Heck of a Start

Pictured above is Cam Newton, the former Auburn university Heisman Trophy and national championship-winning quarterback. After becoming an Auburn fan last year, he has been, in my, albeit naive, opinion, the most impressive player of his sport. And now I can see him when he plays for the Panthers!

Thursday night was already looking good, what with all the shopping I got to do (I'm such a girl), but when I came home to find ole #2 was picked mere seconds after the draft began, I knew I was in for a great weekend. Turns out the next Harry Potter trailer came out, too, so all sorts of goodies went down. Top that with The Office and Parks and Recreation, and you can tell I'm flying high.

But no great weekend would be complete without great food, and it was the next day that I returned to our favorite sandwich shop.

While the choice of wich I was to make was initially going to be tough to decide on, the toughest thing was actually getting into the place. Granted, the picture below doesn't do it justice, but we had never been in a more busy Which Wich (about ten people were standing behind me), and this was at quarter to two. Something must have been cooking right that day.

I was struggling for a minute: Thank You-wich (turkey, cranberry sauce and stuffing), Elvis-wich (banana, honey and peanut butter) or the Meatloaf? The sun was out, people were smiling, and I was about to eat. No neet to complicate things or be too involved: thus, I went with a regular turkey. I wanted my weekend to be a simple one, and folks, you simply can not get more simple with a turkey sandwich. And let me tell you, they don't get better than this.

I implore you to add honey mustard and swiss cheese--quintissential turkey toppings--every piece working with the other to bring fresh flavor to the forefront. Add the crunch of the fluffy bread, and yes, you guessed it--new favorite wich.

We discovered an interesting thing to try: my girlfriend got the chicken salad wich, and while I'm not the biggest proponent of these 'salads' (potato salad: narf!), it looked really delicious. She finished it, so yeah, I suppose it had to be good. I suppose I'll find out soon enough. At any rate, try putting the salad on your baked Lay's chips, as she demonstrates below:

A tale of two cheeses

Nice to meet you. My name is John. Oh, you're from Philadelphia, are you? I've never been; I hear it's a beautiful town. I also hear it's cheesy.

Dinner last night at Which Wich presented us with brothers from another mother (who apparently grew up in Pennsylvania). Discussing our possible choice of wich on to trip to you-know-where ended up with the goal of trying both of Which Wich's cheesesteaks, the beef and chicken. As you may know, my last wich was the more 'colorful' Hula (ham and pineapple), so I made it my quest to eat a more, umm, manly wich.

My choice, the beef cheesesteak, couldn't be more authentic. Cheez Whiz, onions and peppers. My instant thought was, "Did they just chop these peppers up? I feel like they pulled it off the pepper plant right before we got here!" As melty as the beef and cheese was, the addition of practically new-born peppers sealed the deal--new favorite which.** My girlfriend had the chicken cheesesteak, and it was literally a new idea to me: does this mean you can have any type of cheesesteak? Would that mean you still call it a cheesesteak? I wonder... Lobster cheesesteak...

Okay, eating at Which Wich is a treasure in itself, but there were a couple of surprises that night We overheard they're opening a store in Birkdale (a new location?! WOO), a mere twenty minutes from yours truly's home, which should make the quest to complete much more convenient. Next, I didn't even realized I'm a fifth of the way through the menu (not counting the celebratory Wicked when I finish), so I'm making good headway. But the big shocker that night was Sarah's clean plate!

Good job, darlin'!

**I fear this isn't the last time I'll say this.

That's one more thing it's good on

My latest outing to Which Wich presented me with a little inspiration. I had a tough go about picking, as the story of my journey to my favorite sandwich shop that day proved heinous, to say the least.

My job takes me all over North Carolina, and that Monday was no different. Coming home from Winston Salem, I usually find the drive pleasant and nap-inducing. More often then not, my strict '65, no more, no less' rate of travel is a one way trip. Unfortunately, I quickly found myself practically parked on 85 South, punching the crap out of my steering wheel. Looks from my peers? Oh, I had them.

So what? Traffic. Big deal. Understand, however, that this is me we're talking about. My ETA at Which Wich was originally 12.30 or one, and that's pretty reasonable for lunch. Leave it to some dummy to cause a backup and make my time then 2.30! Oy, my stomach wanted to hold a mutiny.

I took my time (since I had sooo much) to ponder my eventual sandwich choice. This was to be my fourth sandwich, and I had previously taken in the buffalo shrimp, so seafood was out. While I can't wait to have the Montecristo (ham, turkey, grape jelly, and powdered sugar), I needed something that was a certainty; a standby; a good old fashioned sandwich. I suppose plain could be used here, but I wasn't about to drive two hours for something I may not fully appreciate.

Enter the Hula: ham and pineapple. Ask anyone about yours truly and they'll say, "Why, yes, John is the type of guy that makes pineapple his number one pizza topping choice, no doubt about that. And you're right, the first thing I think about when it comes to John is what he likes on his pizza." The ham was obvious, but the pineapple--oh, my, yes, please!

Needless to say, I scarfed it whole. The Which Wich in Charlotte could be considered located within the upper class part of town, and that day, according to its customers that day, could be seen as such. Did my stomach care about the joggers, the trophy-wives? The businessmen with pressed pants and cuff links?

Quite simply, NOPE.

Beginnings

I recently saw the movie Sucker Punch, and boy, was it a snore. While I enjoy the ubiquitous explosion and scantily clad teenage girl just as much as the next guy, it just wasn't enough to keep me perky for two hours. While it's no doubt the closest thing we'll get to a live anime film, I'm just not "15-years-old" enough to really find it that appealing. The soundtrack is well done (and must've been the inspiration for the entire project itself), so, uhh, check that out. I guess the best thing about the movie is Emily Browning's courageous attempt to branch out in her film career (because you can't get any less Lemony Snicket's than showing your midriff for two hours).

Wait a minute, isn't this blog about sandwiches? Why, yes. I had a great time with my girlfriend and our friends that night, but the movie certainly wasn't the best part--as you can probably guess, it was the dinner beforehand that really made the evening. I mean, it'd have to, I've started a blog. Yeah, I'm taking time out of my day to write about sandwiches. That means they'd have to be pretty damn good. How often does food make you want to write about it?

Enter Which Wich. As my girlfriend is wont to do, she left the decision on dinner to me. She had heard about Which Wich and we took the plunge.

To the common passerby, perhaps a hole in the wall, another of a dozen sandwich shops that litter our fair town. What makes these guys so special? I can grab a foot of sandwich a block away for a fiver. Oh, we're in the upper-middle class part of town, this is going to be hoity-toity. I bet their menu has words like "panini," "focaccia," and "piquant." No doubt its customers are drinking their Starbucks and chatting about whatever it is housewives chat about.

I couldn't have been more incorrect in those thoughts: the closest Which Wich is about two and a half hours from this one; you can get a whopping two-footer here; no leather chairs with magazine-laden coffee tables; ingredients and menu items that actual human beings eat; cubicle jockeys, tow-truck operators--you name it--are all welcome.

Perhaps the most intriguing part of the Which Wich experience is the menu and how you order, and subsequently the true origins of this blog's creation (more on that bit later). Select a specific type of sandwich--ham, turkey, seafood, etc.--then get even more specific. Yeah, you can have a turkey sandwich, but did you want stuffing and cranberry sauce, a la Thanksgiving, or sauerkraut and 1000 Island dressing? All said and done, there's fifty different sandwiches (as of this writing) to choose from. And that's not even counting the kids' sandwiches.

Load up on toppings (I'll take Cheez Whiz and pepperoncini, please), hand the clerk your paper, and moments later, you'll be treated to a delightful and tasty bit of handiwork that the fine sandwich artisans put together. Sure, it may sound like every other sandwich shop out there, but what truly makes Which Wich stand apart is the millions of possible sandwiches that can be created, all with your own personal taste.

That's a pretty simple explanation of due process for Which Wich, but I'd venture to guess you've already been there if you're reading this. The cause for my writing this blog is thus: I was entranced with the multitude of options to eat, and when I saw you have to 'fill in the circle' when you make your order, I saw a challenge. Fill in all the circles.

I came back the next day to recover from that stink of a film, ate another sandwich, and took a menu with me to keep as a personal log of all the sandwiches I eat. In addition, I've created this blog, not only to let the infinity of the internet know about my adventures in eating (I'm a regular Indiana Jones of taste!), but also put this Bachelor's in English to use. It made a nice paper airplane for a while, but you know how it goes.

So, tag along--I'm already a few bites deep with Which Which. I'll admit it's a silly goal, but how many people are you going to run into that've eaten all of the sandwiches at Which Wich? I believe I will be that person.

Oh, and did I mention their drink machine has the good** ice?!

**You know what I'm talking about.