Right now: snacking on my wife’s cashews as she’s eaten all my pistachios.

Little kid ate a leftover sausage and reheated chips.

Big kid had a bowl of rice and gravy followed by two taco shells with cheese and two soft tacos fried with melted cheese.

After which he asked, “What’s for dinner?”

Had some crispy taco shells with lettuce, some chopped avocado, cucumber, red pepper and onion, and sour cream with the chilli sans carne.

Chilli was HOT!

Two tacos filled with lettuce, avocado, cucumber, and red bell pepper sit on a plate next to a serving of chilli sans carne topped with cheese.

Making chilli sans carne this morning. Kids are back at school tomorrow, so they are hanging out in the bedroom away from the smell.

We always used the have a special meal to mark New Year’s Day, like Christmas and Easter Sunday, but yesterday, as big kid was away and I had to go and collect him, we ate leftover burgers, chips, rice, beans and salad.

Main course for me. Comfort food from childhood.

Boiled gammon, mashed potatoes, carrots and white sauce.

My Gran and my Mum used the make this. Carrots boiled with the bacon joint. Sweet as!

A bowl filled with mashed potatoes, cabbage, sliced meat topped with a creamy sauce, and a side of roasted vegetables.

I made a Snowman out of mashed potatoes, with sausage arms, carrot nose, onion mouth, cabbage scarf, roast potato hat and gravy eyes and buttons.

Will little kid eat it?

A snowman-shaped sculpture is made from mashed potatoes with a potato hat, carrot nose, gravy eyes, and meat for arms, served on a plate.

Today’s menu (illustrations by big kid).

A hand-drawn menu featuring items like burgers, fries, pizza, rice, and salad, each with a simple illustration.

Half a leftover and browning avocado made my fried eggs something special this morning.

Two slices of bread topped with avocado, fried eggs, and herbs on a plate.

The art of a good sandwich

Let’s get something out of the way before we get into the meat, or the filling, of this post. A sandwich is two slices of bread. Buttered.

I don’t want to hear anything about OPEN sandwiches. Open sandwiches are like open marriages. Great if you want someone else to have your other half.

The art of a good sandwich:

  1. Use multiple fillings. Four is a good number.

  2. Less is more. Don’t over egg it.

For example, tonight I cleared out some leftovers and turned them into a great sandwich: two slices of ham, half an avocado (sliced), three cherry tomatoes (quartered), a squirt of mayonnaise, chopped dried chives and three or four spoons of sweet and hot jalapenos out of a jar.

Many times I’ve got halfway through a “classic” cheese and tomato sandwich and thought “it’s too cheesy.” A squirt of mayo and a sprinkling of chives world have saved it. Some of that jalapeno magic would have made it.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against sandwiches with fewer than four fillings. When I was recovering from Covid, all I could eat was cheese and pickle sandwiches. I like a jam sandwich occasionally. And if it’s a crust, I’ll even eat it in an “open” jam sandwich (or bread and jam as we call it).

Which brings me on to toast. Toast and marmalade is not a sandwich. Cheese on toast is not a sandwich. Avocado toast is not a sandwich. But two rounds of toast with a filling inside IS a toasted sandwich. (See how simple this is?)

Now, with toasted sandwiches I would advocate sticking to one or two fillings. (Melted) cheese is always a winner with the kids. Grown-ups might like to add some chopped ham, onions or mushrooms. My little kid’s current favourite is “honey toast”.