75 Comments

If People magazine can report a mass shooting in Louisville, and Taylor Swift’s breakup in the next Instagram square 2 minutes later... since it’s become that common place, we need to talk about sensible gun reform along with sandwiches. And everything else for that matter.

Expand full comment

Excellent point. What have we become? It’s just hard to juggle for me. The reality of life feels absurd and I don’t want it to be. And I’m not alone. I wonder if Louisville will react as viscerally as Nashville or if killing children in school is the lowest of low and demands action. But then, there was Sandy Hook.

Expand full comment

Agreed!

Expand full comment

I love what you’re saying and how you’re saying it. Thank you for using your platform!

Expand full comment

Same! The intersection of food and tragedy was jarring because what else could it be, but you handled the segue with grace.

I’m willing to bet the security check (as if) at the gun show did not take an hour and a half.

Expand full comment

All the instructions and paperwork you need to buy a gun at a gun show is online. They stress how easy the process is. So frustrating. And thank you. ❤️

Expand full comment

Thanks for your affirmation! ❤️

Expand full comment

I've never made tea sandwiches, and I've marched in precious few protests. But next protest I will bring sandwiches. We need permits for guns, bans on assault weapons and high capacity magazines, and permit-less carry for tea sandwiches.

Expand full comment

Love it, Anna! Permit-less carry for tea sandwiches! Let the ladies through, they’ve got boxes of tea sandwiches! Seriously, the Edenton Tea Party in NC in about 1775, if I recall correctly, was to protest the British tax on tea. No tea served but plenty of tea cakes and sandwiches.

Expand full comment

I'm chuckling . I provided sandwiches and lemon tarts for my daughter and her friends for the Franklin Protest. I'm chuckling because of the thought of how many women packed a little food for a protest/rally in the South. It is beautiful to see those women, most of whom have never protested anything, step out of their comfort zone and speak out to protect children.

Expand full comment

Yes it is! Take photos of the food! Protest food can be beautiful!

Expand full comment

I'm afraid in that pivotal moment in my life I forgot to take pictures of the food. I usually remember but occasionally I totally forget.

Expand full comment

I understand! I’ve done the same! ❤️

Expand full comment

Thanks for serving up beautiful tea sandwiches AND real talk about gun reform, Anne.

Expand full comment

Thanks, Jolene. It’s a hard pill for many people to swallow and might go down better with a sandwich and cup of tea!

Expand full comment

Thank you for speaking up. ❤️

Expand full comment

My pleasure. We all want this madness to stop.

Expand full comment

Do not apologize for speaking out in support of what is right! More please! Also the sandwiches look delicious 😇

Expand full comment

Thank you, Beth!

Expand full comment

I have tea parties with my granddaughters, and they love tea sandwiches. I usually use honey wheat since I have it on hand. My pimento cheese does not contain cream cheese; I like it better that way.

I put more mayonnaise. To each his/her own!

Feel free to talk about whatever you want to. We need to get riled up. We need to be made aware of what is happening in our beautiful country. I've never been to a gun show, and I don't plan to go to one. Good for those legislators for speaking up!

Expand full comment

Thanks Karen. I, too, love a good tea party. And many a feisty woman came out of a tea party. ❤️

Expand full comment

Thanks for the article on sandwiches. I'm an egg salad girl myself with an occasional pimento cheese sandwich. I like mine toasted or grilled. Thanks for finding and sharing your voice on keeping us safe from violence. Please keep it up!

Expand full comment

Egg salad is my go-to comfort food. I’ve never had it grilled or toasted. Always soft and squishy. But I think I might try it your way! Thank you for sharing.

Expand full comment

I made aioli last week and used that. It was swell!

Expand full comment

YUM!

Expand full comment

You go, girl. Use your platform. The naysayers will unsubscribe but the supporters will be there for you!

Expand full comment

Thank you!!

Expand full comment

I never thought of sandwiches being so personal and intimate. And comforting, too. Something we share with others or eat alone. Sustenance even when the world is spinning out of our grasp. These past stories you've shared, Anne, have been both devasting yet in anger and grace hopeful. And now for dinner I will pretend I'm you and pull out the remains of the Easter ham and make a few tiny sandwich on (crustless) sourdough for a sick friend down the street, her hungry husband, and the stressed out husband who will come home from yet another horrible first amendment fight. Thank you thank you thank you!

Expand full comment

Thank you, Pat. And don’t you love having leftover Easter ham? It does make the best sandwiches. Sweet pickles, no crust, a brush of mayo and mustard for me!

Expand full comment

Gosh I’m so hungry now. Planning to go to a Kentucky derby party. These are great ideas! Thanks for posting!

Expand full comment

Perfect for Derby Day! Thank you for reminding me!

Expand full comment

I’m grateful to you for sharing your comments. It requires a certain amount of courage in this day and age. It’s a very troubling thing, but my friends in Nashville tell me that lots of people are mobilizing. I think I’ll make some tea sandwiches for the folks working all weekend preparing tax returns.

Expand full comment

That is very nice!!

Expand full comment

Thanks for comfort food and straight talk, Anne! We can never get enough of either, especially now when folks are likely to feel numb after so much gun violence. We can’t afford to lose our sense of outrage. Your voice gives courage to others to raise theirs.

I do have a food question: What do you do with all those crusts? Bread pudding? Croutons? Breadcrumbs? Toss?

Expand full comment

That’s a great question, Ruth! My mother would save the crusts and freeze them in the bread bag until she made meatloaf or chicken croquettes. If they are good and solid crusts - not Wonder bread! - I freeze for bread crumbs. But yes, bread pudding or a cheese strata could use them. When my older daughter was young we would save them to feed the ducks at a nearby pond. It was joyous! Thank you for your kind words. ❤️

Expand full comment

Thanks, Anne! You just brought back long-ago memories of my parents taking us to feed the ducks when we were kids!

Expand full comment

Cheap entertainment!

Expand full comment

If folks are “weary” from hearing about gun control, then perhaps they should lend their voices and votes to force those in power to do something to protect our children. Polite silence has done nothing.

I have never made tea sandwiches, but have certainly enjoyed them at a lovely tea house with a group of neighborhood ladies! Pepperidge Farm would be my choice of bread as well!

Expand full comment

Amen, Susan. They don’t want to hear it because they don’t want to change status quo. Tea sandwiches are lovely. And they help me channel the feisty women before us who demanded change!

Expand full comment

These tea sandwiches bring back memories of making so many for my grandparents' 50th anniversary in '85.

Saturday night, there was a shooting at Christiana Mall in Delaware. No deaths, to my knowledge. It's the mall of my youth. I still go there, even though it's in another state. It happened near the entrance where I always go in. I was texting friends and family to make sure the were safe.

There have been two mass shootings in my county in the past decade.

My kids grew up having lockdowns and drills as part of their school experience, beginning with the I-95/DC Sniper in 2002. My oldest is 27.

Women's voices need to be heard. Use your platform.

Expand full comment

Denise, I just read Heather Cox Richardson’s column and thought of you with this paragraph: ‘’Members of Gen Z, the generation born between 1997 and 2012, grew up doing active shooter drills in their schools, and they want gun safety legislation. And yet, Republicans are so wedded to the gun industry and guns as part of party members’ identity that today, one day after five people died in a mass shooting in Louisville, Kentucky—including a close friend of Kentucky governor Andrew Beshear—the Indiana Senate Republicans passed a resolution honoring the National Rifle Association (NRA).’’

Expand full comment

I can't say what I want, because it's not clean. They don't deserve to be honored with all of the blood on their hands.

Thankfully, Maryland's gun reform act of 2023 was passed and will go into effect Oct. 1.

Expand full comment

It is a sick relationship many people have with the NRA. Their annual conference begins Friday just over the state line from Louisville. If I lived closer, I’d go to protest. But it is worth looking at the NRA website as to which lawmakers are all in.

Expand full comment

my dad gave me a life membership when I was 18. Do you know how hard they make it to get out of it? not easy, but I've been out of it for years.

They're afraid if they give one inch, they'll lose everything. Parents-families--are the ones losing everything with the loss of their children and friends. It's not the same.

Expand full comment

Absolutely! Thank you for sharing, Denise. ❤️

Expand full comment

Thanks for sharing, Denise. What a lovely memory! My mother’s specialty was chicken salad sandwiches, cut into circles, and she would roll the outside edges in chopped parsley. As for the shooting near you, I am thankful your family and friends were safe. These young adults who have lived through this may know the ‘’ drill,’’ so to speak, but I wonder at what cost? I have thought twice recently about heading to the mall. I want to support brick and mortar vs Amazon, and these shootings are not helping our retail neighbors who need our business. Thank you!

Expand full comment