How To Be Southern or British 101

There is a strong connection between Britain and the American South at the intersection of finger sandwiches. Born here in North Carolina, but quickly whisked north to grow up in Connecticut I never ate a finger sandwich until my family moved to London in 1979. Why Yankees had not either discovered or embraced the afternoon tea menu darling I do not know, but perhaps it was a holdover from that whole Boston tea party thing.
Once I became a replanted southerner I encountered finger sandwiches at every funeral I went to. Of course it is the perfect condolence food to feed a crowd of people you don’t want staying around a long time since the family of the dearly departed really wants to go home and have a drink after a funeral.  
My church has a funeral committee who puts on a really nice post service spread so the family has one less thing to think about. I am now of the age that I am one of the funeral ladies who makes food for these affairs since they usually happen without a lot of notice.
I am quick to volunteer to make finger sandwiches because my friend Carol taught me the ultimate trick for making them perfectly and fast. The secret is an electric knife. Yes, the Hamilton Beach type thing your 1960’s thanksgiving turkey carver might have used. If you don’t own an electric knife run on over to the Goodwill and buy one for a dollar. If you use it for nothing but finger sandwiches once a year you will be happy to have it taking up room in your cupboard.

Here is the secret. Make a whole pile of sandwiches and stack them up on top of each other is the same order the bread came out of the bag. Gently hold the top and carve down the side barley shaving off the crust. Usually three sides of the bread are even from the pan they were baked in, but the top can be wavy. Try and sacrifice as little of the bread and filling when cutting that side as you can.  

Once the crusts have been shaved away you can cut the whole pile into fingers. To make them the same size cut the loaf in the middle first then cut those halves in half again. You will get four perfect fingers per sandwich. I usually cut a stack of at least four sandwiches at the same time.

Keeping the stack all together wrap it in plastic to keep them fresh. Save the shaved crusts in a ziplock bag in the freezer to use as the topping on a cheesy casserole or Mac and cheese. Neither Brits, nor Southerners let anything go to waste.