The Sandwich of Appreciation

'I'm starving - need lunch', he says, covered from fingertip to moustache in grease. The hard wife in me ignores him. I want to say: you know where the bread and cheese are. He is more than capable of making baked beans on toast or a cheese and pickle sandwich. I think of the years I spent puzzling how Mum always made lunch for Dad - always. The man never cooked. I would never be that wife, I'd sworn, young and feminist and idealistic as I was.

<p dir="auto">But he's been rebuilding the engine of my van, I remind myself. I channel my mother. I channel my <em>best wife, the one who recognises what my darling puts into <em>us. I might make us dinner and do the shopping and change the beds, but he'll pick up the vacuum cleaner after spending the day digging a garden path or having his entire body leaning into the engine bay of one of our cars so we don't have to spend more than what's necessary. <p dir="auto">I can make him a bloody sandwich. <p dir="auto">'Go chuck your t-shirt in the bucket' I say. 'Wash your hands and make a cup of tea. I'll make you lunch.' <p dir="auto">'Really?' he says. That's the thing about keeping him on his toes. If I don't <em>always make him lunch, then it's a pleasant suprise when I do. <p dir="auto">I start with frying homemade sourdough bread in butter, adding chopped garlic scapes to the pan. As this slowly fries and toasts, in another pan I add red peppers to chargrill. <p dir="auto"><img src="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/riverflows/23xyXMymmF3jKFe6ZvHGH63mbeaZk5ZoSnk7cKWAgqphjcUVsKemoKyRY9zrZ1JLiC1fo.png" alt="image.png" srcset="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/riverflows/23xyXMymmF3jKFe6ZvHGH63mbeaZk5ZoSnk7cKWAgqphjcUVsKemoKyRY9zrZ1JLiC1fo.png 1x, https://images.hive.blog/1536x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/riverflows/23xyXMymmF3jKFe6ZvHGH63mbeaZk5ZoSnk7cKWAgqphjcUVsKemoKyRY9zrZ1JLiC1fo.png 2x" /> <p dir="auto">I then use half of those peppers to make a kind of tapenade as the halloumi fries - olives, jalapeno, pomegranate molasses and peppers are roughly blended to make the spread that I'll add first to the cooked toast. It's good - salty, spicey and sweet, just like I like my husband. <p dir="auto"><img src="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/riverflows/EoeHJx64ahg4kqz99ZGtwmFgoWccdCfA4WzLAtrV8mHtaivLobuiESNgm8DCvQzC14a.png" alt="image.png" srcset="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/riverflows/EoeHJx64ahg4kqz99ZGtwmFgoWccdCfA4WzLAtrV8mHtaivLobuiESNgm8DCvQzC14a.png 1x, https://images.hive.blog/1536x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/riverflows/EoeHJx64ahg4kqz99ZGtwmFgoWccdCfA4WzLAtrV8mHtaivLobuiESNgm8DCvQzC14a.png 2x" /> <p dir="auto">Then it's assembly - the tapenade, halloumi, peppers and lettuce - and the plate put in front of my husband with a flourish and a kiss. I mock announce it like he's in a posh restaurant. 'Today's fare is a garlic butter smeared sourdough, gently pan fried to a golden brown...' I begin. <p dir="auto">'This doesn't look like a cheese sandwich' he mock protests. <p dir="auto">'It essentially <em>is,' I say - 'the halloumi.'. And in a true wifey way, I tell him if he doesn't like it, he can shove it up where.... <p dir="auto"><img src="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/riverflows/23w2snVKcX6sAfG3AmBw9cgNKybg1DziZM9aFniYa1gmARVFm84ShqPFtmKqkLvDZ2K6g.png" alt="image.png" srcset="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/riverflows/23w2snVKcX6sAfG3AmBw9cgNKybg1DziZM9aFniYa1gmARVFm84ShqPFtmKqkLvDZ2K6g.png 1x, https://images.hive.blog/1536x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/riverflows/23w2snVKcX6sAfG3AmBw9cgNKybg1DziZM9aFniYa1gmARVFm84ShqPFtmKqkLvDZ2K6g.png 2x" /><br /> <br /> <p dir="auto">But I'm happy to make it. I'm happy to serve him lunch, despite my mock grumpiness. <p dir="auto">Sometimes sandwiches just say I love you, and I appreciate you. <p dir="auto"><center> <h1><code>With Love, <p dir="auto"><img src="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/riverflows/23t6xT1abr5kFMeEirKwZ2QqT6MK9U4SBpKCQZAjVEojgm7uSSGL9AJSuwtBsUmMAV5jv.png" alt="image.png" srcset="https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/riverflows/23t6xT1abr5kFMeEirKwZ2QqT6MK9U4SBpKCQZAjVEojgm7uSSGL9AJSuwtBsUmMAV5jv.png 1x, https://images.hive.blog/1536x0/https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/riverflows/23t6xT1abr5kFMeEirKwZ2QqT6MK9U4SBpKCQZAjVEojgm7uSSGL9AJSuwtBsUmMAV5jv.png 2x" /> <p dir="auto"><strong>Are you on HIVE yet? Earn for writing! Referral link for FREE account <a href="https://hiveonboard.com?ref=riverflowsJ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" title="This link will take you away from hive.blog" class="external_link">here<br /> <a href="https://peakd.com/@naturalmedicine" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" title="This link will take you away from hive.blog" class="external_link">