A Good Cuban… sandwich, that is

I love a good Cuban… warm and toasty, buttery and savory.

Living in sunny soflo, (south Florida) there is a vast array of Cuban restaurants and bakeries. Back in my college days, my morning routine consisted of the 24 hour Cuban restaurant walk up window for some Cuban toast, (flaky crusty bread spread with butter and pressed on a flat iron ) and a double shot of Cuban coffee; a strong espresso brew sweetened to perfection. It was the breakfast of champions for any south Floridian.

Nowadays, hitting up my favorite walk up window is close to impossible, lugging a toddler, newborn, and a 9 month old, oh, yes… and a homeschool kid, I have to resort to other methods of obtaining Cuban food.

Like homemade.

A traditional Cuban sandwich consists of roast pork, sliced ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard. Any change and … well, it’s not a Cuban. You simply can’t “hold the pickles” or switch “ham for turkey”. You just cannot change it. The same way you don’t do ketchup on hot dogs in Chicago.

Just like a PB&J is not a PB&J when the J is honey. You get it.

So, the other night when I had some leftover roast pork, I had the epiphany of homemade Cubans. (sandwishes, of course)

Fortunatly, I don’t need to travel more than a block to find some freshly made, hot Cuban bread. “Pan Cubano”

And, the remaining ingredients are a cinch to find.

pickles, mustard, Swiss cheese and thinly sliced ham.

Butter the outside and press it under a sandwich press. If you don’t have one of those, don’t fret: you can do it with two hot iron skillets stacked together. 😉

And, there you have it: a good Cuban. Mmmmm.

Anyway… we have been sick the past few days around these parts. You know, the typical head cold that makes it hard to think and walk at the same time, and makes your coffee taste like hot water. That is the worst about being sick: losing your sense of smell which-equals no taste as well. Not very fun at all. I literally got so happy when I could smell a stinky diaper.

Talk about being nose blind.

So… a few months ago my hubby and I had our first date in, oh… SIX years. I know, that’s really bad. ~~Sometimes~~ sitters are hard to find. So: we went to this trendy place that we used to go when we only had one kid…and they had this burger joint there:

With the most beautiful onion rings I have ever laid eyes on:

Fantastic, right?

Oh yes.

So: we happened to have drinks before hand: (don’t worry: we took Uber)

These are pickle backs : basically a shot of whiskey that is chased with pickle juice. Crazy but true.

Needless to say: I will never do that again.

Let’s just say: The beautiful burger and onion rings ended up in a potted plant on a public street. After I ate them. I’m sure you get the picture.