Motor Loaf

Whenever I go to the California Palace of the Legion of Honor (gotta love that name!), I like to stop for lunch around the corner at Tal-y-Tara, a wonderfully quirky little tea and polo (yes, polo) shop that serves good tea and coffee, the best scones on the planet and a terrific little lunch for two that they call their "motor loaf."

They take a miniature loaf of wonderful brown bread, carve slices out of the middle, fill them with all sorts of goodies, then wrap and insert the little sandwiches back into the loaf. When I went there this past week with cousin Jan, we not only shared a motor loaf, I also bought another loaf to bring home.

My Beloved had to wait for his lunch the next day, as I was inspired to make lots of little sammies with all different fillings as they did, only I sliced the whole loaf and piled our finger sandwiches onto the tiered plate that Jan gave us.

Because I had a whole bunch of small planned overs in the fridge and because I cut the bread very thinly, I was able to make lots of different flavors for my variety-loving guy - egg and olive, ham and Swiss with Dijon mustard, corned beef with Dijon mustard, cheddar and chutney, cheddar and Swiss, smoked salmon with Greek yogurt, turkey with cranberry. Each had a distinctive flavor and texture - there was no choosing a favorite. Well, maybe the egg and olive?

Anyway, if you get out that way, don't miss Tal-y-Tara. If you don't need a purple polo helmet with tiny mirrors sewn around the hatband (my personal fave), you will at least love the scones with Devonshire cream or the motor loaf.

Saturday Lunch

Having recently been to Tal-y-Tara to have their Motorloaf of different sandwich fillings, I was inspired to pull Cousin J-Yah's tiered plate out of the closet to assemble a splashy-looking lunch. There's something magical about tiers - the same food looks downright fancy when cut into smaller portions and arranged airily above the table.

I had only white bread in the house but enjoyed adding a variety of fillings to the very thin slices - ham and cheese, cheddar and chutney, egg salad, sliced chicken with cranberry sauce. A few tiny, bright clementines and a slice of Chilebrown's wonderfully fruity and nutty fruitcake (we are parceling it out, trying to make it last forever), and you have a feast fit for four kings.

Impromptu

Cousin J-Yah and I always have fun together, even if we don't always do what we had planned. We were headed out to the California Palace of the Legion of Honor (don't you just love that name? So unexpected and deliciously pretentious) to see the Cartier exhibit and to have lunch at Tal-y-Tara when we diverted to Clement Street on a whim to visit Kamei - and never did make it in to drool on the jewels. Next time!

We lucked into a parking space right in front of the store facing the colorful display of plastic storage containers on the sidewalk, fed 50 minutes worth of quarters into the meter and sashayed inside for a quick look around.

Kamei is an amazing store, filled to overflowing with everything a cook could dream of. I had trouble finding the mandolines among the welter of other gadgets, cookware, china, lucky bamboo, orchids, pots, pans and housewares so I asked at the cashier's desk and was immediately told, "Aisle Four." I love stores where the cashiers are knowledgeable and helpful! Of course, I had cruised Aisle Four several times myself without finding them so I went back with doubt in my heart - and found at least five different kinds of mandolines to choose from.

Anyway, here's my latest Kamei find, a hand-held mandoline that slices and juliennes in three widths and stores with the wickedly sharp blades retracted. It has a finger protector, too, thank heavens, or I'd surely have sliced my knuckles instead of the red onion I used for practice.

Cousin J-Yah and I dithered happily over our various choices until the time ran out on our meter, so we fed it another quarter and rushed back inside to finalize the transactions. We have another Kamei convert on our hands - Cousin J-Yah is already planning a return trip! I'm going, too. And we might even get over to the Legion to see those baubles next time.