White bread

Commercial sandwich bread has changed alot in my lifetime. When we were kids, most wheat breads were dry and exceptionally heavy. For the most part, my mom bought the best-tasting of these 'wheat' bread varietals: 'Home Pride' or, if she was really on a health-kick, 'Roman Meal' both of which, in retrospect, are actually white bread with small flecks of wheat and some caramel-coloring. Kinda funny.

I don't remember having every kid's fantasy-Wonder Bread in our house, but we must have at some point because I remember how smushy and thin it was. (Side note: am I the only one who despised (still do) room temp lunchbox sandwiches? Made in the morning, but by lunch time disgusting? Lukewarm turkey or ham...all curled up...dry and translucent mustard and mayo. Bleck. Even PB&J lost all it's appeal by noon. But I digress...and feel a separate blog posting regarding this issue coming on...)

Wheat bread has come a long way since then. Nowadays when I buy sandwich bread, I look for one that has minimum 4 grams of fiber per slice and no high fructose corn syrup, etc. (Gotta get that fiber in to compensate for the LC's , right?!) Modern technology has made it possible to have this high fiber bread with excellent taste and still nice, moist and fresh tasting.

In my adult years, with the exception of buying french or sourdough loaves, I don't think I've bought a loaf of true white sandwich bread. It has been a very, very long time since I've had a sandwich on white, unless it was a baguette or something like that.

Until February. When, for my friend Kara's shower (a tea), I bought Country Potato or Buttermilk or something like that to make English tea sandwiches on. Standing in Costco, I asked a couple buying such loaves, whether it was 'good bread.' With a look of annoyance, the wife said, 'I buy it for him (pointing to a happy looking, chubby guy standing next to her.) But to me it tastes like cake.'

So I bought it and sure enough: chicken salad on cake, cucumber cream cheese on cake, egg salad on cake--and so on. Admittedly tasty, also definitely not as filling/satisfying as a sandwich on wheat (need I even mention, less healthy?) And we do really like good wheat bread in this house. In fact, when I had the white bread in the house for the tea, I made Mike and Audrey some toast with it--but she wasn't having it. ' I want my wheat toast!!!!!' she implored. A proud moment for a mom. When kidlet wasn't listening, hubby confessed how delicious it was and how it made French Toast infinitely superior to that made with wheat bread.

Incidentally, I confess to being very embarrassed to having white bread in my shopping cart. Nowadays, it's kind of like having cigarettes in your basket. Another confession: I almost never buy wheat hot dog or hamburger buns and yet never feel any embarrassment about that. I ponder the hypocrisy...

Nevertheless, today at the market while shopping for sandwich materials (we have no use of our kitchen sink as the surrounding area is being re-tiled), I found myself buying one loaf of wheat...and one loaf of white. Is this the slippery slope to the good old-fashioned American malnutrition and/or obesity? I know a couple friends are rolling their eyes at what they might see as 'holier than thou' food philosophy while others are shrieking in horror, having lost all respect for my culinary discretion. But when all else fails, I ask myself WWTDID? Translated: 'What would they do in Denmark?' And in Denmark it is a well-known fact that 'French loaves' are served alongside the heavy Rugbroed (Ryebread of a particularly dense variety). Ok, so sensible Danish consensus would be that only children and unhealthy souls eat more than one piece of the 'Franskbroed' at a sitting.

Do you buy white bread?