This morning as I was organizing our refrigerator, I thought the possibility for lunch looked like we would be having leftovers. There was chili con carne, which Deb gave us on Thanksgiving Day and chicken corn chowder that I made earlier in the week. We had both for meals on Friday.

As I was trying to be creative, and thinking that I was hungry for a grilled cheese sandwich, I thought “I wonder how chili con carne would work in a grilled cheese sandwich?”

So, I tried it!

I expect some of you have tried this before, but it is the first time I prepared a grilled cheese like this. It was delicious and Cerwin was impressed!

(If you try it, it is good to heat the chili first. I put a heaping tablespoon full in the center and spread it across the cheese before adding another slice of cheese and bread.)

It reminded me of an October day in 2022 when we were visiting Mark and Diane in Maine. Diane knew we wanted to go on a day trip to a place we had never seen, so she took us to Rockport. (Mark was working.) We stopped at many interesting places and saw lots of beautiful Maine scenery on the way.

At lunchtime we went to a restaurant in Rockport.

As we checked in (there was a waiting list) I told the host/owner we had trouble finding a restaurant that was open.

She said, “Yes, many are closed for the season. We are closing on Saturday.”

I asked how she will spend the winter. She replied “I set up a food truck at the roadside part of our parking lot and sell lots of clam chowder and grilled cheese sandwiches.

I asked, “Plain grilled cheese sandwiches?

“She said, “Oh, no. There are so many things you can put in grilled cheese sandwiches. One of our best sellers is grilled cheese and lobster.”

I wonder if she ever tried grilled cheese and chili con carne. 🙂