The Simple Cucumber Sandwich

The humble cucumber.

We use it in salads. We pickle it. We munch it. We dip it. We take it for granted in so many ways...

And did you know that cucumbers and melons are BOTH curcurbits? And that if you plant your cukes or pickles too close to melons, they can cross and you get cucumbers that have a melon scent and slightly sweet taste????

:)

Not exactly a bad thing, right? Except no one wants to buy a MELON that tastes like a cuke. Somehow turnabout is not fair play in this instance!

So:

Cucumber sandwiches are a big hit around here whenever we host a party. A tea. A shower. A gathering. A wake....  The trick is to use fresh bread...

Really deliciously soft and chewy fresh bread. Do not skimp on this. Trim the crusts from the delicious bread... because their texture is all wrong for cucumber sandwiches. Trust me on this. I know things about cucumbers, Lily.  (In the Line of Fire, Clint Eastwood to Renee Russo)

If you don't have time to make bread... And I usually don't.... try a good store brand like this:

We use a dill type dip that I make from a package of um... dill dip.  :)  It's from Tastefully Simple and it works great and you should always, always, always use Hellman's Mayonnaise and you know why. Because it tastes GREAT.

ADDENDUM BECAUSE MISSY IS SMART:

Dill Dip Recipe:

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon Beau Monde ™ seasoning
• 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley

Put all ingredients in bowl. Mix well. Allow to sit.  The Beau Monde seasoning is in your grocery store spice section and a jar lasts me like three years... This is the only recipe I use it for (and rye boat dip) but it's a crushed celery seed Southern seasoning and it's wonderful. Marvelous. Excellente! Some versions call for minced onion but I don't add that. Kind of strong for the gentle flavor you want to balance out the cucumbers.

The cukes should be firm, not too seedy, and we peel them and slice them thin... But not paper thin. Kind of medium thin.

And then you spread the bread with the dill dressing.... lay sliced cucumbers over the dressing, covering the bread. Two layers is fine. More than that gets obnoxious. In-your-lap obnoxious. You know what I mean... A mess in your lap at a party is verboten. Not good. Messy, at best.

Then we slice the sandwiches into triangles.... Layer them on a pretty platter... and wrap with plastic wrap until serving time.

Fancy, finger sandwiches for the cost of a dab of dip, a cuke and some bread. And people LOVE THEM.

Reason enough right there to make 'em, right?

Now if you're going no carb, you can't have the bread, but how delicious and MARVELOUS is it to think you can eat ALL THE CUCUMBERS WITH DIP YOU WANT and not have to worry about dip calories...

Because they're no or low-carb.

There is a way around the deprivation diet, ladies, and we're going to make sure we all find it!