Friday Faves #39-10+ Best Sandwiches

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     We've all heard the story of  John Montagu, the Earl of Sandwich, popularizing eating meat between 2 slices of bread and that meal taking on his name.  The sandwich became very popular in England from that point on, but after the Revolutionary War, American cooks avoided making food that reminded people of their British forefathers, so the sandwich didn't really become popular again in America until the 1800s.   (source)
        Since that time so long ago, we have made up for lost time and statistics say that Americans eat over 300 million sandwiches a day! I guess that is why the sandwich gets a day all to itself!  Today is National Sandwich Day and therefore, the subject of Friday Faves! 

What is sandwiches do you think are the best?

     Two of my kids work at competing, well known sandwich/soup/salad restaurants.  That means that we get to try some of the newer creations out there on some of the tastiest breads! Choosing favorites can be difficult, but we came up with a few for you and some of our choices are easily made at home. Not only that, my husband even weighed in this week when he heard about our fave topic for the week! 

     His absolute favorite sandwich is the grilled cheeseburger! He loves the pickles, the onions, the melting cheese.  As a matter of fact, not only does he consider the cheeseburger to be the best sandwich of all, it is his favorite meal over all! Of course home grilled burgers are the best because you can control the thickness of the patty, the amount of all of the other ingredients and so forth.  I have to agree that a good, home grilled burger is hard to beat! 
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     A couple of years ago my husband and I gave all of our sons-in-law panini makers for Christmas! This one from Sunbeam is a really great price and they work very well! We know this from experience! Shortly after that Christmas, Lindsey and her husband had us over for dinner.  She made her own ciabatta bread and we had delicious sandwiches made in the panini maker! They had chicken, cheese (she offered a variety), spinach and  pesto on them.  We had strawberry-spinach salad on the side.  It was all so delicious.  The panini sandwich is now one of Lindsey's faves.  I was so impressed with her ciabatta bread making skills.  I think she should do a Renny's Recipes post about it! 

    Can I just say that I am getting really hungry talking about all of these sandwiches? 
     Alicia couldn't decide which is the best between two kinds of sandwiches. Her first choice was a good French Dip.  I know the appeal of this sandwich, it is also a fave of mine! Alicia says, "I like French dips because they are so delicious. I love the flavor of the roast beef with the cheese. Then when you dip it in the au jus it’s so perfect." I couldn't agree more.  One caveat is that the au jus has to be flavorful and not bland.  When it is good, it makes the sandwich! The Pioneer Woman has a great recipe here! 

I made this grilled cheese with Provolone.

You've got to have grilled cheese with tomato soup. I added basil to mine.

Then, dip the sandwich into the soup. MMMM!

     Alicia's other choice is grilled cheese. She said,"I like grilled cheese because melted cheese is the best. And they are so good with tomato soup. And if you get just a little char on there the flavor works really well together. I mostly like to use white cheese for my grilled cheese. Monterey Jack or for a fancy one I would use gruyere." ​ It seems so simple, and it is, just cheese on buttered on the outside bread, then toast it up until the cheese is melty.  I use a small nonstick skillet. Of course, serving it with a creamy tomato soup in mandatory.  Tomato-Basil is great with a Provolone Cheese sandwich.
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I was out of spinach when I made this veggie sandwich. Spinach would not only taste good but add a lot more color. It was still delicious anyway.

      Our resident vegan, Madalynn says, "I like veggie sandwiches. Any veggies are good but I like to have spinach, tomatoes, onions, peppers, and spicy mustard on mine. It’s a lot of good flavors and I like the crunch." I think she left one thing off of that list that I know she loves, pickles! When you have all of those good flavors and crunch on a sandwich, you don't really miss the meat. But, if you feel you still need a little meat, you can add a few slices of turkey a some cheese to round it all out.

Once again, provolone is usually my sandwich cheese of choice.

       Well, now it's my turn and I must say it is becoming impossible to choose the best sandwich with all of the good choices out there.  Here are a few that I have had that I would love to try to make at home or just make again.

• Crab salad with avocado and bacon (I haven't tried making this, but I must!)
• Turkey with avocado and bacon (This will be easy to do on my own.)
• Because Thanksgiving is coming, I am looking forward to a Hot Turkey open-face sandwich with gravy.  (I've had this every year after Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember! So good!) 
• Or, turkey with cranberry sauce on it.  Don't forget the salt and pepper! (Another after Thanksgiving staple.)

     Finally, when it comes right down to it, there is one sandwich that I just crave sometimes, along with a tall glass of milk, and that is a nice Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich.  It has to have a nice thick layer of peanut butter, (I like creamy) and a good amount of my homemade strawberry jam. (click the link to learn how to make it.) Now that is real comfort food.  When I was a kid, I didn't like the crusts, but now they make those store bought kind without crust.  Meh! Who needs to spend money on that when you can make these sandwiches more deliciously yourself.  If you want to cut off the crust and seal the sandwich at the same time, you can even buy the gadget that does that here or here.  Now that I am an adult, I love the crust, but I think one of those gadgets would be great for my grandkids! 
       So, there you go! Some of our favorite sandwiches and how to put them together.  What are your faves?  Do you like creamy or crunchy peanut butter? Whatever you enjoy, eat it today in honor of National Sandwich day!