Between the Bread

What to get the woman who loves sandwiches? Just ask my childhood friend Tiffany and her husband David, who dropped off an early wedding gift when they passed through San Francisco this weekend.

Yes, those are sandwich-shaped salt and pepper shakers, but that's just the icing on the cake butter on the bread. A talented seamstress, Tiffany fashioned adorable owl-motif napkins and a matching picnic blanket with a sturdy plaid flannel underside. She wrapped the handiwork in a colorful picnic basket, along with melamine plates, sporks, plastic tumblers, and a card game called Slamwich that comes packaged in a lunchbox.

To top it all off, she added the salt and pepper shakers and a can of Slap Ya Mama hot sauce, from her family's hometown of Ville Platte, Louisiana. Get a closer look at the napkins and blanket.

I set off on a mission to make my first Vegemite sandwich and ended up with an Elvis-inspired after-school snack instead.

I had every intention of creating what I'd dubbed the Aussie after-school snack: a Vegemite and banana sandwich, recommended by a Vegemite-loving acquaintance. But after tasting some of the very intense condiment on toast, I decided I needed to ease in to the Vegemite. Maybe something less exotic, like 'mite and cheddar.

Almond butter and banana on wheat is fast becoming my new comfort food. For more photos, including my Vegemite experiment, read more

Peanut butter and banana sandwiches and Elvis Presley are forever linked. The King's favorite appears on the diner menu at Graceland, and Peanut Butter and Co. in New York serves an Elvis sandwich that's a PB&B, plus honey and bacon. If you think that sounds decadent, sit down to the tale of Elvis and the Fool's Gold Loaf.

According to The Life and Cuisine of Elvis Presley, legend has it that in 1976, Elvis hopped a plane from Memphis to Denver and back in a single night just to get his jaws around a sandwich called the Fool’s Gold, served at the Colorado Mine Company restaurant in Denver. He'd been reminiscing about the delicious $50 sandwich when he decided to sate his friends' curiosity by flying them to Denver for a very extreme takeout order.

Serving eight to 10 people and containing more than 40,000 calories, the Fool’s Gold may be the most quintessentially American sandwich ever created. Here's why.

My hometown now has a joint called Cupalicious, which features a rather unappetizing website but very appetizing sandwiches. Perhaps the fact that it's located in a suburban office strip proves they mean business. Between the Bread readers Hal and Laurie (creator of the Sloppy Jayne) recently snapped photos of their Cupalicious feast.

The deli sandwich with fries ($7.25, above) and chicken salad sandwich ($4, below) look Carnegie-esque in size, but for seriously less cash. I want one, weird website be damned.

Have you recently eaten a sandwich worth sharing? Send in your sandwich photos to nancy@betweenthebreadblog.com, along with a description of what's on your sandwich.

Ever since I tasted Al's Beef in Chicago, I've been saying that Italian beef sandwiches would make a killing in San Francisco — especially in North Beach. If only I'd gotten into the Italian beef business sooner.

This week, Tony's Coal-Fired Pizza & Slice House opens on Sutter and Union, selling pies and sammies to go, including seven kinds of Italian beef sandwiches, all made with slow-roasted meat cooked in garlic and Italian herbs in the coal ovens. For dessert, another Chicago staple: Italian ices. Better yet, it's open until 11 p.m.

Tony already made a name for himself with Tony's Pizza Napoletana, so he probably knows more about running a restaurant than I do. At least my loss in sandwich riches is a gain for San Fran's sandwich scene.

From Working Girls, this sandwich was truly delicious. Very spicy snapper, salsa and avocado, and a plush, sturdy, and flavorful wheat roll.