Say Cheese...

This annoying little cold won't go away, and when I'm sick, I crave two, no, three, things. A smashed grilled cheese sandwich, a bowl of tomato soup with saltines, and a bottle of ginger ale.

Thinking about the grilled cheese sandwich reminded me that everyone has a spin on the classic. The grilled cheese of my childhood doesn't resemble any of the fancy shmancy takes I've seen in the past year in glossy food magazines and on the menus of trendy little cafes and bistros.

And truth be told, I'd rather have one of the newer, trendy sandwiches than my old standby anyway. A couple pieces of white bread, a slice of American cheese, a little butter and a saucer to smash the thing down in a skillet is the grilled cheese of my youth. Comforting? Yes. Exciting? No.

The picture above will take you to an article on Chow (a pioneering food site consisting of stories, recipes and discussion boards) about 10 gourmet twists on the grilled cheese. There are even restaurants based on just the grilled cheese (Chedd's in Denver and Melt in Ohio -- although Grilled Cheese NYC in New York recently closed). And nearly every restaurant serving hot sandwiches serves up some sort of grilled cheese.

My ideal grilled cheese would start with artisan, multi-grain bread, and include at least two kinds of cheeses -- an American aged cheddar and an American fontina -- and perhaps a slice or two of a homegrown, ripe red tomato. That's it... Buttered on both sides and toasted in a panini grill.

I'll just have to dream about it for now because I don't have a panini grill (quite possibly the only kitchen toy I don't own) and I'm all out of homegrown tomatoes (with the recent salmonella scare, I'm not about to buy a store bought one).

What's your go-to food when you're under the weather?