Changing it up this week for something a little lighter.

One of the good things that has come out of sheltering at home has been that I have reintroduced grilled cheese sandwiches into our dining repertoire. Somewhere along the line, I stopped buying white bread because it’s “unhealthy” and Kraft Singles because they aren’t “real cheese”. That was dumb. And I now have a pandemic to thank for reuniting me with the joy that is a perfectly golden-brown grilled cheese sandwich made of those two ingredients (plus butter, of course).

However, I have a beef with bread. It used to be that when I made a grilled cheese sandwich the two slices, when removed intact from their plastic wrapping, would perfectly fit on the bread in a sunburst shape. But what did I find recently after purposely choosing a loaf with “small” slices? They are still bigger than they used to be:

Look at all that blank bread space around the edges! Ewww. It’s like expanding the crust, and who wants that?

So, instead, I have resorted to going with this layering method instead and while the sandwiches are still delicious, I am not crazy about this design:

As you can see, there are still gaps of exposed bread and significant sections on either side of the sandwich that have only one layer of cheese. Worst of all, it offends my sense of symmetry. (In case anyone is wondering, I did consider that it’s possible the cheese got smaller, but it is definitely still square shaped, while the bread is for sure wider than it used to be…alternate hypothesis thus rejected.)

Why has bread gotten so big? I know, it’s emblematic of all sorts of excesses. The last time I made one of these beauties at home, I probably ate it watching a cube-shaped TV with a screen that was smaller than the monitor I’m looking at as I type. But alas, I don’t like bread all that much and I wish it would all get smaller again.

Oh well. Still grateful for this simple, delectable treat. Is there anything you’ve rediscovered during this time that has added a little bit of joy to your life?