Sandwich salute: Brown-bagging gets a lift with food experts' creative ideas.(Chicago Tribune)

"What's your lunch? Let me see! Bologna ... yuck!!!"

The schoolchild's brown-bag sandwich has caused tears, inspired fist fights, crushed self-esteem and been the base on which lifelong friendships have been built since time immemorial (or at least since they invented brown paper bags).

Along the way, they have provided sustenance and smidgens of nourishment to the countless boys and girls who consume them.

Although threatened on many sides _ from the hot lunch served in school lunchrooms to bread-less alternatives such as Lunchables _ the homemade sandwich remains the first choice of many young eaters, and their parents.

In celebration of the sandwich and in recognition of the school year just begun, we are presenting a salute to this infinitely versatile creation. With the help of local food authorities who also happen to be parents, we are unveiling a menu of novel, appealing sandwiches well suited to playing the lead role in a brown-bag lunch.

We asked our culinary advisers to choose among four classic kids' sandwich fillings as a base to create a sandwich that parent and child might consume with equal gusto.

The four venerable sandwich fillings were turkey, tuna fish, cheese and peanut butter.