Why can’t people learn to use a four-way stop? All they need to do is pay attention, count and politely take turns, (something we hopefully learned in nursery school) depending on who gets there first. It seems to cause great confusion. Phew, got that off my chest. Why would I talk about traffic problems in this food column? Because I can. I can talk about pretty much anything as long as I tie it in to food somehow.

Breaking the rules a little is usually not an issue when it comes to food. It makes the food fun. Hopefully gives it flare or a different flavor or look. Most people really appreciate a change from the same old stuff.

On the other hand at a four-way stop don’t break the rules. It’s not rocket science. Follow this simple plan, peeps: 1. You go 2. They go. 3. They go. 4. They go. Then it starts at the beginning with number 1. Or another scenario could be: 1. They go. 2. They go. 3. You go. 4. They go. No second car sneaking through with number 1, 2, 3, or 4! By now I am sure you get the picture. Okay, I will now move on to my food rule-breaking.

I made a sandwich the other day, but it definitely was not the usual turkey, lettuce, tomato, between two slices. I like to call it a deconstructed sandwich. All sandwich rules out the window. I had ingredients that didn’t fit well in between slices of bread. A cucumber, some feta cheese, some cherry tomatoes, Some small chunks of turkey. I cut these all up and mixed them up with a dash of vinegar and a dash of olive oil. A salad you say? No, because I toasted one slice of good bakery rye bread, sliced it into horizontal pieces, toasted it and mixed it in with my deconstructed sandwich. I ate it with a fork, like a salad but it had all the earmarks of a sandwich. The bread soaked up the juices and flavors of the cheese. No stuff falling out, no messy hands or lap. It was remotely like Panzenella, an Italian bread salad, but reminded me more of a regular sammy.

Sometimes you gotta follow the rules! But with a sandwich go wild.

— LUCY

Geez Luce,

Talk about your roundabout way of getting to your food piece.

I didn’t know which way you were going to turn.

I hope by now you realize that what you are calling a sandwich is in no way a sandwich. Just because it has pieces of bread in it does not make it a sandwich. The key words here being “in it” instead of “outside it.”

I put pieces of stale bread in my gazpacho. This does not turn the soup into a sandwich.

I have to go now and make your concoction. It sounds good. I’ll call it a Lucewich.

— LOU