I've been thinking a lot about sandwiches lately, because that was part of what we served at our graduation luncheon.
I really like the look of these subs - it's a great way to hold a sandwich together for buffet tables. From Country Living.
As much as I like that look, I didn't use it for our luncheon. Only because we didn't do subs.
However, I did want a wrapped sandwich so I purchased some sandwich bags. (from Amazon)
Our sandwiches were Beef on a Bun
(beef slices, Muenster cheese slice, lettuce, mayo, and honey mustard)
and
Chicken Croissant
(boiled and cut up chicken, onion, celery, yummy grapes, and a mayo seasoned with salt and pepper and a bit of lemon juice).
This next photo is a scan of a page I cut out of a magazine many years ago. Before computers! But I was still saving the look back then (and not writing where I got the look from, sorry) - I put this page (after writing my note on it) in my files to remind me of what I liked.
I really liked the idea of using a box like this, only I don't do cigars but decided that pencil boxes made an excellent option.
School + Graduation + Luncheon = a great time to use pencil boxes for a lunch box. This is one (big) reason why I chose to have sandwiches for this celebration.
So I searched for pencil boxes. They used to be everywhere years ago, but they have transformed into plastic and different styles, unlike the look above. I did however, find some cheap plain white pencil boxes online (at Discount School Supply) and thought that they would be perfect.
Upon arrival I found that they were a bit disappointing and I almost returned them. I also had some damaged boxes - I wrote and explained my disappointment and they sent me replacements. Still not the quality I was hoping for, but hey, I did say they were cheap!
I decided to use them anyway, because I kinda had my mind set on pencil boxes. But, because the boxes looked kinda icky inside I wanted to cover that up. It's not a very appetizing look. See how dirty the corners look and some even have the nice little rip in them. (personal photo untouched) I guess if you buy these to cover with paper or fabric or whatever, then it won't be a problem, but I was hoping to leave them white.
So, after the initial disappointment, I decided to use some fabric to lay inside, kinda like the photo above has a napkin inside. I thought about a paper napkin, but felt that the fabric gives more variety and adds a special feel and look. Fabric would also not stain the box if they got wet like a paper napkin might. Why worry about that on these boxes ???? I don't know, I just did !!!
I purchased assorted black and white fabrics (using black because it's our graduates favorite color ... that and grey) and made my own napkins.
Half a yard of fabric cut into thirds lengthwise, and hemmed the edges. I refered to a previous post to help me know for sure how to hem napkins, though I didn't do it exactly the same way.
The napkin was tucked into the boxes for a much better finished look - and I really like the finished look.
It was a fun way to fill the pencil box that afternoon.
We let everyone fill their own box. We had sandwiches, a yummy Cashew Noodle Chicken Salad served in half-pint jars, and assorted individually bagged chips. For our drink we simply served cold bottled water and little packets of flavoring. For dessert we had a few favorites - milk (the graduates all-time favorite drink) and cookies, donuts, brownie bites, and rhubarb pie.
Whew! It's over! Now, the clean up! It wasn't that bad - when we got home from graduation I went to the kitchen to wash a few things while people were still visiting - to my Great Surprise things were already washed and many were even put away. The kitchen didn't look at all like I left it. So, to my kitchen fairy ... a great big
THANK YOU!
You are awesome!
(What are you doing tomorrow? :)
