Bacon Grilled Cheese

Daylight saving ended. The dark at six. Worked at the construction company in Lexington this week. The body holds. Most days.

Connie at the vet clinic, four shifts this week. Her back is tired. She does not say so. I see it. Mama is 85. She is the toughest person I have ever known. She still cooks every day in the company house in Evarts.

Venison stew Sunday. From the freezer. Slow simmer.

Travis called Tuesday. The landscaping company is busy. He sounds tired in a good way. Amber called from Louisville. Hospital is busy. Floor nurse to charge nurse to nurse manager — she is the most successful Hensley alive.

The creek was running clear. The turkeys were back. The week was the week.

Connie made jam Saturday afternoon. Wild blackberries from the patch up the hollow. Twelve jars. The pantry is filling for winter.

Connie read aloud from a novel Tuesday evening while I worked on the bench. Some Appalachian writer she had picked up at the library in Whitesburg. The voice was the voice of where we live. We listened together.

I sat on the porch with bourbon at sundown Friday. The fog rolled into the hollow the way it has every fog of every year. The porch was the porch. The bourbon was the bourbon.

Drove the truck to the dump Saturday afternoon. Saw three deer crossing the road on the way back. The mountains have been giving back this year.

Connie cut my hair on the porch Tuesday afternoon. She has been cutting my hair for forty years. The barber in Pineville cannot do what Connie does, which is also love.

I sat at the kitchen table Tuesday night working on the recipe project. Mama's soup beans. I cannot get the words right yet.

Amber sent the kids' school photos this week. Nadia is taller every year. Marcus has Amber's serious face. Little Betty has Mama's eyes.

The creek was running clear Sunday afternoon. I watched a kingfisher work the riffle. Did not move for an hour. Some Sundays the watching is the worship.

My back was tight after the wood-splitting Saturday. Took an Aleve. Slept eight hours. Got up.

I checked the truck oil Saturday. The mileage on this truck is criminal.

Drove to Pineville for parts Wednesday. The hardware store man knew me. We talked about the weather and the price of feed. Forty minutes for a five-minute errand. That is rural Kentucky.

Worked on a basement remodel job in Lexington. The work was good. The pay was good. The body is tired.

I went up to Earl's grave at the Evarts cemetery Saturday. Brought a beer. Drank half. Poured the rest on the dirt. Some traditions are mine alone.

Read the paper at breakfast Tuesday. The county news is not great. The mines have not come back and they will not come back. The young people leave. The hollows empty. We stay.

I split a half-cord of wood Saturday. Slowly. The back does not let me work fast anymore. It got done. The wood was for the smokehouse.

The dog — old Beau, fifteen years old — slept by the wood stove all afternoon Tuesday. He used to be a hunting dog. Now he is a heating pad with opinions.

The neighbor up the road — Old Roy, eighty-seven, lives alone — had a small heart scare. We took him soup beans Tuesday. Cornbread too. He cried a little when he ate. We all cry over soup beans eventually.

Travis sent a photo of Earl Thomas riding on the mower with him at a job site. The boy is wearing a Hensley Landscaping T-shirt that's too big. Three generations on a mower. I saved the photo.

The venison stew on Sunday was Mama’s recipe, slow and without shortcuts, and it carried the whole week. But there were nights this week — Tuesday after the paper, Wednesday after the drive to Pineville — when the body just wants something fast and warm and without argument. That’s what a bacon grilled cheese is. It doesn’t ask anything of you. You give it butter and heat and it gives you back something that feels like enough. Some nights, enough is the whole point.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 20 minutes | Servings: 2

Ingredients

4 slices thick-cut bacon
4 slices sturdy white or sourdough bread
3 oz sharp cheddar cheese, sliced or shredded
2 oz American or Colby cheese, sliced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional)
Pinch of garlic powder (optional)

Instructions

Cook the bacon. Lay bacon strips in a cold cast-iron or heavy skillet. Set over medium heat and cook, turning occasionally, until crisp, about 8—10 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate. Pour off most of the grease but leave a thin film in the pan.
Butter the bread. Spread softened butter evenly on one side of each bread slice. If using garlic powder, mix it into the butter before spreading. If using Dijon mustard, spread a thin layer on the unbuttered sides of two slices (the inside faces).
Build the sandwiches. On the unbuttered side of two bread slices, layer the cheddar, then the bacon (break strips to fit), then the American or Colby cheese. Top with the remaining bread slices, buttered side facing out.
Grill the sandwiches. Return the skillet to medium-low heat. Place the sandwiches butter-side down. Cook 3—4 minutes until the bottom is deep golden brown. Carefully flip and cook another 3—4 minutes until the second side is golden and the cheese is fully melted. Press gently with a spatula during cooking if needed.
Rest and serve. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 1 minute before cutting diagonally. Serve immediately while the cheese is still pull-apart melted.

Nutrition (per serving)

Bacon Grilled Cheese — The Kind of Simple That Earns Itself