I never liked school much.
I was always the type to daydream during class, I always slept in until I absolutely had to get up, which resulted in me being late for homeroom and my mom yelling at me for it, I almost always did assignments at the very last minute, and I used to skip classes a lot.
The ditching school part didn't happen until I was in high school and it somewhat continued in college, but not nearly as much. I was just so uninterested in school (I never actually finished getting my degree). Which is kind of funny because I actually love learning...for the most part. I hate math. Math can suck it.
The only class I liked sticking around school for was Culinary Arts (shocker) because it meant getting to cook and bake! Our school had a restaurant open to the public, though teachers were our main customers, which sounds like it might have been a quiet environment, but my high school was huge. I had ~950 students in my graduating class alone, so there were probably 3500-4000 students in the whole school. That's a good amount of teachers to educate all those students!
We weren't allowed to serve students and we weren't really allowed to eat any of the food until the restaurant was closed and there were leftovers for us to take. There wasn't always leftovers though and I didn't love eating food from the cafeteria, so sometimes, I'd leave school for a bit and head down to Arthur's Paradise Diner, which is a famous dinner in the Greater Lowell area, known for the boott mill breakfast sandwich (except, it'd just be called the boott mill), named after the Boott Cotton Mills across the street.
Arthur's is an old-school diner that's been around for 75+ years. It's a small diner car that has a handful of booths and was always crowded with students in the mornings back in the day. It sometimes took an hour and a half to get your boott mill. And it was always worth it.
What's a boott mill, exactly? An amazing breakfast sandwich on a toasted bulky roll (which comes from a local bakery and it's the best bread), piled high with eggs, home fries, cheese, and your choice of meat: bacon, sausage, ham, or corned beef hash. You could also go crazy and go double or triple the meat, stacking that sandwich high with all of the meat. I always just stuck with bacon, myself. <3 If going meatless is your thing, that's okay too. I'll take your bacon.
The diner was sold in the last ten or so years and I haven't been back since. I hear from friends the boott mills are still good, but they aren't the same. Still, I'd like to go back one of these days to have one, but I don't live there anymore and they close pretty early, so I'll have to plan to go on a weekday I'm off from work and visiting my parents. Whenever I get that craving though, I just make it myself. I admit mine will never be as good as Arthur's, but it's still damn tasty and hits the spot when necessary. And I guess, it's slightly healthier because I make them using my skillet home fries recipe, which are pan-fried instead of deep-fried. Only slightly healthier. Don't count calories or whatever when eating this sandwich. Just don't.
Also, I recommend this for those mornings after lots of whiskey and bad decisions from the night before.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 recipe skillet home fries
- 3 slices bacon
- 1 breakfast sausage patty, optional
- 1 slice cooked ham, optional
- 1 bulky roll
- Butter, optional
- 2 eggs
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1-2 slices American or sharp cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Follow the instructions to cook the skillet home fries and keep warm.
- When the home fries are close to finishing up, make the bacon by cooking over medium heat about 3 minutes per side or until desired crispness (if making double or triple meat with sausage and/or ham, cook or heat those now as well).
- Set the cooked bacon aside on paper towels to drain and keep the grease in the pan for the eggs.
- *Optional step: Butter each half of your bulky roll and lightly toast on a skillet. Set aside.
- Once everything is cooked, heat the skillet with the bacon grease over medium heat. Once it's nice and hot, add in the eggs.*
- Cook for one minute, add salt and pepper to taste, carefully flip (don't break that yolk!), top with cheese, cover with a lid, turn the heat off, and let cook for another thirty seconds to one minute.
- Assemble your sandwich!
- Layer with potatoes, eggs, and bacon (if eating ham or sausage, add the egg on top of the meat).
- Devour!
Notes
Hi Marissa! This looks like the perfect hangover sandwich! And I have needed quite a few of them in my lifetime! I went to a large high school - my graduating class was over 450. I took all the home ec classes and I totally agree - math sucks! I avoided (skipped) a lot of classes, especially biology! When we had to dissect a frog I dissected my biology book! . Still graduated at seventeen.
Math is the worrrrrst. I'm actually surprised I graduated because I spent a good amount of my senior year not at school. 🙂
Hi Marissa I'm Josh and I remember Artie's from back in the day as well as those boott mill parties back at the arts. I was just thinking about how much I missed the bacon boot. I'm most definitely going to give your recipe a wirl. Yes math blows massively.
Oh my goodness I can't tell you how hungry I am right now after seeing this, positively drooling!
Thanks, Camilla! Come on over and I'll make you one. 😀
Oh those skillet fries look so good in a sandwich. Absolutely perfect for hangovers, cold days or brunch. Please deliver me one!
You got it, Helen! I'm on my way with all of the boott mills for us to binge on. 😀
Haven't had a boott mill sandwich before, but it sure sounds delicious!! Eggs, fries, cheese & bacon - All my favorite breakfast foods in one sandwich - I call this a winner! 🙂
Thanks, Neli! Your tummy will be happy and you can take a nap after thanks to all those carbs. 😉
Wow.. what a lovely treat.. would love it for Sunday brunch.
Thanks, Shobha! It's a great sandwich for a weekend brunch for sure.
What a scrumptious sandwich....I am drooling Marissa!
Thanks Sandhya!
This sounds awesome, especially for a hangover! Love your story to go with it too 🙂
Thanks Donna! Definitely a great hangover food. 😀
This looks fabulous. I'm going to make it using a Panera brioche roll. Thank you for the recipe.
I hope you love it!
Ate these everyday for years . When Arthur passed and they sold the place it was never the same .
Lowell High alum here! I'm sooooooo glad I found a recipe for this online! (I had the basics down, but needed a little guidance for the home fries). Can't wait to make this!
Hey Susie! Thanks for commenting and I hope you enjoy it if you make it! Nothing is ever as good as the original (probably because of all that deep-fried deliciousness) but I hope you find this to be a good stand-in. 🙂
Born and raised in Lowell Ma. Spent many a morning in Arthur's, was a boy officer at Lowell High always got our sandwich a little quicker. Last time I was there his son had been cooking, who was also an exceptional golfer. Haven't been in years but still go to Lowell every year to volunteer for the Folkfestival been doing that for over 30 years. Will make it a point to swing by in July. Now reside in North Carolina. Thanks for the memories.
Can't tell you how much I appreciate this. Also hated Math also like Bacon. I grew up in Lowell (Centralville) am now 46 and spent much of my life in social work or govt work where I had to cook for between 8 and 12 people. I do most of the cooking at home for my partner and have ALWAYS wanted to find a genuine recipe for this. We have a lot of great bakeries in the Durham NC area Ill just have to figure out the best one for the bread, no easy task. In any case. SO pleased that I randomly typed in "boot mill sandwich" and actual hit this. Math can suck it but my kingdom for an early morning Boot Mill in Lowell again someday. Cheers.