Tomato Sandwich

Tomato Sandwich, originally uploaded by hezro.

Today as I was toasting bread for my tomato sandwich, I thought of my Uncle Don. I always think of my Uncle Don when I toast bread because he's the person who pointed out to me that you can usually push up on the little toaster knob thing-a-ma-jobey (as demonstrated below) to easily get your toast out. This is a pretty cool trick and I actually think a lot of people don't realize you can do that with your toaster. Having said, I'm sure my Uncle Don would not have expected this to be the thing that would stick in someone's head about him. Of course this isn't the ONLY thing that makes me think of my uncle but it is one of the things. Uncle Don is a family doctor (I've called him with many a medical question over the years) and a really smart guy and he's funny (not to mention very nice). So yeah, it's quite random that TOAST is one of the main things that makes me think of Uncle Don.

Toaster, originally uploaded by hezro.

The sandwich I was making today is one of my summer favorites. I'm not necessarily a huge mayonnaise lover but this is the one sandwich where nothing else compares: toasted wheat bread, a thin amount of Hellmann's mayo, sweet tomatoes and a dash of salt. Yum.

Another irony is that I've always attributed these sandwiches to my grandfather (Uncle Don's dad - and my dad's dad). For years I thought I was copying a favorite of my grandfather's. But then a few years ago I discovered that this isn't actually how my grandfather ate his tomato sandwiches. I think he put margarine on his. *shudder* But despite my faulty memory, they still make me think of my Grandpa and I like that.

Today I sat out on our screened porch with my girls and ate my delicious tomato sandwiches. The girls all hate tomatoes so they had egg salad sandwiches. But how amazing does that sandwich look?! Apparently even Kiersten - the most notorious tomato hater of all - could see that it looked delicious so she asked for a bite. And guess what? She liked it and asked for a sandwich of her own. And then Annika wanted one too. And both of them gobbled down their entire sandwiches.

Tomato Haters, originally uploaded by hezro.

So thank you Uncle Don and Grandpa for helping my girls appreciate tomatoes, even if for only one afternoon.