Update: contest closed! The judges are conferring

Competition is heating up for our Grilled Cheese Photo Contest. Folks are sending in photos of themselves with their master- or monster-piece grillies, competing to the grand prize: a stylish Romano grater, fabulous cheese curler, and innovative partyclette from Boska USA:

Five runners up will also receive Boska's no-fuss, sandwich-ready toastabags, which can make grilled-cheese in your pop-up toaster for near-instant grilly satisfaction:

On to the photos!

Tim sent in this grilled-cheese-patty-melt combo:

This is a double burger sandwiched between two grilled cheese sandwiches. So it's part grilled cheese part patty melt. I used Amish farm country bacon cheddar and truffle cheese with American. Way yummy!!

But when pressed for a headshot, he sent in a whole new sandwich!

Here is tonight's left over grilled cheese with a picture of me sucking it down.

Three cheese manicotti with roasted garlic pesto and kale between grilled wheat bread with sun-dried tomato jam. I used home made ricotta, fresh and smoked mozzarella and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Michaela & co. illustrated possibly the best way to eat grilled cheese—in a party-type situation:

We had a grilled cheese party last week—there were 12 of us, and we went through 2.5 loaves of bread, two sticks of butter and an absolutely sinful amount of cheese.

Our favorite combos:
* Serrano ham, fontina, quince paste
* Redwood Hill peppercorn chevre, red peppers
* Colby cheese, honey, apples
* Camembert, apricot sauce
* Fontina, truffle oil

As for pairings, the Camembert and apricot sammy was awesome with a Kim Crawford Gewurz. We also had a sparkling Vouvray, which was fantastic with quite a few things.

ALL of our photos were blurry!!! It was a fun night! :)

Abigail from the Bay Area enthusiastically documented the toasting process of this inside-out monsterpiece:

I grabbed a sweet loaf from Acme Bread then ran to Cowgirl Creamery to swoop up some Reading Raclette (an amazing washed rind melting cheese, with rich flavor of the Vermont pastures from Springbrook Farm), Winnimere (a brilliant raw cow's milk cheese, wrapped in spruce bark giving the cheese a woodsy meaty flavor from the geniuses at Jasper Hill in Greensboro, Vermont), and last but not least McClellands artisan butter (from California, churned the old fashioned way!)

Using these four simple ingredients I created the most decadent, crispy, mind blowing grilled cheese. First I slathered the bread with butter then I cut some thick wedges of Raclette and stuck that in between the two pieces of bread then popped it on the stove! The bread became crispy and golden and the Raclette melted beautifully...I then transferred the grilled cheese to a cookie sheet, I then generously scooped and spread some Winnimere on top, I turned on the broiler to let the Winnimere melt through the pores of the crispy bread!!!!!

The first bite was scrumptious, the second bite was even better.....all I can say is I never wanted that moment to end!

There you have it...the best grilled cheese ever!!!!!!!

Danielle, an aspiring food truck operator from Seattle, shared a sun-drenched, sexy shot of her ultimate grilly, courtesy of photographer Julie St. Clair:

Personally, I think the professional picture is cheating, but you can't argue with her formula:

4 Cheeses + Pickles
Ingredients: Mascarpone, Provolone, Emmentaler, Cougar Gold, Moon Brine pickles, Macrina Bakery sliced Giuseppe (or Essential multigrain bread – both are good), freshly cracked black pepper from a pepper mill.
On both sides smear a bit of mascarpone and cover each side w/ sliced provolone. Add a thin layer of sliced Emmentaler on one side and some sliced Cougar Gold on the other. In a medium hot pan, melt some butter and cook the sandwich “open face” until the cheese just starts to melt (I loosely cover the pan). Add a few slices of Moon Brine pretty hot pickles (awesome from Portland). Once the cheese is oozy – fold together and allow the sandwich to “come together” and cool slightly. Cut, add a generous amount of cracked black pepper and enjoy! So Good!

Susan sent in what can only be described as a Krispy Grill in a daring salty/sweet combo:

Grilled Cheese on a Glazed Donut! If you really have to, add a slice of ham.

I thought about it for about a week and decided on Point Reyes Toma, a mild, buttery cow's milk cheese from Point Reyes, California. I also added a thin slice of Honey Maple Ham. Sounds odd, but it is delicious.

Here's an entry from a proud poppa: Liam from Needham, MA (formerly of Trélex, Switzerland) "enjoying a semi-picante Gruyères."

Our only question is, what's the meaning of the instructional sign behind him?

This next one comes via Evan, a college student in Pennsylvania:

Attached is a picture of my grilled cheese I ate today! I am a college student foodie/future cheese maker/beer geek. I take the grilled cheese on our near weekly "grilled cheese day" at my school's cafeteria and ladle out some cream of tomato soup on top of it. Sometimes sliced onion is put between the two. Then I put "Parmesan," Italian seasoning, garlic salt, hot pepper flakes and a pepper blend on top. It's off the hook, as far as "Caf Creations" go.

I then eat it with a spoon. This is a tasty and handy way to eat GC, and cleaner to prevent soup and runny cheese from getting in my beard.

Maria's friend from Northern California writes:

Here's my friend Maria that I'm entering in the contest. This is actually her FIRST grilled cheese sandwich ever—she's Norwegian, so this qualifies as an exotic American dish. Being her first, it's also her favorite by default. So there it is: Maria's favorite way to eat a grilled cheese? With a big glass of beer! (It's Sierra Nevada, BTW).

Here's an entry via Daniel of FireFly Farms:

We take grilled cheese making quite seriously here at FireFly Farms, so we couldn't resist the opportunity to share/submit our special grillie with you. We like to call this: "The most incredible grilled cheese I ever ate ..."
Here is our secret formula:
The Bread = New Day Bakery Walnut Wheat Bread
The Cheese = FireFly Farms Allegheny Chevre + Fiscalini Bandage Wrapped Cheddar
The Yummy Additions = Eco-Friendly Foods Coppa + Sunnyside Farm & Orchard Sun-dried Tomato + Tarragon mustard
and ... BAM there you have it!

Keep sending in your entries to grilledcheese@culturecheesemag.com, and be sure to include pix of yourselves making and eating these majestic creations. We want people in our food!