Sandwich Cake

For hubby's friend John... Happy Birthday!!!

But the cake is actually a huge 9-inch round sandwich.

I found a pack of dinner rolls baked as a round.  I sliced the bread in the middle (horizontally) and placed kani, cucumber and celery salad dressing in the middle, with lettuce leaves.  For the "icing" on top, I spread mayonnaise over then piped mayonnaise rosettes at the edge of the round as well as in the middle.  Lastly, I garnished the middle with kani and the other rosettes with finely minced celery!

It was a huge hit!

Not a Cake!

Apparently, it was a trend a loooonnng time ago to make sandwiches (or other appetizers) look like desserts... so this is my contribution...

Looks like a cake but it is really a sandwich!

3 layers of bread (cut into a round using a cookie cutter), with chicken spread on the bottom layer and a slice each of ham and cheese on to upper layer.  The "frosting" is a thin layer of softened cream cheese and the garnish is diced red bell pepper!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This time, the recipe is by David Lebovitz, which I found here.  The only variation I made was to lessen the chocolate chips to 1 cup and since I didn't have any nuts, I added some of B's peanut MM candies (I chopped them in half or so)

Then, I had some dark chocolate buttercream left over from some cupcakes so I decided to make cookie sandwiches!

To be honest, the cookies were good, but I still prefer my favorite...  The cookie sandwiches, however, were really yummy! 

Ham and Cheese Roll Ups

Sometimes we get little (or no) notice of guests arriving.  And I've had to be creative in finding fast and easy food to serve.  Here's one.

I wish I could take credit for thinking of these but the truth is, I saw these at a function that we attended some time ago.  And I'd been meaning to make them since then.  Of course I don't know the actual recipe that the function organizers (or caterers) used but here is my version...

Take a piece of sandwich bread and cut the crusts off.  Then flatten the bread (this is a very important step, see next paragraph for the reason).  Smear mayo or butter on the flattened, crustless bread.  Then place a piece of cooked ham and a cheese slice (square slices are best) on the bread.  Roll the whole thing up and secure with fancy picks.  Slice into 3 or 4 mini-rolls.

At this point I have to stress that it is crucial to flatten the bread.  I discovered (the hard, experimental way) that if this step is missed, the whole thing crumbles and breaks - the resulting rolls are just plain ugly.

Well, our guests were impressed (whoo hoo!) and the best part was that it was easy, really easy, to make!

Ham, Egg and Pimiento Sandwich Spread

I've always made chicken sandwich spread, but after tasting a wonderful ham sandwich with not ham slices and vegetables, but rather with ham bits and spiced mayo, I decided I wanted to make my own version.  And mine would have ham, boiled eggs, pimiento and mayonnaise, as well as pickle relish and ground peppercorns.

It was yummy on bread -

The recipe:

200 grams smoked lean ham, diced
4 hard boiled eggs, chopped
roughly 1/4 cup diced pimientos
about 1 cup of mayonnaise
about 1/2 teaspoon of pickle relish (or more, if desired)
about 1/2 teaspoon ground peppercorns

Just toss everything together and chill.

Notes: 

A cup of mayonnaise will result in a "chunky" spread.  1 1/2 cups mayonnaise is perfect if you like a "wetter" spread.

Personally I like a tangy spread so I always add more pickle relish, sometimes even up to half a tablespoon.

You can skip seasoning with salt because the smoked ham is usually salty already)