Home of the Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Whether your holiday has already past or you have yet to celebrate, I want to wish you a Happy Holidays from the GrilledShane family. I hope you are having a great holiday season. As you can already see, I have introduced a brand new design …
On Tuesday, November, 19, I appeared on three different SiriusXM Radio shows to promote my grilled cheese cookbook, Melt: 100 Amazing Adventures in Grilled Cheese. Since I know a lot of people do not subscribe to SiriusXM, I have been working to obtain the audio …
Hello all! If you haven’t been following GrilledShane on Facebook (and Twitter) then you have been missing out on all of my appearances promoting my cookbook, Melt: 100 Amazing Adventures in Grilled Cheese. And possibly may have felt abandoned. I greatly apologize. However, I am here to update you on all my comings and goings as well as update you on some new, planned events. If you aren’t interested all of this, I do hope to create a new sandwich soon. I just don’t know when. Long live the grilled cheese!
Keep in mind, you can always stay up on future GrilledShane Events and GrilledShane Press by keeping your eyes right here.
For the first time ever, I went on television promoting my cookbook. Never had I been on TV for silly reasons let alone for promoting something.
For this appearance, I created my Harvest Fest grilled cheese in a segment that was scheduled to last just about 4 minutes but ended up going just over 5.
When I woke up at 5 am for my appearance, I was not only shaking like a scared dog but I was so close to seeing the previous night’s dinner a second time. I had never been that nervous before. It was simply unreal. Thankfully, I calmed down prior to my appearance…
Thanks to the anchor, Stefani Schaefer, my appearance went off without a hitch. She was most definitely the perfect person to interview me. Because of her charisma, I was focused only on making a great sandwich and not the camera and everyone watching at home.
Prior to my performance, she went ahead and sent out the following tweets:
Showing you mind blowing things do with Grilled Cheese in moments on Fox 8! pic.twitter.com/qmvLbOTiT1
— Stefani Schaefer (@StefaniSchaefer) September 19, 2013
Say Cheese!! 😉 #bestgrilledcheeseever! pic.twitter.com/XKqnyVj4q7
— Stefani Schaefer (@StefaniSchaefer) September 19, 2013
After getting some rest in the afternoon, it was time to help make/sell my Harvest Fest sandwich at my local Whole Foods. Samples were free and a fresh sandwich was just $3.
Thanks to the marketing manager, Lisa, the whole event went off without a hitch.
We sampled/sold a ton of sandwiches and even gave away a free cookbook. All in all, it was a huge success. I hope to be back at this particular Whole Foods very soon.
The GrilledShane kickoff weekend concluded with a two-day appearance at the one and only Miles Farmers Market.
From 10-4 on Saturday and 11-4 on Sunday, I was there sampling cheeses, selling cookbooks and chatting with various customers. Although I think I sold more chunks of cheese than books, the weekend was most definitely a success. I will be returning to Miles Farmers Market November 16-17, sampling more cheese and selling more books. All book purchases come with a free GrilledShane spatula.
The minute I walk into The Greenbrier I feel like I am home. (One glass is champagne and one is sweet tea.)
For the last 20+ years, I have been going to The Greenbrier either for Thanksgiving or summer vacation. It has truly become my home away from home. So when I worked out two appearances and demonstrations, I knew I was set.
At 11 am and 2 pm were the demonstrations while the signings occurred at 11:30-12:30 and 2:30-3:30.
Every night at turn down service, a sheet highlighting the following day’s activities. Including my book signing.
Being demonstrated were my Honey Roasted PB&J, The Fried Egg and The Deconstructed. The chef who does the demonstrations at The Greenbrier Gourmet Shop was amazing. For some reason, in my presence making my grilled cheese sandwiches, she was nervous/intimidated. I have no idea why but it was definitely a compliment. She took great care and concern to make sure she did right by my sandwiches and I could not have been happier.
Overall, everything went very well, with me selling plenty of books. I definitely cannot complain. Thanks to all who purchased multiple books!
Also, I just recently learned that The Greenbrier Gourmet Shop is stocking my book full-time and has ordered more books since they are almost sold out of their original allotment. I would say that is a good sign. I will be back at The Greenbrier demonstrating/signing on Saturday, December 7. Book your rooms now!
Thanks to the assistance of my PR manager/cousin, I was interviewed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer and featured alongside other amazing chefs such as Michael Symon.
Solon native Shane (Sanford) Kearns has compiled dozens of creative and often off-beat approaches to grilled cheese sandwiches in his first book, “Melt: 100 Amazing Adventures in Grilled Cheese” (Adams Media). A blogger and digital designer, Kearns cut his teeth in the culinary world while working at the cafe in Nordstrom’s Beachwood Place department store.
Plus, there was a caricature. A caricature I say.
Make sure to read the entire article to learn so much about me. Mr. Crea truly did an amazing job.
Ever since I left my full-time job to promote “Melt” full-time, I have been nervous about having enough appearances to prove that leaving was the right thing to do. Of course, there are down days but right now, I seem to be on an up swing. Below are newly announced appearances that will hopefully increase my exposure across the Cleveland area and country.
Highlights include an appearance on NewsChannel 8 in DC while I am visiting my sister and appearances on various programs on SiriusXM Satellite Radio with specific details to come.
*Books available for sale.
I must say thank you to everyone who has read this entirely too long blog entry but most of all, to people who have stuck with me through all of this. Without all of your guidance and support, I wouldn’t be where I am. Thank you. I will never forget what you have done for me.
Long live the grilled cheese.
If you follow me on Facebook, which you really should be doing, you know that I have decided to promote my cookbook full-time. I am going to travel the country to spread the grilled cheese word and speak to anyone that will listen. Grilled cheese …
Yesterday, it was time to head to Earth Fare Solon and get my free ice cream sundae. And buy some cheese. I have looked through Earth Fare’s cheese department but only once bought cheese from there. It was time to truly search through their cheeses …
Yesterday, I had no plans to make a grilled cheese. No plans to buy any special cheeses. No plans to make a special grilled cheese sandwich. That was until I stopped at Heinen’s to pick up some bagels so I could have an egg/cheese/bagel sandwich for lunch. In their cheese department, they had Beemster cheese on sale. Since I had never tried Beemster, I thought why not use that on my sandwich and post about it? It was a good idea until I found the gentleman giving out samples. When it comes to samples, as long as I know I can eat it, I try it. C’mon, who doesn’t love free food?!
This sample included little square toasts with some sort of whipped goat cheese spread and fresh snipped chives. I tried it and was pretty intrigued. The spread turned out to be Chevremousse, or all natural whipped goat cheese, nothing that I had ever seen before. However, I almost still went with the Beemster cheese…until I started talking to the cheese lady and sample guy. They said they had just gotten in the Chevremousse (whipped goat cheese) and both were intrigued with its taste and possibilities. I couldn’t have been happier with my decision. The texture is soft and creamy and the goat cheese flavor is unreal. It is hard to describe and I suggest you try it for yourself to get the full, amazing effect. Chevremousse is like an unreal cream cheese that was delivered from heaven.
When I arrived home, I still had plans of making my egg/cheese/bagel [grilled cheese] sandwich. It just seemed like the Chevremousse would fit perfectly in this particular sandwich. Plus, I had fresh chives in our backyard garden.
I lightly toasted the bagel while I also made my scrambled eggs. Since I am a huge fan of putting cheese in my eggs, I used some leftover Genuine Pecorino Romano Fulvi from my previous grilled cheese. Once the bagel was toasted, I spread on a thick layer of the Chevremousse, I wanted to taste it, and then as you can see above, added a great amount of snipped chives. Finally, I added the freshly scrambled eggs and the top half of the bagel.
This basic grilled cheese, featuring a new cheese I had just discovered, was absolutely phenomenal. By placing a thick layer of the Chevremousse (whipped goat cheese) on the bottom half of the bagel, I was able to combine the flavors of the cheese, chives and eggs plus the crunchy texture of the bagel. The “clean and sweet” flavor of the Chevremousse was simply perfect on the bagel. I savored each bite of this grilled cheese and plan to eat the Chevremousse on just about anything in this house. Sure, a small container is not cheap, but it is well worth whatever you pay for it.
Only once previously have I attempted a Fourth of July grilled cheese themed sandwich and it was a Red, White & Blue success. It was creative and unique and I hoped to recreate that success with a new and intriguing grilled cheese this year. I …
Last week, Whole Foods had a buy one get one free special on Fresh Mozzarella cheese. The minute I received the email, I knew I couldn’t resist, especially since I was off that day. I mean, who doesn’t love Fresh Mozzarella? It was the perfect …
I had been thinking of making videos for the blog for quite some time. It was even suggested to me by a student when I was talking to a local middle school’s computer class. So, when I received a Partyclette from Boska, I knew this was the perfect opportunity. Who doesn’t like a video of melting, bubbly cheese?
Raclette is a cheese from Switzerland made with whole cow’s milk. It has a thin, brownish-orange rind and a firm, supple body that is ivory to light yellow with few, if any, holes. It is classified as semi-hard. Raclette has a very distinctive flavor; nutty, slightly acidic, aromatic and similar to Gruyere-type cheeses. The rind is edible. It melts well and is used in many casseroles. It can be used in grilled cheese sandwiches, too. (About.com)
Continue reading Melting Raclette Cheese: GrilledShane’s First Video
Recently, a new grocery store decided to open in my town with big fan fare. [Update 3/2/14: It has since closed. Very sad.] I knew very little about this particular grocery store so when I was off on opening day, I decided to check it …