The House That Grilled Cheese Built
- Information VOICE_TRIBUNE
- Aug 5
- 2 min read
By Alisha Proffitt Photos by Matt Johnson
If you’re someone who thinks grilled cheese is best served with tomato soup and not, say, adventure, space travel, or trampoline jumping… well, you clearly haven’t met Susie & Johnny Grilled Cheese™.
Erin Dullaghan Jones, the Louisville-based publicist, author, mom, and Queen of Comfort Food Characters, has taken bedtime storytelling to a whole new level. “Susie & Johnny Grilled Cheese are characters I created when my twin girls were very young,” she explains. And like any good mom with three kids and a background in marketing, she kept the grilled cheese stories going. “Every night, they would ask for a new adventure and giggle and giggle.”
So where does a person get the idea to turn two melty sandwiches into beloved storybook characters? “Honestly, for my love of grilled cheese and tomato soup,” says Jones. And with a career as the marketing director for Whole Foods under her belt, food was quite literally always top of mind. “I’m a foodie,” she confesses. “It was a random moment and I was always making up some sort of fun and silly story for the kids at bedtime.”
But while the cheese may have been all hers, the imagination was a family affair. “I would ask them, ‘Where do you want Susie & Johnny to go today or tonight?’” Jones says. “They would pipe in with fun activities, typically based on what they were into at that moment.” Cue the adventures in soccer, race cars, trampoline jumping, and whatever else a grilled cheese might reasonably get into. (Or unreasonably. It’s fiction. Roll with it.)
“They knew I wanted to write books about the characters. However, they didn’t think I would do it,” she says. “Cambell was super excited and helped me draft the first illustrations in pencil. I drew Susie; he drew Johnny.”
Now 13 books deep (with more planned), the series has become a family legacy, even nieces are pitching in. “Nora actually helped me write the Mathical Adventure,” Jones shares proudly. “She also requested a chapter book, and we have two so far that combine adventures into a hardback.”
The response from readers has been as warm and gooey as Susie herself. “I have had parents tell me it’s the ONLY book they chose to take on vacation,” Jones says. “One of [Emerson’s] friends named my house ‘Susie & Johnny Grilled Cheese Headquarters,’” she laughs. “So I created a sign that said ‘Welcome to Susie & Johnny HQ’s.’”
From Halloween Hill to future toy sets and even a planned animation series, Jones isn’t done dreaming. “I hope my kids never give up on their dreams and work very hard to achieve them,” she says. With a little imagination and maybe a slice of American cheese, that message is landing deliciously.
