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FOOD
Simplify Your Thanksgiving — Make Finger Sandwiches
For those of us who aren’t turkey surgeons.
If the price of a Thanksgiving turkey gave you sticker shock the way it did me (over $60.00 for a bird this year?!), there are many alternatives to the traditional American Thanksgiving dinner that cost a lot less. May I suggest afternoon tea finger sandwiches?
For those of us who do not want to take up the fine art of turkey dissection, finger sandwiches are a fun treat and easy to make, though they do require prep time.
I admit it; I’m a finger sandwich hound. I have loved the things ever since I ate my first one. My church hosts an annual Christmas Tea consisting of finger sandwiches with all the trimmings, including scones, mini-quiches, and petit-fours, and that is what gave me the idea for this article.
I was thinking that really, all I need to consider a meal Thanksgiving is cornbread stuffing and jellied cranberry sauce; I can take or leave the turkey.
All of the recipes below are “to taste,” meaning I don’t give specific quantities of filling ingredients — because I don’t know how many people you will be feeding. You would probably want to include side dishes and desserts along with these sandwiches, which will reduce the number of different sandwiches you’ll need to make. Figure on each guest eating four sandwiches, unless one of those guests is my nephew!
Thanksgiving Sandwich
Make a pan of cornbread or buy a pan or two ready-made at the grocery store. Cut the cornbread into squares and then cut each square into top and bottom halves. Butter the insides. Add a slice of deli turkey, and spoon some jellied cranberry sauce onto the turkey. Top with the remaining piece of cornbread. A bit crumbly, but so good!
Bread-and-Butter Pickle Sandwich
Why pickles? Because everybody does cucumbers. Remove pickle chips from jar and pat them dry so they won’t make the sandwich soggy. Add lemon zest to taste to your butter and mix well. Spread the butter mixture onto the bread. Lay slices of bread-and-butter pickles onto the buttered bread. Trim off the crusts and cut into fourths.
