Thanksgiving Survey 2025: Sandwich - Responses

Just what the world has been waiting for: the Common Household’s responses to this year’s Thanksgiving survey.  Thirteen responses.  This is the first time participants sent in images.

Question 1 - What is a sandwich for which you are thankful, and why?

A. I am thankful for the Subway tuna and cheddar cheese sandwich, with lettuce and honey mustard – it has allowed me to actually have lunch when otherwise I would have gone without.

B. Large american cold cut sub with everything.  

...and why? Mmm.

C. The sandwiches made of peanut butter and jelly on saltine crackers that my mother magically extracted from the little suitcase.  I am thankful for them because there was no other food for miles around and I was hungry.

D. Noah Verrier's sandwich paintings. The uncrustable sold for $5000.

 

E.  This turkey sandwich 

because it tastes good.

F.  S'mores, for providing desert on camping trips

G.  Cheeseburgers, they're delicious and the large number of toppings available can make for great diversity.

H. A BLT on toast with crisp bacon, a flavorful tomato, and some mustard, because it is bursting with flavor.  It was also a special treat my dad would sometimes make us (without the mustard) when we were growing up. 

I. I am thankful for the brisket press at the 649, for feeding me during weekly trivia. 

J. Liverwurst with mustard on raisin bread.

K. The falafel sandwich on pita w tahini sauce. I am thank full for this sandwich because it has falafel in it and tahini sauce, which other sandwiches do not. It also uses flat bread which I prefer over “American” ultra processed white bread. 

L.   I am thankful for the banh mi sandwich, because it is delicious and cheap, and can be eaten for any meal.

M. Spam sandwich with lots of pickled onions.

2. Bonus: Provide the lyrics for your favorite song or poem featuring a sandwich.

A. There are songs about sandwiches?

- - - - - - - - - - 

B. [no answer]

- - - - - - - - - - 

C. The only song I can think of that features a sandwich is the Oscar Meyer wiener song: “I wish I were an Oscar Meyer Weiner…”

- - - - - - - - - - 

D. Buying bread from a man in Brussels

He was six-foot-four and full of muscle

I said, "Do you speak-a my language?"

He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich

And he said

[Chorus] "I come from a land down under…”

Those are only lyrics I can think of that include a sandwich.

- - - - - - - - - - 

E. Do you like peanut butter and jelly on your matzah?

- - - - - - - - - - 

F. Do you like Peanut Butter and Jelly on your Matzah? 

It's not about a sandwich per say, but the implication is one could make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with Matzah bread

- - - - - - - - - - 

G. “Hey panini, don’t you be a meanie

Thought you wanted me to go up

Why you tryna keep me teeny?”

- - - - - - - - - - 

H  "I like bread and butter!  I like peanut butter and jelly!  I like Schmidt's Blue Ribbon Bread, its my favorite brand!"

- - - - - - - - - - 

I.  Cheeseburger in paradise

Heaven on earth with an onion slice

Not too particular, not too precise

I'm just a cheeseburger in paradise

-Jimmy Buffett

- - - - - - - - - - 

J. Recipe For A Hippopotamus Sandwich by Shel Silverstein:

A hippo sandwich is easy to make.

All you do is simply take

One slice of bread,

One slice of cake,

Some mayonnaise,

One onion ring,

One hippopotamus,

One piece of string,

A dash of pepper--

That ought to do it.

And now comes the problem...

Biting into it!

- - - - - - - - - - 

K. In Baltimore where I was born

Lived a man who sailed the sea

And he told us of his life

In the land of submarines

We all love baloney submarine

'loney submarine, 'loney submarine

We all love baloney submarine

'loney submarine, 'loney submarine

And we live a life of cheese

Every one of us

Has mayonnaise

Sky of green

And sea of blue

In our yellow

Kangaroo

(perhaps to this tune)

- - - - - - - - - - 

L.

[Verse 1] Tried to amend my carnivorous habits

Made it nearly seventy days

Losin' weight without speed, eatin' sunflower seeds

Drinkin' lots of carrot juice and soakin' up rays

[Verse 2] But at night I'd have these wonderful dreams

Some kind of sensuous treat

Not zucchini, fettuccini, or bulgur wheat

But a big warm bun and a huge hunk of meat

[Chorus 1] Cheeseburger in paradise

Heaven on earth with an onion slice

Not too particular, not too precise

I'm just a cheeseburger in paradise

[Verse 3] Heard about the old-time sailor men

They eat the same thing again and again

Warm beer and bread, they say, could raise the dead

Well, it reminds me of the menu at a Holiday Inn

[Verse 4] But times have changed for sailors these days

When I'm in port, I get what I need

Not just Havanas or bananas or daiquiris

But that American creation on which I feed

[Chorus 2] Cheeseburger in paradise

Medium rare with Muenster'd be nice

Heaven on earth with an onion slice

I'm just a cheeseburger in paradise

[Bridge] I like mine with lettuce and tomato

Heinz 57 and french-fried potatoes

Big kosher pickle and a cold draft beer

Well, good god Almighty, which way do I steer?

[Chorus 3] For my cheeseburger in paradise

Makin' the best of every virtue and vice

Worth every damn bit of sacrifice

To get a cheeseburger in paradise

[Refrain] To be a cheeseburger in paradise

I'm just a cheeseburger in paradise

[Bridge] I like mine with lettuce and tomato

Heinz 57 and french-fried potatoes

Big kosher pickle and a cold draft beer

Well, good god Almighty, which way do I steer?

- - - - - - - - - - 

M.  (no reply)

3.  Additional commentary:

In the US, a court in Boston ruled in 2006 that a sandwich includes at least two slices of bread...

        -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandwich

If the law supposes that," said Mr. Bumble..., "the law is a ass -- a idiot."

        -- Charles Dickens

Thanksgiving Survey 2025: Sandwich

Einstein enjoys a corned beef sandwich.

 At this season of thankfulness, I’m grateful for you, O blog readers.  

You, on the other hand, may or may not be grateful that it's time for the Thanksgiving survey! This is the Common Household’s annual tradition in which we express thanks for a thing.  This year we shall express thanks about that inimitable comestible, the sandwich, whether edible or metaphorical.   

Thanksgiving survey:  

Sandwich

Question 1.  What is a sandwich for which you are thankful, and why?

Bonus:  Provide the lyrics for your favorite song or poem featuring a sandwich.

Please participate by giving your answers in the comments.  If you want.  Participation is always voluntary.  Happy Thanksgiving Preparation Time!

Some past Thanksgiving Survey responses may be found here:

Letter

Wheel

Water

Felafel sandwich and tahini shake

Is a hotdog a sandwich?

The Impossible Burger

La-dee-da cucumber sandwiches

Everyone in the family knows
I can't stand mayonnaise.
Back in 2017, I took one for the team and 
bought mayo for the Lunch of the Resistance.

Grocery Store Grace

Blueberry muffins

November 2025

The Common Household Husband and I were at the grocery store the other day.  (It’s like date night for us.)  CHH asked about the blueberry muffin mix I was holding – it’s not an item we ever buy.  I explained, “It’s for the food bank.”  

The Girl Scouts were doing a collection of Thanksgiving items, and for once in my life I was organized and had the list, which included “baked goods mixes”.  Given the cruel halt on SNAP benefits and the ongoing federal government shutdown, making a donation seemed imperative.

Suddenly there was a woman next to me, saying to me, “I overheard that you are getting things for the food bank.  If I give you $20 cash could you please buy extra to give to the food bank?”  

! ! !

I balked.  I actually prefer to give a financial donation to the food bank, but I was buying physical groceries that day so that the Girls Scouts collection would be filled with items. An encouragement to the Girl Scouts to applaud their efforts.  Also, I was reluctant to accept cash from a stranger.  

I said to her pleasantly, “This is for a collection for Local Food Bank.  I encourage you to give a dollar donation to them directly. You can donate online.  That’s very helpful to them.”  The woman enthusiastically accepted my answer, and said, “Yes, I think I can do that.  Or at Other Local Food Bank, which my church supports!  I was just so grateful to hear someone is getting things to help food banks.”  I in turn thanked her for her willingness to help out in this time of grave need.

There it is: a weird but heartwarming slice of life in 2025.  And now it turns out Local Food Bank is running out of storage space because of all the items people have donated.  A monetary donation is definitely the way to go in this moment!  Now if only the nation could be heartwarming enough to fully fund SNAP for those in need, and to pay people living wages so maybe there will be fewer people in need.  Oh, and make health care affordable for everyone and not connected to employment.  And just not be nasty and cruel.  Is it too much to ask?

2016 collection for Food Bank

September 2025

I entered the grocery store on the Thursday after Labor Day, and procured what the homegrown folks here call “a buggy,” i.e. a shopping cart.  In the cart the previous shopper had left behind a handwritten list that said:

What else could anyone need?

15 - 20s

15 - 10s

16 - 5s

2 - 1s

_____________

6 Tequila

2 Grenadine

5 Vodka

2 Rum

3 Jim Beam

1 Old Grandad

All I could think was - someone is going to have a much more exciting weekend than I am.  Both cash AND booze!  So much liquid courage!

Gin - not on the list. 
But surely, especially in 2025,
it's Five O'Clock somewhere.

A little bit of what was going on then:  

• Personally: eye doctor and ear doctor appointments to deal with non-life-threatening but annoying health stuff.  (The ear stuff is ongoing.)

• We (the nation) didn’t know if we would be able to get a covid vaccine.  (Our state legislators and governor came through for us.)

• The US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F Kennedy Jr was revealed to be a nutjob (well, most of us knew that already, but he testified in Congress - without being sworn in - and exhibited his nutjobbiness).  He had decimated the CDC and cut vaccine research.  

• We were in the midst of a soul-crushing election campaign of misinformation funded by the richest man in PA to unseat three PA Supreme Court justices so that he could better control the courts and the 2026 elections.  Severely anxiety producing.  (On Nov 4th we won decisively, and the rich guy lost. But I’m sure it won’t be the last we hear from him.)

• There was still no PA state budget (it was supposed to be in place by July 1, 2025) and I was calling my electeds about that.  Our State Rep said that dealing with the Republicans was like negotiating with jello.  (That state budget was just signed today Nov 12, 2025.)

No wonder our mystery shopper needed those items on that list.

2017.  Image of pile of
cash in our Congressman's hand.

Pin the spine on the Congressman.
Spines still needed today.

These days, whenever something weird happens at the grocery store, I think back to this, two years ago:

July 2023  

I was at the grocery store, with the pasta & sauce aisle completely to myself.  I sneezed.  A disembodied voice from the next aisle over said, “Bless you!”  After a split-second pause, I shouted back, “Thank you!”  

Chivalry is not dead.

A great mosaic