Green Pepper Logs

A rolled tea sandwich of the bridge-luncheon era, built on a spread stiff enough to act as its own glue. The whole thing hinges on the bread: a fresh, soft, close-grained loaf will roll, and anything crusty or airy will crack.

• Boiled salad dressingNot mayonnaise. It is a cooked dressing thickened with flour or egg and sharpened with vinegar, closer to what is sold now as Miracle Whip-style dressing. Substituting mayonnaise works, but the result is blander and looser.
• "Peppers"Green bell peppers, minced fine. Four tablespoons is roughly half a small pepper. Blot the mince dry on a towel or the spread will weep into the bread.
• SaltA full teaspoon in about a cup and a half of paste is heavy by current taste, especially with a salted commercial dressing. Start with a quarter teaspoon and correct.
• Cutting the loafThe recipe says only to remove the crust and cut thin slices with a very sharp knife. Rolled sandwiches of this period were made either from ordinary thin slices rolled singly or from slabs cut lengthwise down a crustless loaf; either reading fits. A long serrated knife cuts thin bread most cleanly, though note that the recipe calls for a fresh loaf rather than a day-old one.
• Making them rollFlatten each slice lightly with a rolling pin before spreading. Roll from the short end, wrap each log tightly in a damp towel or plastic, and refrigerate; chilling helps the roll hold its shape, though the recipe's toothpick remains the fallback if the paste is dry.
• ServingServe whole as logs, or chill firm and cut each roll crosswise into three or four pinwheels. The recipe gives no yield; how many you get depends entirely on how the loaf is sliced.
• Holding timeCut bread dries fast. Assemble no more than half a day ahead and keep the logs wrapped and refrigerated until the moment of slicing.