bailey Circus.
These reads generate hunger.
Enjoy what's in the dumpster.
Homeless folks thank Nature.
Stroll to a 5- star garbage can.
Steal salt and pepper packets.
Go to Burger King to sniff air.
O lick the bakery window too.
Pretend Ya eat a Saudi oil can.
Street people ask Barack's cook?
How much for a one good desert?
Vets need a chocolate chip cookie?
Put lots of butter on bagels and lox.
Nature made tuna fish round. Cancan.
Cancan in the streets and lick tuna cans.
Homeless urchins will eat a whole horse.
Then they Open the stolen pepper packets.
I'm famished. I could eat thee raw alligators.
I think I would prefer the mayonnaise but never had them when growing up. I do have a weakness for southern banana pudding with nilla wafers and real meringue which must have about 1000 calories per serving. But Shelle brought up the vienna sausages and that does bring back memories. When my dad was in charge of the cooking he served vienna sausages and purple hull peas. I never found this odd. However, I found out different when visiting friends in Atlanta with my then three-year-old (older) daughter and I tried to feed her vienna sausages for breakfast. My friends were appalled and immediately gave her fresh fruit and yogurt ;0)
Be careful what you eat. I had a doctor friend who did volunteer work on a Native-American Reservation in South Dakota years ago. Several of the patients that he treated on the reservation were being treated for diabetes (Type 2). All of the children on the reservation had the same daily treats and fare. It was lard and sugar on white bread. Dr. A could not believe the number of children that had tested positive for this diabetic disease and he attributed it specifically to this snack and unhealthy eating practices and/or lifestyle. Just an fyi...good article.
Rated & Cheers!
Ah, but the classic mayo sandwich is peanut butter and mayo--the salty and slightly tart condiment dancing in unison with the sweet-ish nut concoction. Mmm-mmm. . .
Shelle, we had our share of what we called "Vie inna" sausages, but not in sandwiches. Mostly with cheese and crackers, or fresh out of the can for a snack. Texas Bubba, I aint recommending, just reminiscing. Cant eat that stuff any more but memory isn't fattening. I'm 64 and swim a mile and a half at a time and do something like 9 hours of yoga a week so when I kick off it probably won't be the sugar and butter sandwiches that done it. Mal, this will probably shock you more than my ignorance regarding what's-his-name, that chef guy, but I have never had the "classic" peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwich.
Oops, should have said Shelle and Dorinda. Actually, I was pretty sure you two, being Arkansawyers, would know what I was talking about.
Dorinda, your story is hysterical and a wonderful telling of how cultures form around these things, which might explain why people persist with them, even when they know better ;). I don't think I turned out any worse for the wear, although the idea of Vienna sausages these days makes me a little woozy.