July 15th, 2019

I love bread.   Every woman in my family does.   I suspect that it is typed right on our DNA.   And it doesn't much matter what sort of bread either.  White, wheat, oat, rye, pumpkernickel, multi-grain, oh me oh my,  the list goes on and on and all of it is wonderful.  Except cinnamon toast that has been ruined by putting raisins in it.  That is awful.  I have to pick out the raisins.  

Think of all of the many and wonderful ways that bread exists:  lovely flaky old fashioned biscuits, yeasty dinner rolls, seriously New York bagels (the very best kind), buttery croissants, crumbly yummy scones, loaves,  buns of every sort, savory dumplings...holy cats, I'm getting hungry now just thinking about it.  

Bread, being a carbohydrate, it one of the simplest and easiest foods to digest as well.  Which is why crackers or dry toast can sometimes ease an upset tummy.   Carbs are also an excellent source of body fuel! And if it's a whole grain bread there is also very necessary fiber being offered up.  So you see, there are medicinal properties to bread.  

Unfortunately, there is a down side.  Carbs also easily convert into sugars in our body.  And we all know how bad sugar is.  That has been hammered into our consciousness for a long time now.  How many diets do we hear about that avoid carbs?  The slim,beautiful and famous folks who eschew all things bread like to keep their svelt figures?

Sigh. I am not svelt by a long shot.  But I do try to take at least reasonable care of myself.

Consequently, I do try to avoid carbs a lot more than I really want to.  But I will be honest, I eat them. Not nearly as much or as often as I would like but I do eat carbs.  And one of my most favourite ways to eat carbs is in bread.  And my favourite way to eat bread is as a sandwich.  I know that I will sound like Joey Tribbiani when I say this but one of my favourite foods is sandwiches.  Grilled cheese and tomato, yes!  Yummy hot calzones!   Leftover Thanksgiving Turkey sandwich, me oh my!   A breakfast sandwich with eggs and cheese on a biscuit - holy cats!  

And while I do love a good home made sandwich, occasionally we venture out to pick up a sandwich.  

A good burger is a hot sandwich. Tim has a favourite place in Port Charlotte, probably a half hour away.  It's called, Wings and Rings, I think.  Good burgers. Even I, the person who rarely eats meat has enjoyed a burger there on occasion.  Still that's a half hour away! So if we want to eat locally, our options are a wee bit more limited.  

There is a Firehouse Subs restaurants just off island.  We've been a few times.  I think the sandwiches are better hot than cold.  Just my opinion, you understand.    There are two different Subway restaurants in Venice.  Both of them are exceedingly mediocre. But recently a Jersey Mike's opened off island.  Nice!  We are both fans.  Still we've only picked up sandwiches once since it opened.   

I think one of the keys to a great sandwich is the bread.  No matter how good the filling is, if you have less than stellar bread, you have a crappy sandwich. And those "sub" style sandwiches have so much bread that it's even more important.

That's a funny thing to me too, Hoagie, Sub, Grinder, Hero, it goes by lots of names, but it's basically the same sandwich.  The names are regionally specific and because of that I suspect that the bread may be slightly different depending on the region of it's origin.  Around here they are mostly called subs.  In fact there is a place here called, The Yellow Sub. Clever name.  The sandwiches are kind of so-so.  

I recently learned of two other sandwich shops around here, One is called, Shark Bites Deli. The other, I just noticed over the weekend so I think it's fairly new which is, Traditional European Deli.  Both of them need to be checked out.  I would rather go to a small independent adorable local place than a chain.   Partly because I like to support small local businesses but mostly because they usually have something unusual and interesting to offer.

So without doubt, even though I probably shouldn't, one evening soon, instead of cooking a real lunch or dinner, we will most likely wander by one of these new places and see what they have on their menus.  I will sniff the air like a puppy, to see if the bread is made on site, I will inspect their deli meats and cheese carefully to be certain that it's fresh and quality, and look over their veggie section for variety and crispness.  And if it meets our exacting standards, then and only then, we will place and order for the all important taste test.

If I'm going to break all of the rules by eating bread, I am also going to enjoy it!