The Joys of the Grilled Cheese Sandwich

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Today is National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day.  Is there anything more deliciously simple than a grilled cheese sandwich? Bread with cheese, a little butter, heated up.  And yet what comfort and satisfaction is the result.

According to the website:

Melting cheese on top of bread is a culinary concept that has been around since the time of the Romans, but grilled cheese sandwiches as we know them didn’t become popular until the 1920s. Due to the ready availability of cheese and sliced bread, they became an American staple, but also spread around the world.
 but also spread around the world.

Comfort Food

For me, grilled cheese sandwiches will be forever linked to my late mom.  When I was feeling poorly, the standard meal was a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup and 7-Up.

Far from reminding me of being sick, this meal takes me back to a time of unconditional love and comfort.

Interestingly, I'm pretty sure my mom broiled her grilled cheese sandwiches in the oven.  I make mine in an electric skillet, slathered on each side with just the right amount of butter.

And I rarely get creative with the ingredients.  It's just American or cheddar cheese and whatever bread is on hand.

And my favorite way to have it is with tomato soup.  Nothing fancy here, either: just Campbell's made with water, not milk, because that's the way my mother made it.

How do you like your grilled cheese?

I asked this question on Facebook and here are some of the responses I got:

Barbara Sanders I love them. Just give me a grilled cheese and sweet midget pickles.

Jim Kobernat:  My wife fries them in a pan with extra cheese and butter on both sides.  I'll have soup if there is any, but there doesn't have to be.  I'll eat three for four of them at a time.

Rhonda Steinwand I love grilled cheese with bacon on it, and parmesan cheese on the buttered sides of the bread. Yummy but not too healthy.  Actually, Steak and Shake makes a decent grilled cheese with bacon that my kids like. It is inexpensive too!

Tina Fontenot Butter on BOTH sides of the bread and cooked until it's just golden and the cheese is super melty. Putting a lid over the pan the last few seconds helps get the cheese melted all the way, and the butter has to go all the way to the edges. It's perfect made on the King's Hawaiian sliced bread! And I agree it goes best with sweet pickles!!!

If you want to get really fancy, you can go the European route and do Croque-monsieur - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croque-monsieur. I had this in Amsterdam, France and a French restaurant in NYC. Very tasty, indeed!

John Matthews Here in North Carolina Pimento cheese is popular.

Beverly Garrett Nickson They're delicious with tomato soup.

Daylyn Warren Swanson Yummy...a place in town (food truck) call Sweet Cheezy....the name says it all.

DeDe Doty Buum I like mine with sliced ripe tomato in it! Yummy!

Karen McLaughlin Trickovic Love good old fashioned grilled cheese on wheat bread and tomato soup..

Katy McKenna Doug is working from home today and when I told him what he'd be celebrating at lunchtime, he got all kinds of happy!

Cassie Garrett Parmesan crusted grilled cheese with avocado and bacon\turkey. Sooo good!

Phylis Dunlap-Huerta With bacon. Grilled with butter. .. yum. (Not so healthy!)

Kathy Moyer Jalapeños and pepperjack!

Traci Lange Davis Brie and tomato or Mozzarella, tomato and basil!!

Steve-Megan Alberts This one from Baker Square..it was my dads favorite. It's very good.
Supreme Grown-Up Grilled Cheese:
Every kid's favorite with a grown-up twist. Hickory-smoked bacon, tomato, cheddar, mozzarella and American cheese melted between two slices of Parmesan-crusted bread.

Katrina Johns ALWAYS put shredded parm in the butter for the outside...gouda is a wonderful melty-gooey cheese, black olives and those crispy onions inside are good, too.

Terri Christians I like mine with tomato soup. Sometimes with bacon. Basil tomato soup is tasty to with cheese.

Janet Moses Tom+Chee www.tomandchee.com

Savanna Stivender Nothing fancy for my grilled cheese. I use to love the ones at Waffle House with the sliced pickle on the side.

Daniela Bowe Cindy I like mine with ciabatta bread  with provola cheese, rucola and little cheery tomatoes salt pepper!