Muffaletta Sandwiches and I've Given Myself an Award

I made muffaletta sandwiches today but more importantly, I've given myself a huge award!

I've placed myself in the #1 position in the Bread Bakers Hall of Shame.

Is this pathetic or what?

I am actually getting worse with this sourdough phenomenon!

What do you do with something that turns out like this? For a second or two I thought of feeding it to the birds. Then I quickly realized I would be accused of adding to the recent occurrence of thousands of birds dropping dead from the sky. So I thought of another way to use these duds.

I turned one on top of the other and inspiration struck. Before we were transferred back to the USA from Canada, I was about to take curling lessons. I always regretted never having learned to curl. But now with a little duct tape....

I have my very own curling stone.

Mine might actually be heavier than a regulation stone. If I had tried making sourdough bread sticks I would have a handle for my stone.

To make myself feel better I defrosted some sourdough rolls I made last week. I can't believe I was disappointed at how these turned out at the time. I have gone way downhill since then.

Muffalettas are so very good. First I make the olive salad. Kalamata and green olives are diced into small pieces. Then celery and onion is diced small as well and added to the olives. Add some capers and a tablespoon or so of red wine vinegar. Sprinkle some dried oregano and red chili flakes into the mix and stir it all together.

Spread the olive mixture over one side of the bun.

Top with salami and mortadella.

Add some mozzarella cheese.

Then some provolone.

Add some sliced chicken.

I add some arugula which is not typical but I like the flavor it adds. The sandwiches are pressed tightly together and wrapped in plastic wrap. The they are refrigerated until you're ready to eat them. Wrapping them tightly allows the juice from the olive mixture to soak into the bread.

In case any of you are on diets and hating me right about now, these are my sandwiches. Hummus, a bit of the olive mix, red peppers, cucumber, sprouts, arugula and lettuce. If I ate most of the stuff I make I would weigh 200 pounds! This is my typical sandwich.

The muffalettas go to the Blog Tech and his friends.

He also shares them with his band members.

And though I have hit sourdough bottom, my new dough and I are on the rise back to the top of the bread baking empire. The one I made this morning looks promising. Sometimes you just have to hit rock bottom and come back fighting.