2017 Iron Range Luncheon

The day before my spring Porch Party -- I sent this email to my TMBC crew:

Thanks to my friends Mary Mulari and Nancy Harp -- this year, we have a special theme -- "Food From the Iron Range".

Our menu tomorrow will be:

Porketta (spicy, boneless, rolled pork roast, from the Italian mine workers)

Pasties (a savory hand pie the Cornish miners used to take to work with them)

Cardamon Bread
Lefse  (here's an interesting video)  (there might be a quiz -- watch the whole thing!)
Potica (a hand-rolled nut bread)

If you go to the links, you can read about some of the food we'll be eating.

AND -- last -- but not least --

SANDWICH LOAF. Although not unique to the Iron Range -- it's considered a "retro" menu item from the 1950's and 60's, when housewives used to get together for card parties or neighborhood luncheons. The crazy thing is that it is STILL POPULAR in the Iron Range part of the world. You can actually buy Sandwich Loaves from the local grocery stores...you can order them, or buy individual slices from the deli department.

I asked my local HyVee bakery to bake a pullman loaf, and NOT slice it.

It looked TERRIFIC...

YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE what I did with this loaf of bread!!