Fiorino - Insanewiches : 101 ways to think outside the lunchbox

Did you guys see that crazy sandwich pic forwarded this morning? asks my lunchmate, forming an imaginary square with her fingers in mid-air. It had different cubes of meat and cheese in itman, I just wanted to take a bite out of the screen!

Im eating with friends. Theyre going on about an e-mail that bounced around the office that morning. The picture attached was a bizarre-looking sandwich resembling a Rubiks Cube. Theyre clueless at this point that the subject of their conversation is the product of my secret hobby, insanewiches.com, and that Im the architect of that crazy sandwich. While they talk, Im dying inside laughing, nearly choking on my food. I ask myself if I should spill the beans. Nah, why bother. Im relishing anonymity way too much! As they continue, I think to myself: That sandwich is really making the old viral rounds, and now its infiltrated my very own lunch table!

In late July, 2009, the blogosphere started buzzing. The food sites and geek blogs discovered my puzzling sandwich containing cubes of pastrami, kielbasa, pork fat, salami, and two types of cheddar. It was tagged by Serious Eats, made the front page of Digg.com, and was later featured in Gizmodos 10 Meat Structures That Require Engineering Degrees to Build and a Death Wish to Eat. (Yeah, I busted a gut when I got that Google Alert.) Heck, the sandwich even went on to make the pages of Newsweek.com. The Rubiks Cubewich was discovered and it opened a portal into a land of insane sandwich fun.

So youre probably wondering why anyone would create a blog (and book) about bizarre sandwiches. Cuz, at some point, lunch got boring, thats why! Take a look around you. People reach for run-of-the-mill ingredientsham, cheese, lettuce, tomatothoughtlessly slap them between two slices of bread and call it lunch. (Yawn.) It doesnt need to be this way. With a little inspiration and my easy-to-follow instructions, youll be whipping up funky, far-out sandwiches in a snap.

In this book, Ill show you how to think outside the lunchbox. Ill give you simple instructions for 101 awesome insanewiches that will absolutely kick your boring lunch to the curb! Ill break down the must-have utensils youll need within arms reach to build your loony wiches. I call these implements the Instruments of Insanity and theyre the tools you cant do without. One example is edible markers, which work like magic markers but leave results you can eat (see at end of book). After I introduce you to the Instruments of Insanity, Ill provide the techniques to follow if you want to create a wacky wich. These are The Unique Techniques for Building an Insanewich. And on top of that, youll find a special icon accompanying select recipes to indicate which sandwiches are kid-friendly.

Yesiree, it will be unavoidable: Your brother, aunt, boyfriend or girlfriend, husband or wife, best buddy, child, mom or dad will look at you like youve sprouted a second head when you show off the kooky creations from this book. But thats OK, because its finally time to rethink lunch. Its time to turn lunch on its head! But before all that, lets figure out what it means to be an insanewich.

What the Heck is an Insanewich, Anyway?

Is your sandwich certifiably cuckoo? Not sure? Before your sandwich can be considered a true whack jobwich and before you diagnose it as insane, its gotta possess one or more of the crazy criteria below.

Its gut-bustingly funny: Ive actually watched friends and family LOL while surfing you made just for her. Youre sure to earn some brownie points (wink).

Its architecturally interesting or perplexing: