Grilled Cheese Sandwich on Raisin Bread
Sorry, that’s Saturday morning breakfast, not Friday night dinner. Come to think of it, dinner was apple cider and Kinnikinick cookies at the very first Calgary Food Summit in honour of World Food Day, where I spoke a bit to the group of 130 and was involved in lively discussion/brainstorming session on the issues of food security and policy and everything related to creating a sustainable food system, trying my best not to touch anything or anyone and washing my hands so obsessively they now look like they should be attached to a 90 year old.
By the time I got home last night I felt on the verge of a full-on flu smackdown. (I couldn’t manage to hold myself upright at the computer, looking desperately around my cluttered office for something good to give away, and finally crawled into bed and called it Free Stuff Saturday mornings.) W is up and down, a little more feverish again last night and kept falling asleep throughout the day, and we spent another night with him twisted around me, hacking out a lung. Mike has gout again – there appears to be a connection with long car drives. Between us we’re a bit of a mess. (As I write this, W is trying to take Lou’s temperature – it’s a good thing he only knows the under-the-tongue technique.)
Since I was roused by phlegm and simultaneously pushed out the side of a king-sized bed at just slightly after 4 (!!) this morning, I decided I was in particular need of comfort food. Not scones, or a loaf, or oatmeal.. I needed something more. I needed a grilled cheese sandwich made with aged white cheddar on raisin bread. Guys, you have to try this.
The idea was still swimming around in my head after reading my Tell Simmer interview, in which I fessed up my most disgusting snack habit (it’s not the grilled cheese – you have to read it to find out). I answered all these questions in the motel in Salmon Arm en route back to Calgary the other night, drinking shiraz from a plastic Travelodge cup. At some point toward the end I managed to erase the whole thing (I blame the shiraz. And the cup) and I had to start over. (It would be interesting to see how I answered that same list of questions this morning, in an entirely new time and place!) Simmer till Done is on my short list of favourite, funniest food blogs. I have a ton of Marilyn’s recipes bookmarked to try. I wish I wasn’t still in a daze and could do it more justice with my description – suffice to say it’s well worth a read.
So for Free Stuff Saturday Mornings (we’ll resume our normal Friday programming schedule) would you take a new cookbook? I have a new, big chunky one from Readers’ Digest, which I’m sad is struggling (although the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing doesn’t apply to Reader’s Digest operations in Canada) – I’m hoping it isn’t at risk of going under along with Gourmet – news I’m still seriously stunned by.
It’s called Just 5 Things, because each recipe uses only 5 ingredients – seems like a good idea as we start to get into the busy season. It’s huge – 700 pages! – with a flexible hard cover, and EVERY RECIPE HAS A PHOTO. Each recipe is on its own page, and the facing page is a full-colour photo. It’s one of the best laid-out cookbooks I’ve seen.
So – I do want to know what everyone is eating – and you could in fact cheat and recount the best meal of the week – it doesn’t have to be last night! Do you have any 5 ingredient (and under) favourites?
October 17 2009 | sandwiches | 62 Comments »
