I had the opportunity to tour the Frisch’s commissary in Cincinnati, which was a delight because when The Lin, FM and I earned a lunch out, we often chose Frisch’s.

Prior to my tour, I never thought about the ingredients on my Big Boy, but now I know the ingredients are fresh! Chef Greg Grisanti and Karen Maier, VP of Marketing, showed us the bakery (they were making pies and dinner rolls), the produce area (slicing onions) and in the meat area they were processing the beef for patties and making sausage.

Having all this under one roof means that Chef Greg can develop, test and rollout recipes quickly. Also, he can respond to decreased availability of an item, for instance, this year’s apple and cherry crop is smaller than other years. If you’ve pulled up to the Frisch’s drive-thru and been offered the primetime burger, those 1/3 pound burgers are Chef Greg’s idea!

After we walked around and I asked questions, but hopefully not too many (ranch is the most popular salad dressing, tartar sauce is not bottled in this facility, and they use 14,000 pounds of meat in a day), we were offered a slice of pumpkin pie (yes please!). Then, we were given the opportunity to use their pumpkin pie in a recipe and share it.

If you’ve read previous recipes on this blog, you know I rarely read a recipe correctly and often start when I haven’t checked to see if I have all the ingredients, which actually gives me confidence to try this!

Growing up in a family of five, a pie would be sliced into six or eight pieces. Since we’re all loving share-bears, none of use wanted to be the one who took the last piece, which meant these leftover slices turned into slivers.

Something like:

While that sliver could be packed in a lunch, it almost makes me want to eat it now instead of dirtying another container and utensil. Since I love sandwiches, I thought it would be easier to have my pie and pack it too if it was used as a sandwich spread.

Without checking the fridge, I pulled out the grill pan and two pieces of bread. Luckily, I had gouda, sliced chicken breast, lettuce and pecans. I tore the two pieces of chicken breast into smaller pieces so that two became something like 27 pieces. Mentally this works for me in a more is better even though it is the same amount and it just layers nicely as pieces. I opened the fridge again hoping an apple would appear, but no such luck.

I like to open-face cook the cheese and meat side, then add stuff like spread and lettuce to the other piece just as it is time to close up the sandwich. To pretend you’re making a panini, place a piece of foil on your sandwich and use another pan to add weight, flip and repeat.

I don’t know if Big Boy says this is a sandwich to take to the bank*, but it certainly works for me to make the most out of a packed lunch! Pick up your pumpkin pie at any Frisch’s for $9.95 and hope your relatives enjoy it, but leave you one piece to create something delicious in your next lunch.

*He’s a piggy bank!

I was not compensated for this post, but was provided a pumpkin pie in order to create my recipe. Thank you, Frisch’s, for the tour!