THE GENERATION BRIDGE

One of my earliest memories as a child was of coming downstairs first thing in the morning and gazing upon plates of dainty sandwiches left over from my mother's bridge night. The room held 4 or 5 card tables covered in diagonally draped embroidered white tablecloths.

So, this weekend, it was a trip down memory lane when I decided to prepare a picnic of these special sandwiches. I don't recall actually eating them as a child; my school sandwiches were strictly bologne (American sausage meat called 'balony' these days) and Velveeta cheese!

The first of these special sandwiches were ribbon sandwiches, basically, a 3 tiered sandwich of brown and white bread. The 2 fillings were Cheddar cheese and mayonnaise mixed together in one layer and the other layer was mashed-up dates (heated with a little water). Having cut the crusts off, after the fillings are spread, the idea is to slice the whole sandwich into thirds making 'ribbons'.

The second type of sandwich was asparagus rolls or circles. Again slicing off the crusts, and I think soft white bread would be the bread of choice here, spread mayonnaise on the square. Then place a stick of cooked asparagus (canned for the likes of most of us) on the bread and roll it up. These should be left a bit before slicing into rounds. Very dainty!

What my mother used to do was place all of the sandwiches in a cardboard shoe box and place it in the fridge. But first she lightly sprinkled water on a cloth napkin and placed this in the box. Maybe she put a butter paper, or something like that, in first? Once the sandwiches were stacked she placed the 4 ends of the napkin over neatly like finishing off a parcel.

Being an exceedingly organised person, it occurs to me that she probably made these a day ahead without cutting, then took them out of the fridge and sliced the ribbons and rounds when they were ready to be taken to the bridge tables.

I think she learned to make these sandwiches at school (1930s). They certainly remind me of days when time - more time than today - was spent in the kitchen slicing, setting aside and then coming back to finish off later.

My trip down memory lane had an unexpected bonus! I had to pause in the preparation to go and dig out a proper white cloth table napkin. I do own a few which were handed down to me by my (paternal) grandmother. And sure enough, when I opened out the napkin to place it in the (plastic) box, there was the laundry marking in the corner! It is my grandmother's (married) surname (and my maiden name) with the date, 1913, and the number 6. Presumably this was No. 6 napkin of a set.

So there you have it: 3 generations for a 3 tiered sandwich!