Pick a burger, any burger… fresh or frozen. Today is the day to dig in! Choose your favorite, be it a basic burger or the cheesiest possible. Perhaps you like some of the nation’s regional flavor twists or a simple BBQ-style. Others must decide to lean toward spicy or mild, beef or a meat combination, or a preferred veggie burger. For me, I often opt for a stuffed or even double-stuffed variety. That said, here’s my own rendition from 2009. Still worthy today.
Super Simple Mushroom-Stuffed Burgers
1 T olive oil
1-1½ c sliced button or baby portabella mushrooms (cut, if large)
½ c finely chopped sweet onion
1 lb ground beef
2 T steak sauce (any variety)
1 T freshly ground black pepper
½ c shredded Swiss cheese (or other fave)
Sauté mushrooms & onions in olive oil over medium heat for 2 minutes; set aside to cool to room temperature. Combine beef, steak sauce, and pepper; shape into 8 (4”) patties. On 4 patties, divide mushroom mixture and cheese, not quite to edges. Top with remaining patties, pinching edges to seal well; flatten slightly, keeping edges sealed. Grill on medium hot grill for 2-3 minutes per side for medium-rare, 3-4 minutes per side for medium. Serve on toasted buns with your choice of toppings such as bacon, lettuce and tomato slices, and whatever condiments you enjoy. I find them particularly tasty simply topped with a spicy mustard and crispy fried onions. Of course, a generous slice of extra cheese and some sliced pickles never hurt! Makes 4 burgers.
Very little rivals the nutritious scrumptiousness of a freshly picked strawberry! Raw or cooked, they are simply yummy! By request, I just made a strawberry-rhubarb pie for hubby… a favorite of his. (He actually wanted it for Christmas, but I was unable to get rhubarb till now.) Another favorite of ours was a dessert offering at a former restaurant in Manchester, NH. Locals will likely remember Spatt’s on the Massabesic Traffic Circle. We’d go there for their fabulous prime rib and king crab legs, but if we had room, the “Strawberry Blossoms” were a must for dessert! (No, not the flowers.) Naturally, (back in 2008) I had to create my own recipe in tribute. Enjoy!
“Having a vision for your life allows you to live out of hope, rather than out of your fears.”
Okay! It’s Friday… Date Night! For us that has often meant a trip to Home Depot, where we find ourselves so often, the staff calls us by our first names. We can do better for a Date Night…. For example, even when we must go to Home Depot, we can plan a little out-do-dinner stop afterward… or even just grab an ice cream cone.
“Before you can be creative, you must be courageous. Creativity is the destination, but courage is the journey.”
“Whenever a fellow tells me he is bipartisan, I know he’s going to vote against me.”
This is a day to celebrate brunch’s favorite adult beverage… a simple drink made from equal parts of champagne and orange juice. While variations abound, it was named “Mimosa” as the color closely resembles the flowers of the plant bearing the same name. I liked a Mimosa… UNTIL I tasted Italy’s counterpart.
The Bellini was created in 1948 by Giuseppe Cipriani at the famous 1930s haunt known as Harry’s Bar in Venice, Italy. He named the drink for Venice’s Renaissance artist, Giovanni Bellini. The cocktail’s recipe is a simple combination of 2-parts Prosecco Spumante and 1-part white peach puree. (“Back in the day” one full-time employee’s sole task was pureeing the white peaches!) Plus, they add one SECRET ingredient: a touch of raspberry puree (sans seeds). This imparts a luscious rosy glow to the cocktail AND balances out what can be varying degrees of sweetness in the peaches. (In a pinch, my Super Simple substitute for raspberry puree is a tablespoon of raspberry sorbet.) The Bellini at Harry’s Bar became a favorite cocktail of many celebrities, including American novelist Ernest Hemingway.
“We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.”
Okayyyyyyy! Go for the oxymoron and enjoy some crispy, cold jumbo shrimp cocktail with a zesty horseradish dipping sauce. Or simply grill some beauties in garlic butter and sprinkle with some favorite herbs. For extreme decadence, bake some colossal shrimp with lobster-crab stuffing.
“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being.”
“Humans need a lot of reinforcement… loving, gentle encouragement.”
What better way to celebrate both these days than with a warm, chewy oatmeal raisin cookie! So, here is my 1980 spin on my mother’s classic 1950s Oatmeal Icebox Cookies. Primarily, I used less sugar and more nuts and fruit. I still prefer cooking them for just 8-10 minutes to get an irresistibly chewy, rather than crispy, cookie. In recent years, I have replaced sugar with granulated monk fruit. (More on that after the recipe.)
