Insanewiches: 101 Ways to Think Outside the Lunchbox by Adrian Fiorino

Lots of books and blogs have been devoted to the Bento Box, Japanese lunch where the items inside are arranged to look pretty, funny or just downright beautiful. But what about sandwiches? Aren't sandwiches just boring- two hunks of bread with some form of filling inside? Wouldn't it be great if the humble sandwich could be just as interesting, funny or beautiful as the Bento Box?

Well, now it can! Adrian Fiorino, founder of "insanewiches. com" has published a book on how to make your own sandwiches pretty, funny, insane or all of the above, with everything from the red, white and blue bread on the French Toast Flagwich, the hamburger sticking out its tongue on the Pumpkinburger, or the PB, J and CC on a Granola Bar on the PBJCC Granogie. This cookbook offers everything from breakfast chuckles to chocolate laces and covered desert sandwiches, over the top belly busters, light and small nibblewiches (Including one sandwich made of thinly-sliced cucumber with a thicker slice of cherry tomato between, washed down with a thimbleful of club soda- you did say you wanted to eat light, didn't you?) to the amusingly named "Up Shittake Creek" sandwich.

This book is full of sandwiches to amaze the eyes, the stomach, and your friends. Rounding out the book are sandwiches made to look like various people and things to celebrate various holidays (the tie-shaped Dadwich or the Stadium-like Insanewich Field) and a chapter of desertwiches, like the Banana Splitwich, the Beam me up Scotty (With Irish Creme Liqueur poured over the whole thing) or the Lemon Sorbwich, made with Lemon cake and Lemon Sorbet.

For every meal and every possible special occasion, you can find a sandwich that fits the bill, from the KFC inspired Quadruple Down to the chocolate-heavy Chocobaconator. No matter what sort of sandwich or ingredient floats your boat, or what sort of design you find interesting, chances are, you'll find something to fill that need or hunger somewhere in this book. You may even find something that you never realized you would like, or the image alone could make you want to try- that will happen a lot with this book!

And even if you don't like the fillings on the sandwiches, there is still plenty of room to make the sandwiches your own by changing up the ingredients used to make them, or just to use the decorating ideas to make great-looking sandwiches of your own (or even decorations. I actually enjoyed the "Blair Witch" decorations used in one sandwich and the instructions on how to make them, and the same idea and ingredients could be used to make many other things as well. The ideas the book gives you are endless, not just in what to make, but how to branch out into doing other things with the same ideas.

This is a great book, filled with plenty of ideas and stuff to do. It's the kind of book that will end up putting ideas in your head, not just of sandwiches to make, put how to use the ideas and techniques presented in the book to come up with insanewiches of your own,i or just new ideas to decorate your own sandwiches. Stuck in a rut of crusts on/crusts off? Let this book expand your pool of ideas! Highly recommended.