Thursday, February 12, 2009

I meant to change the sheets today

…but…uh…there was…well, there was a problem…

Quiet! Cat Sleeping!
Silence! Your Master sleeps!

Ahem. And then when the flash went off? She gave me this look.

you wanted something?
You vex me, human slave…

And then she went back to sleep on the pillow so I still couldn’t change the sheets, the end.

In other news, there is a particularly cheap eat that is, IMHO, severely underrated.

Behold, the grilled-triple-cheese-sandwich!!

grilled cheese and crunchies
And also perhaps some cheese that I threw on the griddle and crisped up because it is tasty.

A lot of people seem to think that grilled cheese sandwiches can only be made by putting a slice or two of yellow plastic American cheese on buttered white bread and slapping it into a frying pan until toasty.

That’s fine, sure. It’s good. It can make for excellent ‘comfort food,’ it’s cheap and relatively fast and goes very well with tomato soup.

This cheese sandwich, however, is homemade honey-wheat bread with a sharp cheddar and gooey mozzarella cheese inside, buttered with a mix of freshly grated Parmesan and soft butter. The Parmesan gets all toasted-nutty on the outside of the sandwich, giving a nice crunchiness, mozzarella makes it pleasingly chewy while the sharper cheddar gives it a little extra punch.

I didn’t do it this time around, but you can also add a little stone-ground mustard or fresh-cracked pepper to the middle. I’ve also been known to put bacon or thin slices of deli meat into the mix; they can lead to sogginess so you have to make sure you don’t go too crazy with the fillings (thick slices of tomato, for example, don’t always end as you’d like).

It also goes well with a bowl of tomato soup. But frankly, it also stands all on its own; a very satisfying lunch that would have cost, what, six bucks or so, at a deli. (Three bucks for ‘grilled cheese’, six bucks for ‘three cheese sandwich, lightly toasted on honey-wheat bread’, or twelve if they called it sandwiche du trois frommage, even though that would probably be completely not the right way to say ‘three cheese sandwich’ in French.)

In other news, I got a brace this morning and have been wearing it today.

In other-other news, I am apparently not as evolved a species as I think I am. I spent the whole day scratching at it, fidgeting at it, and otherwise messing with it. I started to wonder if they had something like one of those big cone-head collar-thingees they put on dogs to keep them from chewing at their stitches, that I could put on to keep myself from messing with my new brace.

Or taking it off in absent-minded moments because it was “bothering me,” a term which here means, “doing its job.”

Excuse me, I am supposed to be how intelligent, again…?

(Also, if I’m so smart, how come the cat is sleeping in my bed all day while I’m working to buy her food and litter and toys and such? Huh? Huh? HUH?)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Delightful sandwich! May I suggest a side condiment of red or green pepper jelly. We've made those at Christmas with chedder and swiss on whole wheat. Certainly fancies up what one might think is a meal-on-the cheap.

Did I mention that we made them up in a large batch - filled and buttered- and then put them back into the bread bag and popped them into the freezer? Then when company came it was sliced frozen shortbread into the toaster oven and a frozen not-grilled cheese sandwich into the fry pan.

10 minutes later there it was - festive lunch with seasonal colours, shortbread and fresh coffee or tea. Ta Da!

Trina said...

We have that duvet cover too! But its winter, so we have the flannel one on the bed now. :)

natasha the exile on Mom Street said...

Oh, my goddess of the household gives me that same look on a regular basis!

But since we got her shaved it's harder to take her seriously...

For really, really cheap eats try making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich the way you would a grilled cheese. It is sooo good, I swear. The peanut butter gets warm and gooey and, and, oh dear I must go make one.

Anonymous said...

Aaaahhhh....grilled cheese (or "cheese toasties", as we call them) constitutes one of the major food groups around here. I love making them with homemade bread and cheddar or colby-jack cheese. My kids love eating them any way they come. The dog even loves 'em!

....good grief, I'm rhapsodizing about bread and cheese. Must get out of the house!

ellipsisknits said...

The trick with tomatoes is to not slice them *too* thick, and to fry them up to a little bit crispy before you put them on the sandwich.

Tomato on grilled cheese is actually a wonderful invention. It's like having the sandwich and the soup all in the same thing.

Anonymous said...

Oh, my! Mixing cheese with the butter?! What a fabulous idea! Guess what I'm having for lunch on Saturday?
Linda in Paducah

Lydee said...

cats are hilarious. i love my gourmet cheese sandwiches.

Rena said...

Was the grilled cheese sandwich for the cat? If so, you are WELL TRAINED.