Build Your Own Funeral Sandwich | Easy Recipe

Today I’m sharing one of my family’s favorite recipes. They’re called Funeral Sandwiches. I don’t know why they are called Funeral Sandwiches, but maybe it’s because it’s a great and easy dish to take to a grieving family? Whatever the reason, this build your own Funeral Sandwich recipe is delicious and easy to make!

Yesterday we went Christmas tree shopping. This is the first year since Hannah began participating in the Nutcracker that we’ve gotten a tree before the 15th of December! I’m so excited. Last year we almost didn’t get one because everywhere was sold out.

So, for years when the kids were little we purchased a real tree and then somehow I decided that with five young kids and all that we had going on at the time that it was really difficult to find the time to go shopping for the perfect tree every year. We purchased an artificial tree and used it for almost a decade… and then my youngest child, who couldn’t remember ever having a real Christmas tree asked if we could get one. And so for the last four or five years we’ve gone back to the tradition of picking out and purchasing a real Christmas tree.

We brought Annie along for the adventure and she really enjoyed the outing!

We arrived home about supper time so I threw a quick recipe in the oven. This was a requested by Hannah and I’m so glad she made the request because it’s been a few months since I made them and now I want to make another batch they were so good!!

Funeral Sandwiches

I don’t know why they are called Funeral Sandwiches… I guess they were traditionally taken to funerals? But in our house we just eat them because they taste really good and are super easy to make.

The original recipe says to make the sandwiches and marinate them for 4 – 24 hours before baking but often I decide to make these at the last minute and they are just as good! So this recipe is a great make ahead meal as well as a great weeknight quick meal.

Tip: The sandwiches are delicious leftover and cold. You can easily double this recipe!

I served the sandwiches with chips and dip and some Fentimans Victorian Lemonade. This lemonade is sooo good! It’s by far my favorite lemonade ever.

This made for an easy but yummy supper and perfect for our Christmas Tree Decorating party. The girls and I watched a Christmas movie while we ate supper and then got to work on our Christmas tree! My husband went with us to pick out the tree and we really did get a nice tree this year. It’s not quite as big as I would have liked but it fit within our budget well and it fits the space too!

Hannah and I cut the lower branches off the tree and set it up by ourselves. Of course, Laura has a broken arm so she watched Annie while we set it up. Mykal’s health still isn’t the best so he rested while we got it all done.

I then strung all the lights – I bought new lights this year. It was time! And I hung about 700 lights on the tree. I think it could have used more but that’s all I had.

The girls put Christmas music on the speakers and I baked some cookies and we decorated the tree together. I have to say, watching the girls sing and dance to the music while they helped me decorate was just so heart warming. I loved every minutes of it. It was a happy, happy night!

Picking up each ornament to hang on the tree always brings back a flood of memories and listening to the girls reminisce and reflect on years past is a special treat.

The tree looked beautiful when we were done. I want to purchase a new tree topper and we plan to make some new ornaments this year. So still some decorating of the tree to do! I’m hoping to visit Hobby Lobby tomorrow and find a topper for the tree.

This year I did something a little different. Instead of using a tree skirt like I normally do, I grabbed our old galvanized wash basin out of the garage and put the tree stand inside. I absolutely love the way it turned out! The tree stand fit perfectly and I can’t want to finish decorating this room!

I took these photos before sweeping the floor. Oops!

I may put some burlap in the bucket around the green tree stand but I didn’t have any on hand so we’ll see. Once we got the tree decorated you couldn’t see the green stand as much, but I may still want to cover it up.