Today’s post is powered 100% by nostalgia. My baby brother is getting married this summer and it has sent me into a “This Is Your Life” reverie.
My mom was the room mother in my fourth grade year (and in my other elementary years too), and she organized games for our party days. One game involved wrapping food in foil and placing the packets in paper bags at the end of a race course. Two teams competed: one child from each team ran to the end, grabbed a foil-wrapped item, unwrapped it, and ate whatever was inside. Everything was intended to be edible and tasty — at least by my mom’s standards.
Here’s where the memory gets complicated. Nearly every little boy in my class had a crush on my mom. One of the foil packets contained a slice of Vidalia onion, a family favorite. One boy who clearly adored my mom happened to be mildly allergic to onions. Predictably, he picked the onion.
Instead of saying, “I’m allergic — can I choose another?” he ate the onion and then ran from the room to vomit. It was the first time I saw someone do something foolish for love, and the first time I realized not every household eats raw onions like apples.
One of my favorite childhood treats — and something my kids now enjoy too — was a big, gooey grilled cheese sandwich filled with thick, crisp slabs of sweet onion. The onions get just heated through so they’re tender but still have texture, the bread toasts to a deep, rich brown, and little rivulets of cheese escape at the edges. It’s comforting in a way few foods are.
Grilled cheese reigned supreme when I was a kid. Both of my parents make excellent grilled cheeses, and my dad added a playful ritual to the process: the “Thwapping of the Cheese.” We’d each unwrap a slice of processed cheese, hold it by the bottom edge, and swing it up to smack it against our tongues, producing a satisfying THWAP. My third-born even demonstrates the maneuver in the photos included here.
- Here’s the wind-up: note the open mouth and the angle of the cheese slice.
- He’s going for it — looks like he judged the distance just right.
- And he’s home. THWAP!
The ridiculousness of the “Thwapping of the Cheese” never fails to make us laugh. Combine that with my mom’s sweet-onion grilled cheese and lunch ends with a bigger smile than it started with.
To me, this is the perfect grilled cheese. Use your favorite bread and your preferred sweet onion, but there’s no substitute for the melty, gooey texture you get from Kraft Singles. Whether yellow or white, that processed slice helps achieve the exact stretchy, creamy melt we grew up loving.
Grilled Cheese and Sweet Onion Sandwiches
Rebecca Lindamood
Ingredients
Per Sandwich:
- 2 slices sandwich bread (potato or oatmeal bread recommended)
- 2 slices Kraft Singles unwrapped
- 1 1/8–1/4-inch thick slab of sweet onion, peeled and separated into rings or half moons
- 1 tablespoon softened butter
Instructions
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Preheat a griddle to 300°F, or warm a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-low to medium heat on the stove.
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Butter one side of each bread slice, using half the butter for each slice. Place one slice of bread, butter side down, on the hot surface. Immediately add one slice of unwrapped Kraft Singles, pile on as much sliced onion as will stay on the bread, add the second slice of cheese, and top with the other slice of bread, butter side up.
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Toast slowly until the bottom is a deep golden to rich brown, reducing heat if needed to avoid burning. Carefully flip the sandwich — use your hand to hold it together, since the onions can make it fall apart more easily than a plain grilled cheese.
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Toast the second side until it’s also a rich brown and the cheese is fully melted. Transfer to a cutting board and slice on the diagonal. Yes — it tastes better that way.
Nutritional information is an estimate provided as a courtesy. Calculate nutrition using your actual ingredients and preferred calculator.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @foodiewithfam on Instagram and use #foodiewithfamily so I can see your version.
Disclosure: As part of the DailyBuzz Moms Featured Publisher Community, I received a coupon for free Kraft Singles and a stipend to help pay for additional ingredients. All opinions expressed are my own, and I won’t recommend products I don’t use or wouldn’t use myself.