Weird Sandwiches: Lunch Of Kids

Did you ever like really weird sandwiches when you were a kid? No, not like peanut butter and fluff. That's as normal as spaghetti tacos. I mean like peanut butter and tuna. Or pickles. Or regular butter. Yes, I know someone who spreads regular butter on bread before adding peanut butter (but doesn't want anyone to know). I polled several friends over the weekend to test my hunch that everyone has a special, sacred sandwich of their childhood. Lo and behold, I was more right than I ever could have imagined. All names have been changed to protect the innocent. Except ours, of course.

• When her mother refused to honor her lunch request, Anna made, ate and continued to make the following sandwich well into adulthood: American cheese, bananas and vanilla pudding.
• Mark, whose mother is Australian, grew up with a tolerance for, if not a full appreciation of Marmite. That is, as long as the sandwich it was on also contained ham, swiss and mayo.
• Jiao likes a sandwich I think sounds pretty good: grilled cheese and prawn chips on white bread dipped in ketchup. Apparently it's pretty popular in Hong Kong. Or she might be making that up.
• This one doesn't sound so good: Nita digs peanut butter and Indian spicy pickled green mango. I've spread mango pickle on turkey sandwiches to great success, but something about its sour-spicy pungency just doesn't scream peanut butter like, say, bacon.
• Editorial Director Richard Martin went through a cream cheese and pepper phase, my weapon of choice was thinly sliced dill pickles with deli mustard on whole wheat, and Contributing Editor Matt Rodbard had this to say: "My parents generally fed me pretty well — restricting me from going H*A*M with chocolate syrup and the like. My mother did make a habit of making me turkey sandwiches with ONE slice of turkey bologna (yes, this is a thing. We are Midwestern after all)."

If you can best any of these concoctions (including a sandwich with precisely one and three-quarters slices of turkey bologna), continue to nurture that inner child — I think it's a wonderful thing. Just be sure to keep a roll or two of antacids close by for your outer adult.