Five Years & Fifty Cheezers Later...

Kate & I threw ourselves into our work through spring & into summer.  There were a few Mad Munch appearances at Fletcher Hills Little League tournaments (aerial view of their beautiful field pictured below), a couple more San Diego Made events at Liberty Station & Barrio Logan, as well as a big day at Bonita Valley Church on Easter Sunday.  

We were busy out there, playing the field & still experimenting with new Cheezers for our lineup.

One Sunday, almost by accident, I came up with the "Showbiz Pizza," vegetarian Cheezer at Rancho Santa Fe.  I simply added all of the veggies we had at the time & squirted Sriracha on top of the melted mozzarella.  It's still on our menu to this day, but we changed its name to the "Jimmy Pesto."  Too many people thought that it was actually a pizza & not a grilled cheese.   

Our 50th Cheezer creation, the "Havana White," a Cubano grilled cheese (ingredients pictured below), debuted as the Cheezer of the Month in April 2018, which also marked our 5th anniversary.  Customers seemed to really take to it & it was one of the first where we melted cheese directly over the meat (pork) on the griddle before adding it onto the sandwich.

Number 51, was a breakfast Cheezer that had scrambled eggs, maple syrup & a blueberry pancake between two slices of sourdough.  "Peter Pancake," was Kate's experiment after "Hashy Larry" & it's spicy Slapstick Sauce began to take off at the Scripps Ranch & the Rancho Santa Fe morning markets.  Besides crepes, there weren't a whole lot of other breakfast "sandwich" options.  We took advantage of the need.  

But, our most "out there" combination, was a kid favorite, especially for my niece, Ava.  The peanut butter & raspberry jam grilled cheese with cheddar & mozzarella, the "Ava MaGoo," became & underground classic.  But when my brother's family came to visit San Diego in June, we changed it to the "After School Special."  That way, Ava's two brothers & sister wouldn't feel slighted.

It was a period of great creativity & all of our market experience paid off one day when an old market manager contacted us.  

"I'm taking over the La Mesa Friday market," Brian told us in an email.  "We're moving it from the parking lot at City Hall down to the village & we wondered if you guys would be interested?"

Yes, we were interested!

Kate & I had been looking for a consistent Friday setup for almost a year & La Mesa was an easy 15 minute drive on the 8 East.  Brian had taught the Farmer's Market 101 Class & we setup at 3 of his markets when we broke onto the San Diego scene in 2013.  

It felt like things were finally coming full circle.  

Kate & I took that final Friday, which just happened to be April 27th, our 5 year Mad Munch anniversary, to hang out with friends & hit some watering holes in & around La Mesa.  We hit 3 spots on the same street that we'd be setting up at the next Friday for the new & improved La Mesa farmer's market.