Crock, Kraft & White Bread

Starting a grilled cheese shop in your dorm room is not really that expensive.  The school took care of the power & water bill & our folks paid the rent (or tuition), so all we had left to buy was our grocery supplies (bread, butter & cheese) & an electric griddle to cook the sandwiches on.  So, being the frugal college students we were, we hopped in Yuri's SUV & went to Walmart.  

Presto makes a nice non-stick, Teflon-finished griddle with a temperature adjusting dial that any idiot can figure out.  You plug it in, turn it up to 350 & wait for the red light to turn off.  That's when it's primed for takeoff.  For around $25, all you need is a plastic spatula to cook an entire breakfast for your whole family.  

Now, whipping up a delicious grilled cheese is a lot easier than flipping pancakes, cooking sausage patties, or frying up eggs & hash browns on a 24-inch griddle.  But, making the perfect one took some time figure out.  

What kind of butter should you use?  How many slices of cheese do you put on there?  What bread helps to deliver that perfect crunch?  These were all things to consider, but in our 19-year old wisdom we based our decision on the most important factor: cost.

Country Crock (the "butter" that I grew up with), knock-off Kraft Singles & Walmart Brand White Bread was what we landed on.  Since the bread was small, we found out that one & a half slices of American Cheese was just right.

By the time we nailed down our initial supply list, school was going on break for the holidays.  I vaguely remember each of us vowing to "collect" as much supplies as we could from home to help us launch when we returned in 2003.