When the New York Post’s Stephanie Smith began her food blog, 300 Sandwiches, it raised some eyebrows. The blog, which chronicles her road to engagement by way of cooking, was built upon a promise her boyfriend, Eric Shulte made to her after she cooked him a memorably delicious sandwich.
“Honey, this is the best sandwich ever!” he exclaimed in between bites so rapid in succession, the sandwich was gone in minutes. And then, he dropped a bomb me: “You’re, like, 300 sandwiches away from an engagement ring.”
That was it—a proposal hinged on me making him sandwiches.
She writes in the introduction that when she chose to accept his challenge, she was met with a little uncertainty by friends and family members. Those around her asked if turning his exaggerated quip into a full scale blog was too “Stepford Wife” and made her seem desperate for a proposal. Others who got wind of the blog recently called her “an antifeminist.”
She and Eric (who she frequently calls just “E.” on the blog) insist that the blog is just for laughs, and a fun way to document their relationship and their shared love of bread, meat and cheese. But what the couple, and many of the critics of the blog even, missed is the deeper racial implications behind its premise. Stephanie Smith is an African-American female. Eric Shulte is a white male. Although interracial relationships are becoming increasingly more accepted, there is still a great deal of seedy history that exists between unions of their kind. Add to that the countless hurtful sayings used against women involving cooking (see: “barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen” or “shut up and go make me a sandwich”) and it’s easy to understand why some might find 300 Sandwiches cringeworthy.
Watch their interview on The Today Show here.
