Have you ever been talking to a friend and heard about a new food or new recipe and tried it immediately? That is exactly how I felt when talking to my sister about grilled cheese sandwiches. Now there’s something you’ve got to know about this sister--she and her husband have grilled cheese sandwich Sundays. Every Sunday! Or so I thought. Dun dun duuuuunnnn! I have very fond memories of joining the two of them for grilled cheese Sundays when we used to live by each other years ago. They are hard core. They have the soup, different seasoning options for your sandwich, different cracker options for the soup. They go all out!

She explained that since they are home working because of the Coronavirus, they are just always home together and days blend together, yada yada yada, before she knew it--the constant of grilled cheese Sundays just slipped away!! Nooooooo! I can and have handled a lot of changes during this pandemic, but I needed the Price family to have consistent grilled cheese Sundays! What kind of world is it when these two love birds aren’t bonding over melty cheese and a can of Campbell’s? Not a world I thought I’d be a part of.

After her calming me down and assuring me they would resume, if at least for my sake, she did tell me about her new grilled cheese obsession. And I’m warning you--this might scare away some readers, so stay with me!--she told me that she always dips her sandwich in jam. Whatever kind of jam she happens to have, but raspberry is her favorite. I wasn’t immediately repulsed like my husband was ha!--I was actually intrigued. She said they went and had dinner with some friends and the guy said he lived in France for a while and they always had jam inside the sandwich or as a side for their grilled cheese sandwiches. Of course France is known for their fancy, often stinky cheeses and they mean business when it comes to grilled cheese. He said it is usually apricot preserves used in France, but you can use any jam. My sister tried it that day with the apricot preserves and has never gone back.

I totally understood the concept--sweet and salty--and I immediately had to try it out to see if it was worth the hype. I added a little side of my favorite strawberry preserves from Costco and took my first bite.

And here is a second photo taken 37 seconds later….

Okay admittedly 37 seconds is an exaggeration, even though I wanted to chow down on it that quickly because I loved it that much! I tried to savor each bite and really taste the flavor and enjoy the beloved crunchy exterior of that sandwich. It was heavenly.

I immediately texted her telling her how much I loved it with lots of happy, dancing gifs and heart emojis--there’s really no other way to express it than that these days! I excitedly told my husband about it and he didn’t share the same intrigue as me. I’m not sure if I will really be able to get him to try it but that is definitely on my goal list for 2020. These are the kinds of simple and silly goals to make for fun things to do at home during a pandemic.

I have actually already brainstormed a perfect date night at home where I make a variety of different grilled cheese and jam combos--by getting the package of cheese varieties from Costco and mixing and matching jams and cheeses and perhaps even different types of bread like rye, sourdough and King’s Hawaiian bread. Another great pandemic activity to do at home is to sew a new French inspired dress from your fabric stash to wear at said sandwich stay-at-home party. Now that is my kind of party!

When searching about this new sweet and salty combo I now love, I came across a recipe on Food Network’s website for a recipe like this and I got tons of great ideas for you to try from the comments. Here are a few favorite jam and cheese combos from readers for you to try:

• Brie cheese with pepper jam on sourdough bread
• Whole wheat bread, raspberry jelly and pepper jack cheese
• White bread, American yellow cheese, grape jelly and mustard
• Country ham, Muenster cheese, Dijon mustard, caramelized shallots, peach preserves on seeded rye bread
• Havarti with apricot preserves on rye bread
• Brie and cherry preserves on sourdough
• Pepper jack cheese with blackberry jelly on any kind of bread
• Cheddar cheese, strawberry jam on a toasted English muffin
• Bleu cheese and apricot jelly on a toasted English muffin

Have you tried this before? What kind sounds the yummiest and most intriguing to you? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.