Two weeks after the retreat, I brought in the ingredients. But every now and then, something we set out being opposed to suddenly becomes the brilliant surprise in the end.Īnd that’s what happened with this sandwich. We sometimes find ourselves tolerating an idea because it’s not something we believe in. When we come together creatively, we don’t love all the ideas that everyone has. Avocado with banana peppers? Sauteed peppers and onions? Seriously, we had our doubts.īut, that’s the point. Let’s just say, not everyone was confident about how the sandwich was going to taste. That is why it was so important to really describe the ingredients, not just list them.Īt the end of the exercise, here was the list of ingredients: It has to be a font that expresses some kind of personality. I pushed them to get really specific-what kind of bread? Type of tomato? The reason for the specificity is that we don’t just make a brochure with a font. People began contributing basic ingredient ideas like lettuce, bread, etc. I started off the retreat by announcing we were going to build a sandwich. You could say that any project is really an exercise in sandwich building. Everyone contributes ideas based on their own likes/dislikes, experiences, perceptions. The idea is based on how we approach creative projects. So, when I was coming up with team-building ideas for our University Relations retreat, it dawned on me: we should make a UREL sandwich. Every time I eat a sandwich, I think about that. That phrase has really stuck with me all these years later. In one of his last interviews with David Letterman, Letterman asked Zevon, “Do you know something about life and death that maybe I don’t know?” Zevon sighed and responded, “Not unless I know how much you’re suppose to enjoy every sandwich.” Funny, cynical, and sad, Zevon could say things in his music with poetic irony.Ī few years ago, Zevon was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Zevon wasn’t a great singer, but he was a brilliant lyricist. Most people don’t know about him, but have likely heard his song “Werewolves of London” or at least heard it sampled by Kid Rock in his song about summer in Northern Michigan. Tumble drying will shorten the life of your PUL so this is not recommended.I am a huge Warren Zevon fan. If you’re more hygienic than me, you might prefer to wash them more frequently, and if you really want to be certain you’re eliminating any possibility of harmful bacteria you could soak them in a sanitizing solution. Most days I just wipe the inside of my wrappers with a soapy sponge, but every few days I toss them in the washing machine with the tea towels, hang them up to dry and they come out just fine (as Velcro can do horrible things to other items in the washing machine, I fold my wrappers shiny side out with the Velcro sections joined together before washing). So go to town and choose something pretty from your stash of quilting cottons! As for the outside layer of the wrappers, you could certainly choose to use undyed organic fabrics, but it’s not actually necessary because the design of the wrappers ensures that foods are in contact only with the inside PUL layer only. When in doubt, do question sellers about whether their products are certified as being food safe. Here in Australia I ordered my PUL from Pocket Rocket Nappies. If you are in the US, has a range of US-manufactured, food-safe PUL at quite reasonable prices. PUL is a waterproof laminated fabric often used for making cloth nappies, and while your average PUL is not guaranteed to be food-safe (indeed, there are concerns about its safety for food use), certified food-safe or “eco” PULs are now available. My sandwich wrappers use an FDA-approved, food-safe polyurethane laminate (PUL) for the inside, and printed cotton on the outside. Unfortunately, when it comes to fabric it’s hard to establish exactly what is safe, since fabrics and dyes are tested only for their intended uses, which generally don’t include food storage. There are loads of tutorials for fabric wrappers out there, but not all of them use products that are guaranteed to be safe. In preparing this tutorial I researched the safety and suitability of various kinds of sandwich wrappers.