A Friendly's Original...

ok. so, i haven't posted since i considered writing a post titled: "illed cheese" due to an overly greasy sandwich from the overlea diner. in their defense, they typically make a perfect grilled cheese. this one just hung out in the butter a little too long, i think. blah. can't even think about it!

last night i willingly jumped back on my wagon. we went to friendly's for dinner and dessert. though it took us 2 hours to eat our meal, they really do make a good sandwich. i'm a big fan of sourdough. actually, i have a really distinct memory from childhood about friendly's grilled cheese sandwiches. whenever we would go out for a night on the town at friendly's with our grandparents, i, of course, would order the grilled cheese from the kid's menu. suddenly, i no longer fit into the kid's menu demographic and had to order the same sandwich from the regular menu. the sandwich came out, and it was very different. it was NOT cut into four little squares, but cut only in half and it was on a different kind of bread. sourdough. i rejected it at first, but by the end of the meal, i really dug it. now it's one of my faves. who would have thought friendly's of all places could open one's view on a new type of bread? a cultural experience, right there in the hear of pasadena.

in any case, last night's sandwich was excellent. not too greasy, lightly golden and with the perfect amount of cheese. the photo above is directly from their menu, which, (and i swore i wouldn't interject my design critiques into this blog) is really nicely designed. the fold and assembly of the menu is a different story.

next month is NATIONAL GRILLED CHEESE MONTH! i'm hoping maybe martha stewart or the food network will give us lots of great sandwich fodder.

Throwdown with Bobby Flay

I'm currently watching a Grilled Cheese throwdown on the Food Network! Bobby is taking on the owners of The Pop Shop in New Jersey. Evidently they are known for their many versions of our favorite sandwich. As I was looking through their website I came across some very exciting information... April is NATIONAL GRILLED CHEESE MONTH! Oh how exciting! They celebrate it every year with lots of different events. Here, check it out....

Romilos, Severna Park, MD...

Cheesy goodness. Romilo's is a greek restaurant in a strip mall in Severna Park, Maryland. Though, a little greasy, Romilo's had the perfect fried crust. I went with the old standby, American on white this time. I know that Romilo's is another one of Kim's faves. The bread was the perfect thickness and the cheese was melted to perfection, as you can see. I have to say, the butter was a tad bit overwhelming on this one. It's a must to have a soda with it to cut the grease down.

The fries on the side were excellent, though also a bit greasy. There was a pickle that came with it too that was yummy as well.

$50 grilled cheese...

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no matter how you make it, think the one thing we can all appreciate about a grilled cheese is that for roughly $8 you can make somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 sandwiches. up the cost of one sandwich to $50, the novelty slips through your fingers.

ok...my co-worker kim told me about this first thing this morning. i just finished watching it. cheese, fontina, yummy. bread, WOW, so thick, yummy, but mushrooms??!!! i cannot think of anything more foul than mushrooms, yes, even truffles. get your fungus off my GRILLED CHEESE! rrr.

Boo-ulverad Diner

What you see here is the worst grilled cheese I have ever come across. Though in the picture it looks delicious, it was not so. I DO NOT recommend getting one at the Boulevard Diner in Dundalk. My beloved sandwich was placed on a plate with a leaking pickle that was set in a container of cole slaw. The cole slaw was then dumped over and it's juices were running all over my poor sandwich. Cole slaw juice + crispy bread = soggy, gross sandwich. This was not the end of my sandwich experience. I spent most of my meal picking off the soggy parts of the bread AND the hardened, stale cheese that was used to make the sandwich. Umm, GROSS! I thought it was really hard to screw up a grilled cheese, but they sure did a great job of it. 

Home-made

One our snow day, I decided to make my own grilled cheese. I make mine probably the same way as my sister. I use white bread, Kraft American singles, and ICBINB. My favorite part of making grilled cheese is the second time you put the butter in the pan. For some reason it makes me feel like a "real" cook when I take the pan off the stove and swish the butter around the pan. Anyway, this grilled cheese was wonderful!

I did want to add to my sister's post about the grilled cheeses from our family. Grandmom used to use Velveeta cheese slices and real butter. She would actually make mine with American cheese because I didn't like the velveeta very much. Whenever I come across a grilled cheese that has been made with butter, I think of her. I'm not fond of grilled cheeses that have obviously been buttered before it went in the pan. Too soggy. I like to have a crunch when I bite into it. I do enjoy grilled cheese that is made on a sandwich machine. You know, where you put in your sandwich and the machine grills it. It comes out kind of flat but when you bite into it... oooo, the cheese just flows out! Doritos are the perfect grilled cheese mate, either in the grilled cheese or on the side. If I eat it with Doritos, I must cut my grilled cheese at an angle due to the triangle shape. They fit better :)

Jim & Pam love grilled cheese too...

Yes, I know I'm behind, but we're catching up on The Office via Netflix. In the second season, Jim and Pam have their "first date" on the Dunder Mifllin roof. Jim made Pam a romantic dinner of whatelse, grilled cheese.

Team Jim, all the way.

Panera Bread Grilled Cheese...

Went out to Panera Bread last night with my mom. I tried the grilled cheese because I know Kim likes it so much. Well, mine, it tasted like bacon. Not the most appetizing flavor for a vegetarian! I had cheddar on sourdough. Either the cheese was smoked or they had just grilled bacon on the grill.

I also ordered grilled cheese's #1 companion, tomato soup. They have a fantastically rich and creamy tomato soup with some asiago croutons. It was wonderful! Mmmmm!

Toastabag...

Ok, now, I call a grilled cheese made in the toaster a "toasted cheese" or even "cheese toast" but Real Simple's February 2009 issue sites them as a grilled cheese as well.

They offer up a solution to keeping the drips under wraps by using a product called the Toastabag, sold for $10 on firebox.com. You simply assemble your sandwich, slide it in the reusable bag and drop it into the toaster.

Sounds like a good idea for using the toaster oven in the office too. Blech.

I'll have the Grilled Cheese...

We say it all the time. We might be a the fanciest seafood restaurant downtown, yet we still order the grilled cheese from the kids menu. Is it an addiction? Maybe. It's more of an obsession. What could be better than two pieces of bread, bonded by melted cheese then gently fried in butter? Hello!?

Everyone has their #1. My friends used to challenge me to grilled cheese cook-offs. Whether it was so that I would feed them or that they actually thought my sandwiches were the best, I'll never know.

Our mother's sandwiches got us hooked initially. She uses white bread, deli American cheese and margarine in a heavy, small frying pan. She melts the margarine in the pan, then places the sandwich in.

Our father's mother used white bread, Land 'O Lakes cheddar and real butter. She buttered the bread before putting into the pan. She was usually smoking while cooking as well, which may or may not have changed the outcome?

Our mother's mother made hers similar to our mother does, but I believe she used Velveeta? Kim will have to confirm that.

I make several versions of my mother's grilled cheese and have added the Panini Grill into my routine. I also typically add Dorito's into the melted cheese on my sandwich.

We will be using this blog to review the grilled cheeses we have in our travels. Eat up!

Allison & Kim