You might have been able to use a gadget that I have. It belonged to my grandmother, and I have no idea what it's called. You use it to make thin slices of bread. It's two pieces of metal with holes, hinged together at the bottom. The metal pieces have a sort of "lip" that goes around three sides, and they have holes punched in them. They're curved at the top. You put a regular slice of bread between the two pieces of metal and close them--the bread is sort of held captive and upright by the punched holes. Then you can gently guide your bread knife down through the gap between the metal, using the same slicing motion you'd use to slice any bread. The result is two very much thinner, but very uniform, slices of bread. My grandmother couldn't stand "bready" sandwiches, so she used this thing every day. She also made Melba toast with it. (And she wouldn't have dreamed of serving a sandwich with the crusts on.) You could have used my grandmother's (whatever it is) instead of your pastry roller. It really does make elegant sandwiches. :)Dear Anne: that sounds SO cool. If it's not too much trouble, I'd love to see a photo of this thing. I'm always cruising antique shops for old food-prep toys. If you get a chance, could you send me a shot of it? susan.reid@kingarthurflour.com. Sounds like it would be a great portion control weapon for the loaves of bread I bake for myself. Susan
December 31, 2008 at 12:46am