For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for January 15, 2024

I thought she started making Liz make her own lunch years ago after she whined once too often about what Mom made.

Well, Liz? Why don’t you? You’re certainly old enough and quite capable.

It’s either make your own lunch or eat cucumber sandwiches. I think I’d choose to make my own lunch.

Does it really matter who makes her lunch if there are only vegetables in the house?

BTW, there were (maybe still are) cucumber sandwiches in the UK, usually served with tea. But there was a difference—the cukes were ground up and soaked in sherry before being spread on lightly buttered toast (with the crusts cut off). If it was sweet sherry, that would make such a sandwich palatable.

My mom, who was a child before refrigeration was common, always overcooked the meat. It wasn’t until I was old enough to have a job and get food at restaurants that I learned that hamburgers weren’t suppled to be charred black. This did have the result that I learned to properly cook meat, and dad and I took over the cooking when meat was on the menu…

From Lynn’s Comments: My mom made cucumber sandwiches. I loved them. It wasn’t until I got to school that I found out it was a rather British “dish.” If I brought a cucumber sandwich at school…nobody ever asked me to trade.

A made ahead cucumber sandwich would be a soggy mess by lunch time. Even just a leaf of lettuce for a sandwich should be packed separately and the whole lunch refrigerated. Then you it the lettuce on the sandwich just before eating.

Cucumber sandwiches with a side of Big Mac!

Made my own lunch for school since I was 7 or 8.

Latch key kid.

Cafeteria food suddenly has appeal?

Cucumber sandwiches are a shortcut to anemia.

Cucumber sandwiches – only for afternoon teas, in my opinion!

Cucumber and cream cheese, with a sprinkle of curry powder. Not bad at all.

Always seize a chance to compromise…cuke and spam?

At this age most teens are too lazy to made their own anything lol

I wouldn’t mind a cucumber sandwich if you make the cucumber a pickle instead. (Cucumbers and pickles are virtually the same variety of vegetable aren’t they?)

And while you’re at it could you switch the sliced white bread of the sandwich with a hotdog bun?

And switch the deli cold cuts with a hotdog wiener, and add some ketchup, mustard, and relish as the condiments topping?

I would think that a hot dog is by definition also called a sandwich.

Now just to invent a way to keep the hotdog hot all morning in the lunch bag.

Do Canadian schools provide lunch for their students? She could get a plate lunch.

Good idea, Liz. You’re certainly old enough to make your own lunch.

I guess it’s not technically wrong, but it seems Liz should be saying “make my OWN lunch” not “make my lunch”. It’s a small thing, but it bugged me.

When I was going to grade school, I at bologna and on occasion, salami sandwiches which I made. Growing up Catholic back then, I couldn’t eat meat on Fridays so I’d fix PB&J’s. Once in a while, when eggs were hard boiled, I’d fix a egg salad sandwich which was a real treat. Don’t know why eggs didn’t qualify as “meat” but I wasn’t about to question it. Later on, I discovered the joys of farting. ;-p

Isn’t peanut butter and jelly vegetarian?

After the disaster of having lunch with Duane and Candace (leading Elizabeth to the horrible decision of going to the mall after school instead of making supper for Elly), she is now with Dawn and Anthony (even though she and Anthony had decided to stop having lunch together a few months back). It is amazing to what lengths a cucumber sandwich will drive you.

Well that’s one way to get a teen to do some work.

A smart ploy by Mom!

Vegetarians and Vegans, why can’t they just do their thing and NOT impose their beliefs on other people. If she wants to go vegan with her mom, she’ll let her know.

Here we go with the bigotry. That’s what vegetarians eat alright. Cucumber sandwiches. Sure, that’s it. If we all lacked that much imagination, we’d be dead instead of outliving most of you.

I used to make my own sandwiches, usually baloney and American cheese on white bread with mustard and mayo. Throw in an apple and maybe a couple of cookies and I was good to go.

We do a tea at Christmas time with finger sandwiches and bite-size desserts. One of the sandwiches we always offer is cucumber and cream cheese. It’s always the one that runs out first.

Cucumber sounds kind of bland. Make mine tomato!

If they are vegetarian and not vegan, then they probably still eat cheese. A sandwich with a good hearty cheese, cucumber slices, tomato and lettuce is DE-lish!!!

Couple of slabs of mystery meat, a slice of almost cheese and top it with enough mustard to hide the nasty taste of the first two. Put this mess between 2 slices of industrial bread, and let it age, in a brown bag, at 28 degrees Celsius, for 5 hours. Enjoy! For a real treat, a litre of Bug Juice to wash it all down.

I would most definitely make my own….

Wishing you a meaningful Martin Luther King Day.

She’s plenty old enough to make her own lunch anyway. Of course, having seen her eating habits, it’s likely to be donuts, Doritos, and Dr. Pepper.

Apparently mom isn’t too bright. Cheese, peanut butter, egg salad, hummus, are all vegetarian options you can use in a sandwich and they all have protein as well. Never heard of a vegetarian have only cucumber in a sandwich. (Or perhaps the cartoonist knew nothing about being vegetarian.)

Vegan stuff may all there is at home

Good Idea!

https://www.eatthis.Com/high-protein-beans/

Great Northern beans, then lentils, then black beans have the most protein according to previous link. Of course a ham hock really adds to the flavor….

What,no EarlGrey Tea? Such h orrible parental neglect!