RE: NORA CHARLES' most memorable line in The THIN MAN:
(Dec. 4, Sandwiches Can save the Season")
Maybe it was The Return of the Thin Man?
But I clearly remember Nick picking up the hotel room phone during a raucous moment and just saying in a charming tone, "We're HUNGRY again." That line was one of the more memorable lines for me and The Thin Man series.
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This is a great idea, but you'd have to figure some things out for people with allergies, so...gluten free alternative bread and maybe just some really good dips to go along, too, with veggies. (Hummus always helps and bean dip.) But after making so many elaborate dinners and stuff for years, I love this sandwich and dip business.
Does anyone know of a caterer that specializes in Finger Sandwiches in Central New Jersey?
Just a grinchy note -- if you serve only finger sandwiches, you are assuming that you have no friends with diabetes or celiac disease. Of course, they're probably not getting drunk either because they shouldnt really drink a lot of alchohol. Make the lovely sandwiches, but add something else too: endive leaves tipped with caviar; cucumber slices with crabmeat; lettuce-wrapped spicy ground pork or tuna; apple 'sandwiches' ....
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@maeve
I like to serve some things on mini rice cakes or kettle cooked potato chips too - they keep the sandwich idea but are nicely crunchy. And blue potato chips are a nice contrast to herbed cream cheese and pink salmon.
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Ahhh, finger sandwiches, when I go out for a proper tea, I ask them to limit the desserts and add more tea sandwiches.
Bread is hard to find out of NY City. A good reference book is James Beard’s “Beard on Bread”. I’ve been making bread out of this cookbook for years.
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@KLKemp I love that cookbook! Try the persimmon bread if you can still find the persimmons that are large and a bit pointy (hachiya?) that get really, really soft. I cut the booze back to half a cup and use bourbon instead of brandy.
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"Bread is hard to find out of NY City."
This is a very strange statement. I have lived in well over a dozen different places that were not NYC, and never thought bread was any harder to find than when I lived *in* NYC.
Bread is a huge issue after leaving NYC - HUGE -
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@julia Come to the other coast, California has fabulous breads, but my favorite has to be a good San Francisco sourdough.
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@ julia western massachusetts & @ KLKemp Matthews, NC
I never knew that New York had a bread problem. I would have thought that in a city administered by WASPish-Judaic Democrats there would be plenty of attention to "Bread and circuses" for the masses.
My choice of favorite bread, a crusty French baguette, is reasonably well satisfied locally. Unfortunately, the baguettes made in the US not have the interior as soft and alveolar as those in France.
What are people talking about?? This is the second comment like this I've read, and I feel like I'm in the upside-down.
Bread is literally everywhere.
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The sandwiches look great, a wonderful idea I've been using since the 70's. And I must add to your best movie lines ever with this one from "My Man Godfrey" (also with William Powell): "All you need for an insane asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people." Keep it in mind at your next holiday office party!
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When I see "finger sandwich," I think long, slender, tea sandwich. They're much more elegant.
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@Lifelong Reader Agree -- but these look delicious!
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@Lifelong Reader I agree, finger sandwiches definitely seem like more of a fancy snack. I think finger sandwiches being the perfect snack, really depends on the kind of party, considering how elegant finger sandwiches are.
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@Mary T.
They do look good, but weren't what I was expecting.
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The smoked salmon sandwiches make a lovely photograph, but trying to eat them in less than one bite will surely result in cucumber, radishes and salmon roe falling to the floor. Save them for Instagram. For eating, consider a more stable topping.
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@MG When I made them, I spread the butter and added the smoked salmon, then cut each slice into bite-sized pieces and added the other toppings on a per-piece basis. That worked fine.
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What a great alternative! Thank you! And your movie line reference is appreciated.
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Sometimes I wish young couples would skip their extravagant wedding dinners in favor of finger sandwiches, high quality wines and cocktails, and some wedding cake. I think a lot of guests would enjoy that more. We have been to some affairs where the appetizers were so good that we would have been content to forgo the main course and go directly to dessert.
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These look beautiful and delicious. I'd also like to compliment Andrew Scrivani on his photography. It's a pleasure seeing his work in the food section: the natural light and crystal clear focus on details makes everything look even more scrumptious. Other parts of the paper sometimes showcase food pictures with such oversaturation that I often can't even tell what I'm looking at. More of Mr. Scrivani's work please.
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San Sebastián is considered to have some of Spain’s best food. Its bars all put out spreads of finger sandwiches which are simply delicious.
From seafood to jamon to fois gras.
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@Erik Frederiksen The whole coastal area of the Spanish Basque country has great food. My employer has an office in the suburbs near Bilbao and I was amazed at the quality of food in the workaday bistros and bars within walking distance from my hotel.
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Down here in the south the biggest problem is bread. Even the "artisan" bread is white and fluffy no matter what form it takes, and "wheat" bread is expected to be gummy and sweet, making an unpleasant sandwich even if the sweeteners are honey or molasses. I make my own bread if I am serving bread, but a "flock" of lovely sandwiches on a variety of gorgeous breads is quite out of the question.
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@JJ My husband is from Greece and the problem is the same there -- all the bread, even if home-made or from the best bakery, is very light and fluffy, albeit with a tremendous crust. (Delicious with tsatsiki, etc., but not suitable for this)
Have you considered alternatives such as Matzos, crackers or crispbread ("Knäckebrot" over here in Germany). Those would certainly work well too, at least for open-faced sandwiches.
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@ Expat Annie Germany
"all the bread, ... is very light and fluffy, albeit with a tremendous crust". -- This should not be a problem: eviscerate the soft stuff and stick to the crust. I do this with the French baguettes that have a soft alveolar interior in France or a denser structure in the US, that can although be cut out.
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@JJ This carb-lover recommends Dimpflemeierbakery.com Wonderful, hearty, dense but not wet bread from Canada. Well worth the shipping cost and will keep for months and months in the freezer.
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I like the "flock of sandwiches" line, but an even better one from the same movie is when Nora tells Nick, "I read where you were shot 5 times in the tabloids" and Nick replies, "That's not true. They didn't come anywhere near my tabloids." Best Christmas movie ever...
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My favorite line, too. Thank you for adding this.
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@Mary I love the Nick and Nora movies. They are a magical delight.
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Remember to offer a vegan option! Avocado, hummus or other bean spread, roast tomatoes, eggplant spread, sautéed mushrooms, muhammara...so many possibilities and I guarantee all your guests will love them!
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Why do you turn on the oven for the cream cheese/pecan sandwiches?
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@ Native Tarheel Durham, NC
I wondered about this too. Perhaps, a mistake? My wife likes to makes various tasty concoctions with cream cheese put through the oven, which I consume uxoriously after scraping the cream cheese off.
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@Native Tarheel He is talking about the ham and cheese (croque-monsieur) sandwich.
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@Native Tarheel: You turn the oven on so as to brown the pecans (and stuff). Then you cool them.
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Perfect...make ahead and enjoy the company
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Somehow finger sandwiches seem to be both cozy and elegant at the same time. Definitely going to do the smoked salmon, the dat, and the egg salad. Thanks!
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Finger sandwiches -- a wonderful reminder of nearly forgotten past. I am impressed by Mr. Tanis and Food Stylist Iah Pinkney including in the photo finger sandwiches with salmon eggs (red caviar). Black caviar would undoubtedly be preferred by more refined gourmets, but the price of the black caviar of kaluga, beluga or sevruga, in the area where I live, is 17 times [!] higher than that of the red. The latter retails for about $10 per 100 grams (3.5 oz).
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Our annual Christmas Eve buffet includes at least seven seafood appetizers/sandwiches and seven non-seafood ones.
Several of your sandwiches will now be featured.
Thanks for the great ideas.
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@John please share more about your seven seafood appetizers. #gastronomicallycurious
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@Kelley
I’m almost embarrassed by the simplicity of what we do. I don’t do fancy things, just stuff that my family likes.
Last year our seafood appetizers included:
Boiled shrimp – Decent
Spanish garlic/paprika shrimp - Excellent
Thai Shrimp - Excellent
Crab quesadillas – Decent
Salt cod fritters – Very Good
Smoked whitefish pate - Decent
Smoked oyster/olive tapenade – Unimpressive, too “olivey”, looked like mush
Smoked salmon on dill cream cheese sandwich - Decent, hard to get the dill flavor to come out
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@John Is this your riff on the Feast of the Seven Fishes? Sounds delicious.
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