National Grilled Cheese Day celebrates everybody’s favorite

Why do we love grilled cheese?

Let me count the whys.

Because it’s quick, cheap, gooey, crunchy, tasty, fun, easy, satisfying…

Any day is a good day to eat a grilled cheese sandwich, but today is a reason to go cheese wild.

April 12 is National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day.

Toasted cheese became a household staple in the U.S. in the 1920s when pre-sliced bread and inexpensive cheese became available. It was popular during the Great Depression.

In the ’60s, the sandwich made a statement with orange cheese on white bread lathered with gobs of butter.

In recent decades, people started using a variety of cheeses and adding fruits, veggies, sprouts, meats, nuts, seeds and spices. And less butter.

White bread was upstaged by focaccia, ciabatta, rye, sourdough and wheat.

The sandwiches are often served with tomato soup, which makes it a full meal.

Make at home or dine out.

The Cheesemonger’s Table, a cheese, meat and specialty-items shop in downtown Edmonds, serves the sandwiches on peasant bread with a side of truffle popcorn. The Classic has Vermont raw cheddar and tomato. Ol’ Smokey has Mt. Townsend’s smoked jack and Old Irish Creamery’s smoked cheddar. The French Onion has Gruyere cheese and caramelized onions.

The Grilled Cheese Experience, a Seattle food truck, specializes in the sandwiches with lamb, tuna and barbecue. The Croque Madame has Gruyere and manchego cheese, ham, caramelized onions and sunny-side up egg on parmesan crusted potato bread.

Utility cooking also makes grilled cheese appealing. Cook ‘em up on a charcoal grill or even on an ironing board.

Johnny Depp used a clothes iron in the 1993 movie “Benny and Joon,” and “Married with Children” matriarch Peg Bundy demonstrated the iron method in her “Pig Out with Peg: Secrets from the Bundy Kitchen” cookbook.

If nothing else, it will give you some iron in your diet.

My friend Cindi Parkinson Lawson, a cheese maven fron Indiana, summed up my stance.

“Grilled cheese is not so much about ingredients as technique,” she said. “White bread, real butter and Kraft American cheese is all you need. First lightly toast bread — that means no browning. This keeps soft white bread from flattening. Then using softened real butter, carefully slather one side of slightly toasted bread (careful not to deny bread). Place buttered side down, of course, and add two slices of cheese and top with second slice. In a skillet on low heat, babysit until perfectly browned and flip. Repeat. Now you have a perfect non-flattened grilled cheese sandwich. No fancy bread, no exotic cheese, horribly void of nutrition and perfect for all ages.”

Here are some of the Herald and Sound Publishing staff’s favorite ways to get cheesy:

Stacey Green, circulation admin assistant: I love Gruyere, Gouda and ham on sourdough grilled on the griddle. So nummy!

Alicia Jones, multimedia sales consultant: Extra-sharp cheddar, Tillamook or one of the British cheddars. Two slices of bread (sourdough the best). Butter the outside of the slices, the part that will be face-down on the grill. I use my copper pan for this. Lay thin slices of the cheese on top of both slices of bread. Once the bread is toasted to your liking (dark brown for me) and the cheese has melted mostly, slap one slice on top of the other and gently press. The trick to adding the condiments is prying it open a bit — very, very carefully — so you can squeeze in some mayonnaise, Dijon mustard and occasionally a dill pickle.

Randie Pospical, multimedia sales consultant: This is my favorite grilled cheese recipe: www.altonbrown.com/grilled-grilled-cheese. Except pan-fried, not grilled like Alton does. Gotta love Alton’s technicalities. One of the best things I learned from him is to use freshly shredded cheese instead of cheese slices. It melts much better that way.

John McCartney, copy editor: I just heat up Campbell’s tomato soup, but with milk, not water. I add a dash of curry powder and some pepper to it to give it a wee kick. Almost always have it with the open face, broiled cheese sandwiches.

Ben Watanabe, social media news producer: Deli meat, like turkey or ham, griddle a little to crisp it up, cheddar and jack cheese, with a little mayo and some honey mustard on the inside of the bread, buttered on the outside, slapped on a frying pan on low-medium for about 6 minutes each side; if I skip the meat, I’ll fry an egg and throw that in the middle; plus some Pacific Organic Foods creamy tomato soup or roasted red pepper and tomato soup.

Maggie Boyd, credit &collection: My fave — grilled tuna and cheese. So good. Sourdough bread, cheddar cheese and your favorite tuna/mayo mix. Served with tomato soup (with lots of cheddar cheese and butter melted in it) of course.

Sara Bruestle, features editor: My favorite way to eat grilled cheese is with Granny Smith apples and Swiss cheese. It’s a delicious combination of sweet (and sour) and savory. If you don’t have Granny Smith, any tart apple will do. I like to sandwich thinly sliced apple in between two slices of cheese. Optional grilled cheese add-ons I’ve been meaning to try include apple butter and bacon.

Chris Swanson, copy editor Christina Okeson’s husband: I like mine with pepper jack and provolone cheese with Dijon mustard in the middle. Other times I’ll do one with American and Swiss cheese with tomatoes. And of course you have to have tomato soup with them.

Kristi O’Harran, retired Herald columnist: Of course it is Velvetta on Wonder Bread.

Andrea Brown: 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @reporterbrown.