The Breakfast Burger a.k.a the "Manliest" Burger I have ever seen!

Ok, so I usually try to make pretty healthy dinners for my family. However, in the almost 9 years Damon and I have been married, I have had to learn the art of cooking healthy while not crossing the forbidden line over to the land of "too healthy". I can always tell when I have crossed this line. Damon always comes home from work hungry, and looking forward to dinner. If he looks at what I am making, and it is fish, or has too many vegetables or the very worst for him - NO MEAT (which I try to do once a week to save money) his face starts to droop a little bit. Then while he is eating, his face gets sadder and sadder. Then he will make a comment, after eating, about how hungry he still is.

During the kid's and I weekly trip to the library last week, I saw a book that caught my eye. It was Bobby Flay's new cookbook "Burgers, Fries & Shakes". I love Bobby Flay, so I immediately picked it up and checked it out. When I got home, I flipped through the book and immediately began salivating. The pictures were gorgeous. There was no healthy aspect to this book whatsoever. The burgers were loaded with crazy toppings, potatoes double-fried in peanut oil and shakes made with not only ice-cream, but cream cheese as well! I decided that I would try one of these burgers a week for the rest of the summer/fall grilling season. And since Damon is about the biggest burger lover I know, I let him choose the first one I would make. It took him all of 3 seconds to choose the "Breakfast Burger". We had recently eaten at Red Robin before Caden's 6th birthday party, and since then he hasn't quit talking about the burger he had there. He couldn't remember all the exact details, but the main thing he DID remember was that there was a fried egg on top of it all. Well, the picture of the Breakfast Burger featured a glorious, yolk-running fried egg on it and that was all she wrote. I went to the store Thursday, and every day Damon asked when I would be making the burger. Last night was that night. He was nearly giddy with anticipation! I guess I should consider myself very lucky that food makes him so happy, consider how much I enjoy cooking :) So ladies, if you are in the doghouse for some reason, or are looking to make your man very, very happy - I highly recommend making this burger for him! It is every man's dream burger!

BREAKFAST BURGER

adapted from Bobby Flay's "Burgers, Fries and Shak

Makes 4 big burgers

• 1 1/2 pounds ground chuck (80/20)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Canola oil (for brushing on the burgers before they go on the grill)
• 4 slices American cheese
• 4 large eggs
• 8 slices crisp cooked bacon
• 1/2 recipe shoestring fries (recipe below). You could also use frozen hashbrowns, thawed and cooked and it would be just as good, with a lot less work.
• Chipotle Ketchup (recipe below)

1. Heat your gas grill to high or your charcoal grill until your coals glow bright orange and ash over. You will also want to start cooking your bacon now, so it will be good and crispy the time the burgers are done.

2. Divide the meat into 4 equal portions. Form each portion into a 3/4 inch burger and make a deep depression in the middle of the burger with your thumb. Bobby explains that this depression prevents flying-saucer shaped burgers - ones puffed up with bulging center. He says the first thing people want to see when they see a burger on the grill with the big centers is to take their spatulas and press down on the burger to flatten it out. That is a big HUGE burger NO-NO. If you press down on your burger while cooking it, you will press out all the yummy juices, and end up with a dry, tasteless burger. So, the depression will magically disappear while the burger cooks and expands and you will end up with with perfectly even patties.

3. Season both sides of the burger with salt and pepper, and brush them with the oil. Grill the burgers until slightly charred on the first side - about 3 minutes. Flip over and cook to your liking (cooking chart below).

4. Add the cheese to the tops of the burgers during the last minute of cooking. Close the grill cover or tent with the foil to melt the cheese.

5. After removing your burgers from the grill, toast your buns. Place them cut side down on the grill until they are light golden brown, about 10 seconds.

6. Heat your griddle (or non-stick pan) for your eggs. Crack the eggs into the pan with salt and pepper. Let the eggs cook until the whites set up, about 45 seconds. Gently flip the eggs over (trying not to break the yolks) and cook for just about 10 more seconds. I cooked our eggs the way Bobby recommended (over easy) so the eggs so the yolk would run out and completely soak the burger . . . however, feel free to cook the eggs to your liking.

7. Place the burgers on the bun bottoms and top with bacon, and a handful of shoestring fries. Drizzle with the chipotle ketchup and CAREFULLY place the eggs on top of the fries. Top with the bun tops and serve immediately.

That first bite will be the best. The egg yolks breaks and you get an incredibly juicy mixture of all the flavors. YUM! Here is Damon devouring his (and Caden eating his WAY less adventurous burger with NOTHING on it).

SHOESTRING FRIES
adapted from Bobby Flay's "Burgers, Fries and Shakes"

*remember you only need HALF of this recipe if you are making them for the burgers

• 1 quart peanut oil
• 4 large Russet potatoes, peeled
• Kosher salt
  

1. Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Line a baking sheet with paper towels and set aside.

2. While the oil is heating, slice the potatoes lengthwise into 1/2 inch-thick slices. Then cut each slice into long 1/8 inch-thick strips. (Bobby recommends using a mandoline to get the slices super thin).

3. Add the strips to the hot oil in batches, separating them when they hit the oil. Fry, turning frequently until golden brown, about 60-90 seconds (mine never got golden brown). Remove with a mesh skimmer (I used a slotted spoon) and drain on the paper towel lined baking sheets. Season immediately with the kosher salt.

CHIPOTLE KETCHUP

adapted from Bobby Flay's "Burgers, Fries and Shakes"

• 1 cup ketchup
• 2 to 3 tablespoons pureed canned chipotle in adobo (I found these in the international aisle at Meijer)
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and 14/ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes so all the flavors can come together. This was VERY spicy, so adjust the amount of chipotle peppers to your liking - or if you don't like spice at all, skip this ketchup entirely!

COOKING TIMES FOR BURGERS (all times are approximate)

• Rare: 6 minutes
• Medium-Rare: 7 minutes
• Medium: 8 minutes
• Medium-Well: 9 minutes
• Well: 10 minutes
• Well done: 11 minutes
  

*please note, these cooking times are for beef only. If you are using turkey or chicken, you MUST cook your burgers to at least a medium-well doneness (165 degrees F) to prevent salmonella poisoning.

And THIS is why I don't have a Food Blog

It is no secret to anyone who knows me that I love to cook and bake. It is my favorite thing to do. I love to try new recipes - in fact, Damon always asks me why I don't make the dishes he loves over and over again - it is because I would get bored and some of the fun would be lost for me. I also feel very strongly about my responsibility to make my family healthy and nutritious food. I buy organic which I can, and try to stay away from processed food with a lot of ingredients I don't know. Lately, my philosophy as been "If I can make it - why buy it?". So, I made a really ambitious grocery list and set out to try 3 different things I have never made: Homemade Ravioli, Pitas for Chicken Gyros and pizza dough.

The first thing I attempted was to make Ravioli Caprese - a Giada recipe you can find here;



http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/ravioli-caprese-recipe/index.html)



I thought "Hey, this would be really cool to blog about." and pulled out my camera. And here is my dilemma. I cannot take a pretty food picture for the life of me! I try really hard, and they are all so ugly!!!!! A couple of months ago I made my favorite chicken salad recipe, and wanted to put the recipe on here with a picture or two. I artfully arranged it on a cracker, and snapped a decent shot - or so I thought. My friend Angie happened to come over that morning, and I showed the picture to her. She is a nursing student and made the comment that at first glance it looked like a body part from one of her Anatomy books. OUCH! Here are the pictures I took during my Ravioli experience.


In this shot I wanted to capture the importance of using fresh, quality ingredients (It really does make all the difference,) Here is some basil I had just picked and a fresh block of Parmesan that I grated into my filling.

Here is some of the dough rolled out with the filling strategically placed . . .

And now for the flipping of the dough . . .

The finished product . . . you just plop these babies into boiling water until they float to the top. I ordered a ravioli cutter online so next time they will be more uniform in shape and will have the cute scalloped edges you see in restaurant raviolis.

Desserts are hands-down my speciality, and this picture isn't too bad. Here is a Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte I made to take to Fort Wayne this past weekend. It was so rich and decadent. You can find the recipe here

http://annies-eats.com/2009/04/10/chocolate-peanut-butter-torte/

I also made these adorable mini cupcakes. The cake is made with marscapone cheese, and the glaze is strawberry. I am an extreme chocolate lover, but these were so good I might start swinging the other way. I got this recipe from my cousin-in-law's (ha!) blog

http://randomanderson.wordpress.com/?s=strawberry+marscapone

If you are in a recipe rut and are looking for some inspiration, you should check out her blog. While you are there, you can also see some really adorable pictures of her daughter, Marlo.

So, do you see what I mean now? I would love to have a food blog, or at the very least, blog a little bit more about the fun recipes I make - but HAVE to do some serious work on the pictures! Maybe I can find a book on food photography or maybe I will just start studying the tons of other food blogs I visit on a daily basis for inspiration. It would be fun to share my love of food and fun times in the kitchen with all of you - so let that officially be my goal :) Wish me luck!

Marina's First Dance Recital

This past December we signed Marina up for a tap/ballet class at a local dance school. This weekend she had her first recital at the High School Auditorium. The rehearsal was Friday night, which I was really glad for because I had no idea how the whole thing worked!

Several people came to see her Friday night at the rehearsal. Here is she with her Papa

Daddy was so proud of his little girl

They both look so grown-up in the pictures. It makes me a little sad.

There was a lot of waiting, which was really hard on the little ones.

"There was a Teddy Bear, named Freddy Bear". Damon, Caden and I had this song stuck in our head all weekend! Damon was STILL singing it before work this morning - I told him to knock it off!!!!

At home before the actual recital on Sunday

Lots of people came to see her - here she is with Nonna and Granny

Grandma and Grandpa Vonn from Shelbyville came too!

Here she is with all the little girls in her class . . . they are all so sweet!

More waiting!

Sydney is telling Marina and Maria that Emerson told her to "Shut-up". You might be surprised at how sassy the girls are already at this age!

The opening number was a hip-hop routine with all the students 7 years and younger. It was SO adorable! The little ones were just too cute trying to keep up with the older ones.

Performance time! It was almost 3:00 when they got on stage, and all the girls were tired from waiting in line so much - not to mention it was REALLY hot backstage. I had volunteered to be the backstage mom and had to keep them in "order" on a pitch-black stage before they went on. WAY hard. But they all did great!

Marina got a first-year trophy, so we had to line-up at intermission for that as well. She was exhausted at this point. Outfit change #3 in a matter of 2 hours!

I didn't walk on stage with her to get her award - I let her go by herself and met her at the other side of the stage. I heard the audience crack up though and found out later that she had walked really fast, grabbed her award and just continued walking in a matter of fact kind of way. Damon said it was so funny because she looked so grown up. Wish I had seen it!

Posing with Mamaw and her trophy

All in all, it was a really fun and exciting day! She starts gymnastics in a month, along with tap/ballet still, and we are hoping she will eventually choose what she likes best. Now we have a little bit of break before dance and sports start again, and I am really looking forward to the laziness of it all :)

Favorite Summertime Drinks

Summer is just around the corner and that means it is time to start making my favorite summertime drinks. These drinks are so tasty, and I look forward to them every year. In fact, I grow large pots of sweet basil and mint specifically with these drinks in mind.

Moji-tea

Recipe courtesy of Rachael Ray

Ingredients

1 quart water plus 1 cup, divided
4 tea bags, either Irish or English breakfast tea
1 cup sugar
12 sprigs fresh mint
3 limes, juiced

Directions

Bring 1 quart of water to a boil, turn the heat off and add the tea bags and let steep until cool. Place the sugar and 1 cup of water in a sauce pot over high heat, bring up to a boil to dissolve the sugar and then turn off the heat, allow to cool.
Place the mint springs in a large pitcher, add the cooled sugar water and cooled tea along with the lime juice, stir to smash around the mint in the liquids. Pour over ice and serve.

Italian Lemonade

Recipe courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

2 cups lemon juice, about 12 to 15 lemons
2 cups Basil Simple Syrup, recipe follows
2 cups cold or sparkling water
Ice
Lemon twists, for garnish

Directions

Mix lemon juice, Basil Simple Syrup, and water together in a pitcher. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Pour over ice filled glasses and garnish with a lemon twist.

Basil Simple Syrup:

1 bunch fresh basil, washed and stemmed
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
In a saucepan combine basil, sugar, and water and simmer until the sugar is dissolved, 5 minutes. Cool, strain the simple syrup, and store in the refrigerator.

You might be thinking "basil in lemonade?! that is crazy!". Don't let that stop you from trying this drink. It is such an interesting, and delicious combination of flavors.

We often turn this into a cocktail by mixing equal parts vodka and lemonade. Because the lemonade has such a bold flavor, you can hardly taste the vodka at all. That can be good and dangerous at the same time :)

Since both recipes include a simple syrup, they are pretty sweet. However, the mint adds a nice contrast for the tea, and the tartness of the lemons balances out the sweetness in the lemonade.

CHEERS!

School's out for Summer!

Caden's last day of school was Thursday, and he is officially a first grader. I know every single mom says it, but I can't believe my baby boy is so . . . big. And smart, and funny and sweet.

Here he is walking up the hill the last day of school

His friend Joey came over for a last day of school ice-cream celebration

The next day we drove to Santa Claus, Indiana to Holiday World with the Johnson family. We started at the water park, but the kids were freezing between rides so we quickly moved on to the rest of the park.

Caden, Marina and Finn waiting in line

Caden was a little nervous to try some of the rides, but once we convinced (bribed) him to go on, he loved them all. I used to love roller coasters and any other thrill ride, but I have to admit that I am becoming quite a wimp in my older age. I can honestly say that I "want" to ride these rides, but my body just doesn't cooperate . . . . my stomach churns, and my head hurts from all the rattling. Sometimes getting old really sucks!

After being called a wimp over and over, I agreed to ride Holiday World's version of the "Drop Zone". It was as bad as I remembered.

Here are Damon and Marina during a really cool show. It was about diving throughout the decades and one of the performers dived over 80 feet! I had to close my eyes for part of that because I so nervous for him. Seeing someone die at Holiday World just didn't seem like a good time to me :)

Look Mom - no hands! (on a baby ride!)

Marina loves to copy bub-bub.

This ride was a kiddie version of the "drop zone" Caden had two different looks of fear - one when he was shot up into the air. . . .

and one coming back down . . .

The kids fell asleep after about 5 minutes in the car

We took the interstate home and it was SO boring. Damon and I thought this cloud looked like an alligator. Yes, we were that bored.

Best Mother's Day Ever!

Damon, Caden and Marina gave me a Mother's Day I will never forget! Damon made pancakes and coffee, and Caden had written "I love you Mom" on our chalkboard. They had their gifts hidden behind the chalkboard, and Caden was so excited to give them to me. The first thing I got was a book that he had made for me at school. It is so special, and I can tell he worked very hard on it.

The cover - you can tell really he took his time and colored carefully.

A sample page. This really does look a lot like my "experimental" flower bed in the back of our house.

Check out Oprah's curly black hair


The rest of it read like this - each page had it's own illustration.

This is my mother
Her name is Chanda
She is 31 years old
She has black hair
She has blue eyes
My Mommy has two children
Mom likes to eat baked potatoes
For fun my mother likes to watch t.v.
When I was a baby, my mom took care of me
My mom helps me by making lunch for me
I love you.

It is definitely something I will keep and treasure always!!!!

My next gift was in a tiny bronze box with a bow. I opened it and inside were BEAUTIFUL diamond earrings. I have asked for princess cut diamond earrings for as long as I can remember, but have always just said "someday when we have more money" . . . I was thinking 25th wedding anniversary or some really big occasion like that, so I was completely shocked!



He went to Jared!




My kids make being a Mom SO worth it. People always comment on how well-behaved and sweet they are, and that is honestly the best compliment I could ever receive. Here I am with my "babies". Notice how I pulled my hair back to show off my new earrings!

The weather was beautiful and we spent the rest of the day shopping for flowers, vegetables and herbs for my garden. I got so many different and fun things year and I am really excited about it. I planted an entire "berry" garden, and Granny is giving me a few rows of her big garden where I will plant corn, onions, garlic, asparagus, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, zucchini and cucumber. It will be so fun to make all my food this summer and fall with almost completely home-grown veggies and fruit.

California Dreamin'

I had an awesome time during my mini-vacation to see Margie in California! I left early, early Thursday morning (Dad and I ate breakfast at the airport at 4:30 a.m.) and got to California around 9:00 a.m. (they are 3 hours behind us). I have never been afraid of flying before, but this time my anxiety was pretty high. All I can attribute this to is that I am a mommy now, and my kids need me therefore I should not put myself in situations where I might die. Before anyone says it, I know flying is safer than driving. Maybe it is the complete lack of control?

Anyway, after freshening up at Margie's apartment we headed to San Diego for the day. We stopped at a suburb (Del Mar maybe?) for lunch at a place called Georges,with rooftop seating overlooking the ocean. Those who know me, know how much I love food. And Georges did not disappoint.

I started with a Blood Orange Margarita. Yum!

We ordered Ceviche for our appetizer. I had never heard of this before, but I guess it is pretty popular in California. I could probably best describe it as a fresh salsa made with seafood. Margie had some in her fridge she had bought at the grocery made with Shrimp, and this one was made with Halibut. Another one we had in Laguna was made with Sea Bass. All were unbelievable! Definitely my new favorite appetizer, and I will be searching for a good recipe to make my own this summer.

Margie and I posing after lunch at Georges. This was our view while we ate. Breathtaking, huh?

After lunch, we did some shopping and then crossed this bridge to Coronado Island.

This is the famous, historic Hotel Del Coronado. It was built in 1887 and is one of America's largest wooden buildings. In 1958, Some Like It Hot was filmed at the Del, starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis.

This was an outside seating area at the Hotel Del. The ocean was right there, the couches were comfy and the fire pit took the edge off of the chilly breeze. Perfection!

Although the resort has hosted many visitors over the years, there is one guest—Kate Morgan—who some say has been here since 1892. Kate checked into the hotel broken-hearted and alone. Five days later, she was found dead on the beach, a gunshot wound to her head. Kate had apparently killed herself after a quarrel with her estranged husband. Since that time, resort guests, associates, and even paranormal researchers have attested that Kate’s former room is haunted by her spirit. Although we technically we weren't supposed to because we weren't registered guests of the hotel, we rode the elevator up to some of the floors and walked the halls. I definitely felt the history and got an eerie feeling thinking about the famous ghost


This picture was taken on a balcony at the hotel overlooking the gorgeous wooden lobby.

We took turns sitting in this over sized chair. It made us feel like we were Alice in Wonderland!

The author Frank Baum visited the Hotel Del frequently in the early 20th century, and was inspired to write his "Oz" books there. He designed these crown shaped chandeliers for the magnificent ballroom at the Hotel. The picture doesn't even come close to capturing how beautiful and interesting these were.

The Hotel Del Coronado at night

The next morning we headed to L.A. I know it is shallow, but I love reading about celebrities and seeing what they wear, where they shop etc. I was so excited to visit L.A. to see the many places I have seen in magazines and heard in song lyrics.


We didn't have that much time, so we just drove down Sunset blvd. I was ok with this, because I had heard it was a little dirty and we saw tons of crazy people (like this guy) walking around.

We had already eaten by the time we found The Ivy Restaurant on Robertson Blvd, but we had to stop and eat again just to say we had been there. For those of you who aren't celebrity crazy like me, The Ivy is the restaurant where celebrities go when they want to be photographed by the paparazzi. For example, if a celebrity couple were rumoured to be breaking up and they wanted to squash such rumours, they would go to the Ivy to be photographed together. We didn't see anyone famous while were there, but it was still a very fun experience! And as a side note - I know I sound like a crazy loon, but I would never approach or a bother a celebrity if I did see one. I would definitely respect their privacy! But to see one of my favorites, Reese or Jennifer and Ben, would have been just too cool!!!!

It really was a quaint and cute little place. We ate outside on the patio, but we went inside to check it out and use the restroom. It had an old, French feel to it. I can't really rave about the food because we were SO stuffed from just having eaten lunch at a fabulous Italian restaurant. However, the artichoke appetizer we ordered was interesting and light (which we needed!) and I had a glass of champagne with crushed strawberries.

The famous Chateau Marmont Hotel, where John Belushi died of a drug overdose in 1982.

We drove through the streets of Beverly Hills and ogled the massive mansions. When I saw this sign, I couldn't help but to think of the Weezer song by the same name.

"Where I come from isn't all that great

My automobile is a piece of crap

My fashion sense is a little whack

And my friends are just as screwy as me

Beverly Hills

That's where I want to be

Livin' in Beverly Hills

Beverly Hills

Rollin' like a celebrity

Livin' in Beverly Hills"

After driving down Sunset, we headed the Santa Monica Pier. This is just one of the beautiful ocean shots I got that evening.

Some of the fun entertainment on the pier.

Margie is scared of heights, but I convince her to go on the Ferris Wheel with me. You can tell from her face in this picture that she is nervous, but she ended up liking it. It was very relaxing and we had a beautiful view of the ocean and the beach from WAY up there.

A shot of the pier from the Ferris Wheel

Can you name the movie this is from? One of my favorites from my youth!

On our way home from Santa Monica, we stopped at In and Out Burger. I have heard about In and Out a lot and have always wanted to go. Again, I was not disappointed. In fact, I thought these burgers were so beautiful, I just had to capture them on film. I think that might have embarrassed Margie a little bit, she chuckled a little and said she saw me snapping the shot while she was coming out of the bathroom, but I just couldn't help it!

On Saturday we drove to Palm Springs and spent the night with Margie's Aunt Alice and Uncle Joe. They have a beautiful house and were wonderful hosts. We were joined by Alice and Joe's daughter Jennifer and her wife Dee who were some of the nicest and most fun people I have ever met. We enjoyed a fabulous meal of Lemon Spaghetti and Shrimp prepared by Margie and an wonderful Pinot Noir that I am going to try and find here in Indiana. They have a minature grand piano that played disks filled with various songs. The words to the songs were displayed on a screen and a microphone was provided for some karaoke fun. We sang along to classic Elton John and Barry Manilow. It was a great time!

Emjoying dinner in their beautiful dining room. Good people, good food, good wine - who could ask for more?

They lived on a beautiful golf course so we took a tour on the golf cart between dinner and dessert.


Me and Aunt Alice.

"His name was Rico . . . he wore a diamond . . . "

On Sunday morning we went to a street fair that Margie and Aunt Alice love. They knew all the best booths, and I got a really fun watch and a Tiffany knock-off necklace that I LOVE. After leaving the street fair, we said goodbye to Aunt Alice, Uncle Joe, Jennifer and Dee and headed to Laguna Beach.

Laguna Beach was absolutely gorgeous! It was the only place in California that fit my image of what I thought California would be like. The people were beautiful, the shops cool and artsy and the houses modern and HUGE. The weather was beautiful, and there were tons of people out shopping, walking their dogs and playing volleyball on the beach.

.
It is hard to tell, but there are a gazillion birds on this rock.

Here are some beautiful scenery shots from Laguna.

We ended the night in Laguna at a wonderful restaurant overlooking the ocean. We ordered Ceviche (of course), a chicken salad and fish and chips to share. Another fabulous meal, but the best part was the time spent with Margie. We had some really great conversations and a lot of laughs.

Yes, I wore the pink sweater almost every day! It was the only one I brought, and California was a lot chillier than I thought it would be. Good thing it went with almost all of my outfits!

I was sad to leave, but happy to get back to my family in Indiana. The kids were SO happy to see me at the airport, and kept hugging me and telling me they missed me all evening. The weather at home was perfect, everything was greener and my tulips I have been waiting on finally came up! It was great to sleep in my own comfy bed, with my hubby, the windows open and the ceiling fan on. Yes, I would have to say life is really, really good right now!