Sunny Lunch

Did I tell you I've been swimming? Well, I have. Two or three times per week, I shrug my lumpy old body into a swimsuit and go down to our local natatorium where a handsome young coach with dark curls devises workouts designed to ready me for my afternoon nap. I churn back and forth for an hour, getting stronger and faster each week but none of the other swimmers are in any danger of being passed. I'm there to make the others feel good about their fitness.

Sometimes, my cousin Jan joins me, driving down from Petaluma for swimming and lunch. We are mildly competitive about our swimming - she's faster unless we are using the kickboards, when for some unknown reason I can usually touch the wall first.

Anyway, we had just finished our swim and were headed into the house for lunch when My Beloved pulled up in his car looking like a thundercloud. Turns out he had had a lousy morning trying to help a customer, was two hours past his usual lunch time, and was in a very, very bad mood. He even threw his car keys - when he's really irked, he throws small objects. Tantrums are so rare with him that I figured lunch was needed - pronto!

Here's what I quickly prepared; open faced sandwiches of roasted turkey breast, pre-cooked Italian sausage and Swiss cheese, sort of a turkey melt but with mild Italian sausage added. The steps are so easy as to be laughable; from bottom to top - toast, butter, turkey, sausage slices, cheese. Run under the broiler until the cheese bubbles and serve.

It was so good, it cured his bad mood after the second bite. It's not pretty but, man, is it ever delicious! As I was photographing my plate, he was laughing and tossing a sunflower napkin ring into the frame to try to improve the picture. He went back to work with a spring in his step, normal optimism restored. The thundercloud had passed and the sun emerged.