cut the cheese, please.

"a report on Friday showed unemployment in September inched up to 9.8 percent, a 26-year high,"


said the New York Times Monday. Great.

Bad economy aside, there's no reason to get down (except if you plan to do so on the dance floor). Not to get all positive on you, but it's in times like these when you just have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and make yourself a grilled cheese.

See, you can't sit there and tell me the idea of melted hunks of cheddar between two slices of bread grilled to buttery, crispy perfection doesn't kick your salivary glands into action.

I've considered the vegan's argument, and honestly, I get it. And I can drink soy milk. I can eat egg substitute. But melty ooey gooey cheese. Oh good lord. This coming from the kid who used to stick a Polly-O string cheese in the microwave for afternoon snack when everyone else was peeling it to death. What is it about melted cheese that just translates into comfort?

So here's what I did. After I invited my dear friend and compatriot-in-unemployment over for lunch. I went to Shoppers and bought the following:

- English muffin bread
- Sharp cheddar cheese
- Artichoke hearts
- Roasted red bell peppers

These ingredients are from a recipe in"The Best of Cooking Light," one of my mom's cookbooks. And since I'm living at home (unemployed, right.) I hijacked the book and it has some really good classics, and spins on classics, of course, like this little beauty: "Garden Grilled Cheese".

After clumsily trying to slice this loaf of very soft, delicious bread, I covered a pan with olive oil. I lathered up one slice of bread per sandwich with Dijon mustard, then sprinkled the bread with sharp cheddar, sliced artichoke hearts and the peppers. Heeding the words of my very wise mother, I let the sandwiches grill slowly so as to melt the cheese but not burn that bread. Overall, they were pretty good, I'd rate them at a solid 5 on the 1 to 10 scale of foodie standards.

We also ate a wedge salad with Parmesan cheese and some light vinaigrettey dressing (Newman's Own--I could drink that stuff, it's so good.)

Mostly, it was just nice to sit and eat with a good friend and my mom. There are really some wonderful aspects of not being employed, minus the whole not getting paid thing. You don't have to be slave to an alarm clock and you don't have to battle morning traffic, and every once in a while, you can make a meal for people you love and have a relaxing, stress-free lunch.

So here is to day # whatever of no real job. And Cheers to Cheese!