I am fairly upfront about the fact that I don’t cook very often. So, why am I naming the 5 best recipes I’ve come across in 2012? Because I really, really like to eat. So, without further ado, and in no particular order…

Crab-Stuffed Jalapeños

Photo by André Baranowski

April was National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Month and The Lady and I, your humble Feline Foodie, promised 30 new grilled cheese recipes… alas… to mis-quote the late, great John Lennon… “we had grilled cheese plans and then life got in the way”… so even into mid-May, we are still posting grilled cheese recipes… this one today is #26 and as with the last, this is actually an open-faced cheese melt.

The Lady took Jasper Hill Farm’s sample #120125 to make her latest cheese sammy…

Using Original La Panzanella Croccantini for her bread base, she topped it with Prosciutto and then JHF’s sample #120125. She sprinkled a little rosemary on top.

She popped it in the toaster oven and three minutes later… ta da… we had dinner.

Another terrific grilled/open-faced sammy for the grilled cheese recipe vaults and future reference… living with The Lady does have at least one good side… Cheese, Glorious Cheese…

-- Spaulding Gray, The Feline Foodie, for Marcella (The Lady)

And the winner is...

Evan Kendall, of Carlisle PA!

It was a tough call, and judges were divided on the sandwich itself. While I waxed nostalgic for the Frankenfood of my own college days, at least one of our panel felt the soup/sandwich/condiment combo was "kinda gross."

Despite this, the general consensus was that Evan showed clear enthusiasm for the great American grilly (as befits a self-described beer & cheese geek), and significant ingenuity in raising the culinary level at the Dickinson College cafeteria. It was this bold and hearty spirit, as well as his bearded punim, which finally won our hearts.

Plus, of all the entries, he was the one most clearly in need of help.

Update: contest closed! The judges are conferring

Competition is heating up for our Grilled Cheese Photo Contest. Folks are sending in photos of themselves with their master- or monster-piece grillies, competing to the grand prize: a stylish Romano grater, fabulous cheese curler, and innovative partyclette from Boska USA:

Five runners up will also receive Boska's no-fuss, sandwich-ready toastabags, which can make grilled-cheese in your pop-up toaster for near-instant grilly satisfaction:

April is National Grilled Cheese Month, and in honor of the great grillie, culture is teaming up with Boska, and asking you to show us your sammich!

Entries are pouring in. Click to see our proud grilled-cheese eaters!

Everyone has one perfect way to make a grilled cheese... and we want to see it! Send us a picture of yourself brandishing your favorite grilly and you could win fabulous Dutch-design cheese tools from Boska Holland.

Is it a simple white-bread & American-slice traditional? Is it made with Grandma's secret-recipe home-baked bread? Tomatoes, bacon or Worcestershire sauce? Dipped in soup or eaten straight up?

'Nuff said!

Found via Houston Dairy Maids. Thanks, ladies!

I won my football pool (again) by picking based on cheeses and beers I was sampling this week. This is not a scientific method. And the good news is that next week I'll be chomping on new cheeses and sipping new beers, so the ramdom chances for winning are always there. And if I don't win...well, I still got to do the "research".

And for celebration tonight, I will be dining on inside out grilled cheese tonight. Triple the cheese!

Inside each of us is a grilled-cheese-loving kid lost in a land of worldly spin on such pedestrian cravings. In case you have been living in a cave for the past ten years, Americans have a reputation for unhealthy eating and obesity associated with our comfort and fast foods, compared to those foods enjoyed for centuries by our healthier brothers and sisters nestled alongside the Mediterranean Sea. But who can deny the not-only want, but NEED for a grilled cheese every so often? I can’t, and today’s lunch was no exception as I got my “old world” on. Fueled by a trip to Trader Joes, I have unearthed a most delicious cheese and created an unforgettable sandwich: Mediterranean-Inspired Grilled Asiago.