Well, I don't have any books about grilled cheese sandwiches, but I do have:
9780375858604
A wonderfully funny book that I could have sworn I reviewed at A Mom's Spare Time, but I can't find it anywhere! If you make some of the yummy sandwiches listed later, and one disappears, this book will tell you exactly who is to blame...maybe.
9780395442371
"One summer day in Itching Down, four million wasps flew into town."
One of my absolute favorite books growing up! What can a town do when it is overrun by wasps? The only logical solution, of course, is to build a giant jam sandwich to trap them all! The rhythm makes it a fun read-aloud, and the plain silliness makes it a kid-pleaser. Readers will also learn about making bread from scratch, and have to think about the other logistics of making such a monstrosity.
Extension: Offer a crazy (or real-life) problem, and see what off-beat solutions your kids can come up with. make them go into detail! Examples: an oil spill in a river, deer causing traffic accidents, or the gophers digging up our city parks.
9781423124849
Lily and Salma are best friends. They like doing all the same things, and they always eat lunch together. Lily eats peanut butter and Salma eats hummus-but what's that between friends? It turns out, a lot. Before they know it, a food fight breaks out. Can Lily and Salma put aside their differences? Or will a sandwich come between them?
Make sure your kids notice the author's name - I became fascinated with her many years ago, when she became the youngest queen in the world.
As far as the story itself: Extension: Have your kids tried hummus? I know it is becoming increasingly popular here, so if they have already sampled it, find another food with a different ethnic background that your kids may not have eaten, and give it a try. You might even try a different dish each night this week, and let the family give their verdict on each!
Math
Sandwiches are great for practicing fractions and shapes!
- Can you cut a sandwich into squares? Rectangles? Triangles? What other shapes?
- Can you cut yours into halves? thirds? fourths?
- How many ways can you show fourths? (4 squares, 4 equal rectangles, 4 triangles)
- How many squares or triangles can you cut yours into before it's a crazy mess?
Cooking
We had our grilled cheese sandwiches for supper last night, but everyone was so hungry I completely forgot pictures! This is one of those things that has a right and wrong way for every step - and your childhood probably determines what the right way is. For us, an electric griddle is preferred over the stove top (although a cast iron skillet on the wood stove is good in the winter!) Bread buttered on both sides, toasted golden brown and then flipped so the cheese melts on one toasted side while the other browns. That way it doesn't get soggy in the middle.
Here is where we part ways. Daddy and the kids are happy with two slices of processed American cheese. Here is my eloquent assessment of that 'recipe':
Blech.
I generally do shredded sharp cheddar, but if I have it, I will add some pepper jack. When I was younger, adding bacon bits was a special treat. I also salt the outside of the bread and flip it one more time.
All of that is still pretty simple. If you want to fancy yours up, I am going to send you to the Grilled Cheese Academy. From the Bloody Mary to the Wilbur, there is a sandwich here for even people who think they (blasphemy alert) don't like grilled cheese sandwiches! Now I am hungry for grilled cheese, and I just had grilled cheese. So I'll leave you with these words from Fluffy here...
How do you like YOUR grilled cheese?
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