American cheese has a specific time and place. And that specific time and place can actually be pretty delightful (let's save the discussion of additives and preservatives for another time, yes? Once when you've had a glass or two of biodynamic wine after a dinner of free-range roast chicken and organic baby purple potatoes perhaps?). Here are the times when only American cheese will do:
•Grilled Cheese. Because nothing else melts quite as well. You *could* use grated Cheddar (that's right, grated, so that it melts more evenly), but you could also use American and feel excellent about it.
•Burgers. See grilled cheese.
•Egg & Cheese. Do not get any other cheese. You want to take your first bite of an egg & cheese and then have the cheese ooze out a bit, but not too much that it can't be contained within the egg. This is not the time for fanciness. This is the time to run to the corner store, devour one quickly while walking back to your apartment, and still have time to shower before starting your day. (Or, if you're feeling ambitious, make your own.)
•When you had a long day and can't bear to cook and your couch is beckoning and you think of simpler times like when you were a child and you used to make shapes out of your American cheese and suddenly you realize that this must happen again because goshdarnit you are an adult and you can do what you want. A few BA staffer favorite shapes: