Melty, Cheesy Perfection

     Page One Hundred Thirty-Nine.
     It was 1940 and I'd landed a new job as household manager for The White House. I'd lucked into it really, but I wasn't going to tell them how heavily I'd padded my resume. Without going into too many details, let's just say that I hadn't really been in charge of maintenance and housekeeping at Buckingham Palace during the '30's. But the Roosevelts didn't need to know that. (Actually, I was a temporary worker who worked at the palace for two days in 1936 cutting the grass. When I say that I'm good at padding my resume, I'm not kidding.)
     So anyhow, it was a hot Tuesday afternoon, July, 1940. Captain Kirk, our guest lecturer, was lecturing Mrs. Roosevelt, the house-keeping staff and me on some new and improved silver polishing techniques. We were in the kitchen, listening intensely, when suddenly we were interrupted by some rather unsavory looking gentlemen. Seems some construction that had gone awry. The city sewer department was working on old pipes out in the street when everything suddenly went haywire and the pipes backed up. There were now several sewer workers in the White House pantry informing us that there was probably much raw sewage in the basement.
     We all rushed downstairs to investigate and lo and behold, the sub-sub-basement had water ankle deep. Great... just great. It took us until almost midnight to clean everything up. It was awful - just horrible. Thankfully, nothing of value was stored down there so little was lost, thank heavens. But it was a mess.
     We'd all worked right through dinner and were starving by the time we got back upstairs. Captain Kirk then made the most wonderful announcement anybody has ever made. "I'll make grilled cheese sandwiches for everybody." Let me tell you those things were good. I never before had a grilled cheese that was so perfect. I asked Jim what his secret was. "First, you have to lightly pre-toast the two slices of bread. Then, spread soft, room temperature butter over the darkest side of each slice. Melt a dab more butter in your skillet over moderately low heat. Lay the toast, buttered side down in the skillet and place your cheese on each slice and cover the pan. The pan must be over moderately low heat. After a moment or two, remove the lid and gingerly place one cheesy slice onto other. Replace the lid. Wait another couple of moments and flip the sandwich, again replacing the lid. In a couple of minutes... grilled, melted, cheesy goodness. Jeremy, the true secret is patience. You must use low heat. You can't hurry a grilled cheese sandwich."
     Where did you learn all this?" I asked.
     "While I was in Starfleet Academy, I worked as a short order cook in a couple of diners in San Fransisco to make money."
      Who knew?