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Gourmet Grilled Cheese with Homemade Basil Butter - Yum!

Coming back from our ten day vacation last week was painful for a number of reasons, not the least of which was returning to being "chief, cook and bottle washer". Ignoring the fact that there are no longer any bottles in our house, the general idea is still the same. Back to work. Back to the grind. Back to me being the sole creator of pretty much every dinner in our little house.

Meanwhile, I've also had my fellow blogging sister, ShortOrderMom, ever present in my mind, with her husband in critical condition after his fall as an iron worker. And since she probably won't be doing quite as much cooking as usual with her many pending visits to the hospital, I thought I might try to fill her ever so large shoes with a recipe or two for you. I do cook. I enjoy cooking - sometimes. That is to say, I enjoy cooking when I'm not faced with hungry teenagers after a long day at work, and they're asking, "What's for dinner?" and as usual, I don't know.

So, this last week, I had the presence of mind to ask my girls to fill in for me on one such day. My answer to that age old question was "Whatever the two of you are cooking up!" That answer was first met with a blank stare, but then Princess in Waiting remembered that she had been planning to tempt us with her gourmet version of a grilled cheese sandwich. This being somewhat uncharacterisic for her, as her younger sister, Tween in Line, is the more avid cook of the two, I was surprised when they decided that PIW would make the main course and TIL would be responsible for all of the sides.

Never mind that! I could relax! This was going to work out just great!

Well, long story short, it turns out that since I didn't have the homemade cilantro butter that I'd had when PIW made her special grilled cheese the last time, she was at a loss as to how she could possibly complete her task at hand. Flummoxed, she threw up her hands and was ready to throw in the towel right then and there.

Not to be deterred, I calmly suggested that perhaps she could use basil butter instead.

PIW: Do we have any?

Princess Peg: No, but I have a huge basil plant outside, and you could make some.

PIW: I don't know how to do that!!!!!!!!!! (This with the typical exasperation of a teenager, along with requisite eyeroll and sigh...)

P^2: (Remain calm...plan next pedicure...bubble bath...lunch date with a friend...count days until college...) But your mother does. I'll show you.

So, foregoing this month's book club selection, I proceeded to show her how:

Basil Butter
Take about 1/4 cup basil leaves (stems removed), finely chop them, and mash them into a stick of softened butter and a teaspoon of chopped garlic (the kind that comes in the jar works great). Voila! You have basil butter!

Gourmet Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Spread the outsides of two pieces of bread with the basil butter.

Use the cheese of your choice (we looooove using a slice of American and plenty of Cotswald, which is a form of cheddar with chives in it; we get it at Costco)

Spread the top of cheese with honey mustard, if desired.

Carefully place the sandwich in a medium hot skillet or, if you're ShortOrderMom, probably on a griddle so you can fit more sandwiches at one time!

Turn when bottom is golden brown, about 90 seconds. Make sure cheese is melted when you remove the sandwich for good.

Yum-ola!

Needless to say, I didn't exactly get my evening off from cooking, but I helped my daughter "help herself", and we enjoyed a delicious sandwich. TIL anted up with baby carrots and ranch dressing and sliced apples with caramel dip. Tasty, tasty!