Hmm Weekly for June 15, 2021

DISPOSSESSIONS: A SINKHOLE

IT’S KIND OF hard to make out in the pictures, but we had a sinkhole in our tiny Baltimore-rowhouse front yard. It would get a covering of grass and appear to be level lawn, but every once in a while I’d step in it when I was weed-whacking the yard, and I’d almost break my ankle, and I’d always say to myself that I really needed to do something about that because somebody was gonna get hurt.

Of course that didn’t happen, for years, until a friend of my wife offered us the gift of a Crape Myrtle tree, to plant in memory of my sister-in-law, who passed, way too soon, in January of 2020. In the springtime of that year nobody was getting together to do anything, and what with all our stress about the pandemic, and our weirdly stifled grief, denied the usual family-gathering rituals and outlets, we sort of forgot about the tree, the way I forgot about fixing the lawn hazard.

This month, our friend reminded us about this thing she wanted to do, and so I got to dig that sinkhole out, we filled it with nice new soil, and a beautiful little tree.

We had a proper tree-planting ceremony, played some music, toasted the dear departed, and we all got a teary-eyed. Then we cheered up and had a wonderful evening just hanging out. It was good.

I tripped on the non-sinkhole lawn a week later and broke a branch on the new tree, but it’s doing fine, really, it’s gonna make it.

Another Week, Another HMM WEEKLY

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SANDWICH RECIPES DEP’T.

WE PRESENT instructions for the assembly of sandwiches from Salads, Sandwiches and Chafing Dish Recipes, Copyright 1916, now in the public domain for the delectation of all, written by Marion Harris Neil, M.C.A., former Cookery Editor, The Ladies’ Home Journal, author of How to Cook in Casserole Dishes, Candies and Bonbons and How to Make Them, Canning, Preserving and Pickling, and The Something-Different Dish.

MOSAIC SANDWICH
1 cream cheese
2 1/2 tablespoonfuls peanut butter
1 chopped pimiento (canned red pepper)
Salt and paprika to taste
White and Graham bread

Mash the cheese and mix it with the peanut butter, pimiento, salt, and paprika to taste.
Cut three slices each of white and Graham bread, one-half inch thick. Spread a slice of the white bread with mixture and place a slice of Graham bread upon it. Spread this with mixture and place on it a slice of white bread. Repeat this process, beginning with the slice of Graham bread. Put both piles in a cold place under a light weight for one hour. Remove the weight, and cut each pile in three and one-half inch slices. Spread two of them with the prepared mixture, and put together in such a way that a white block is alternately with a Graham one, making a checker appearance. Wrap in damp cheesecloth and again place under a light weight in a cool place. Remove the weight at serving time and cut in dice.

MUSHROOM AND LOBSTER SANDWICHES
1 can or (1 cup) cooked lobster meat
1/2 pint (1 cup) mushrooms
1 oz. (2 tablespoonfuls) butter
Stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Tomato catsup to taste
Lemon-juice to taste
White bread
1 small onion

Wash and dry the mushrooms and cut them into small pieces. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the onion chopped and the mushrooms, cover with stock, and cook slowly until tender. Drain the mushrooms, add the lobster meat to them, and pound until smooth; add seasonings and enough of the liquor to moisten. Spread on thin buttered slices of white bread.

MY FAVORITE SANDWICHES
1 pint (2 cups) cold cooked halibut
2 hard-cooked eggs
2 tablespoonfuls chopped capers
1 tablespoonful lemon-juice
Mayonnaise dressing
Radishes
Lightly buttered white bread

Shred the fish and chop the hard-cooked eggs. Mix these with the capers, add the lemon-juice, and moisten with mayonnaise dressing. Spread on slices of lightly buttered bread, cover with other slices, and cut into fancy shapes. Serve with the radishes.

If you decide to prepare and enjoy any of these sandwiches, kindly send a picture to us at hmmweekly@substack.com.

HMM WEEKLY IS written by Tom Scocca, editor, and Joe MacCaper, creative director. If you enjoy Hmm Weekly, please let a friend know about it! If you're reading this because someone forwarded it to you, we invite you to sign up for a copy of your own right now. Thanks for reading, and any time you want, email us at hmmweekly@substack.com.