Let it be said that I love how cheeses like cheddar and Gruyere melt naturally, even when it breaks, browns, or exhibits any other “imperfect” traits. But it doesn’t mean I wasn’t absolutely intrigued when I heard it was possible to make your own perfectly melting cheese at home – cheese that would soften, stretch and drape itself gently when heated, rather than break or separate. The next thing I knew, I was ordering sodium citrate online and gathering the other necessary ingredients – good quality cheese and Hefeweizen – to give this super-melting cheese a try.

The method for this perfectly melting cheese comes from a book called Modernist Cuisine at Home (the “home version” of the revolutionary 6-volume Modernist Cuisine encyclopedic set) but I found the recipe on Chow.com. It’s an incredibly simple process and the results are impressive!

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If you’re looking for a special way to show love to the mom or grandma in your life this Mother’s Day (it’s this Sunday!), might I make two suggestions that are pretty much guaranteed to win her over?

1. Breakfast Panini - best if made by you, even better if served in bed (unless your mom has a “no food outside the kitchen rule” – I’ll leave it up to you, you know her best. ) Here are some great options:

• Bacon, Egg and Cheddar English Muffin Panini
• Avocado Bacon Toasts
• Strawberry, Banana and Nutella Panini
• Granola-Crusted Pear and Almond Butter Panini

2. A Panini Press – Once you delight your mom with your amazing grilled sandwiches, surprise her with a panini press of her own. Amazon has had the Cuisinart Griddler at a terrific price this week ($69) and there’s still time to order it for delivery by Mother’s Day! If you’d like to do a little further research, definitely check out my Panini Press Buying Advice.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the fabulous mothers out there…especially my mom.

It’s the final day of Grilled Cheese Month! Before we close the book on our celebration of grilled cheese I wanted to share with you a peek into one more fun, cheesy (in a good way) event I attended this month. A local cheese club called Queso Diego invited me to attend their 2nd annual Grilled Cheese Night. I could hardly pass that up!

The meeting was held in a private home on the grounds of a local farm (a rather urban part of town has sprouted up around it). I traipsed through the garden and past the bleating goats to find the open door of the house and sounds of conversation and laughter pouring out.

The club supplied much of the bread and the heating implements (as you’ll see, we were grilling on a wide variety of devices!), while the members brought cheese and condiments (many of which were homemade) to share. My contributions: caramelized onions, roasted poblanos and one of my favorite cheeses, Beecher’s Flagship.

Photo: Ringo Firefly – ringofirefly.blogspot.com

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Who better to invite to our month-long celebration of grilled cheese than my friend – celebration guru extraordinaire – Heather Christo? Today’s recipe for Roasted Tomato Basil Soup with Grilled Cambozola and Bacon Sandwiches comes from her stunningly gorgeous new cookbook, Heather Christo’s Generous Table. Later in this post you’ll have the chance to win an autographed copy of this book so be sure to read on (trust me, you want this one!).

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It’s become one of my favorite foodie events of the year – The 2013 Grilled Cheese Invitational, once again, drew a crowd of thousands of grilled cheese enthusiasts and more than 150 adventurous amateur and professional competitors to downtown Los Angeles on a steamy, sun-filled afternoon.

For the third year, in a row I had the honor of donning my special sash as an Executive Judge for the competition (for more cheesy fun, check out my recaps from the 2011 and 2012 events). I love this – I have the chance to go right up close to the action (which, thankfully, was in a shaded location this year!), chat up the competitors and – most importantly – taste their incredible creations hot out of the pan. At the end of each heat, each judge gets to hand a big trophy to our favorite sandwich, so this is all (semi) serious business!

Photo: Anne Fishbein, LA Weekly

That’s me, pretending to look all judgy…

A guy in a underpants-wearing sandwich board, nuns grilling a sandwich called “Rosemary’s Baby”, a grilled cheese superhero with American cheese “flames” affixed to her knee-high boots…all par for the course here. Here’s the thing about the GCI, if you’ve never attended – it’s delightfully wacky. But don’t let the wackiness fool you – a lot of these folks, amateurs and pros alike, have real culinary chops. In fact, one competitor I met at last year’s event, Micah Fields, did really well on Top Chef this past season.

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