I need to start keeping cans of chicken and tuna on hand in the pantry.

It was a great epiphany to me, when I stood in the canned meat aisle of the grocery store and went "Wait--it comes already cooked? And cut up?"

We shop at yuppie/hippie grocery stores, so I don't even know if I'll FIND canned chicken. I hope so.

I'm a big fan of including apple in my tuna salad. Which also has mayo, Dijon mustard, maybe a splash of Worcestershire and usually some curry of some kind. Ideally, I have a hard boiled egg I can cut up and mix in. But I also like and enjoy putting sweet pickle relish into my tuna, though that feels a bit old school.

What's your ideal sandwich construction?

I prefer a good whole wheat with tomato and lettuce. Or if it's a tuna melt (as is often the case in our house) then with gruyere on top (though we'll go cheddar in a pinch, and have successfully done goat cheese.)

Bottom line: apples in tuna salad is good.

Ideal sandwich: I had a great roast beef sandwich last weekend, with salami, pepper jack, lettuce & tomato, and spicy avocado hummus instead of mayo. On wheat. So tasty!

Hey, did you guys all see the bears' pool party? So fun.

Tonight I unpacked my DVDs, updated my mailing/billing address in many, many places, and finally bought tickets to Los Angeles so Lee and I can hang out with LAistas before we head to the South Pacific.

Jilli, they have canned chicken cooked in broth at TJs.

Celery is fine, boring but fine. I don't get disliking it, it's like disliking water, but then again I know people who don't like that either (looking at you, Plei). I rarely use celery anymore, but that's only because fennel root is so readily available and tastes so much better. I vastly prefer fennel in salads, but celery is wonderful in soups and such.

Speaking of aversions to plain tasting foods, it was some Buffista who first pointed out to me how acrid and icky canola oil tastes and it's completely true. Never cook with it anymore, now I use grape seed oil if I don't want to taste it in the cooking.

I put a grated carrot in my tuna salad, usually. I want to bulk it up, because I find a can is pretty much 1.5 meals.

This morning, the recycling was knocked all helter-skelter. One morning, I'm going to come down to a ransacked fridge.

I like celery in tuna salad. I'll usually just have the tuna, celery, mayo, and a bit of onion powder. I like it on a dark, seedy, multigrain bread with a nice tart hard cider or white wine on the side (or club soda with lime if it's lunch).