Try bodacious burgers during National Burger Month

The Oakland Press printed an article about National Burger Month.

Any one burger sounds lovely, but expensive; check out the list.

But even if you can't afford a $15-$20 pound burger, all is not lost.

You can meet or exceed these burgers at home, with some expert help.

Permit me to point you in the direction of two of my favorite Food Network stars: Rachael Ray and Bobby Flay.

Both have serious burger "street cred." Bobby has hosted a grilling show on Food Network for a number of years. Featured on the Food Network site is a slideshow of Bobby's best burgers with links to the recipes ... and each one is a bit different.

Rachael's cookbooks and her magazine "Every Day with Rachael Ray" are full of great burger options, including healthier choices such as white chicken or turkey meat burgers.

One of the things she does well is to change up the size of her burgers; I love her appetizer-like takes on burgers. Check out this video for an example:
Mini Chipotle Burgers

Yes, I call Rachael and Bobby by their first names. That's because they've spent a lot of time in my living room and inspire me. I know good food, well-cooked, better than most restaurant food is obtainable in part due to watching their shows.

And Bobby, I don't squish my burgers down anymore to keep them from being too high in the center. I use your little trick of putting an indentation in the burger's center so when it puffs up, it's at the same level as the rest of the burger. Thanks for the tip!

Bacon Smokies! Or, Is Everything Really Better with Bacon? Part II

The Bacon-Wrapped Brown Sugar Smokies that I made from Food.com were a hit. 

In future, though, I'll use one of the recipes that say to cook in oven and transfer to the crockpot to keep warm. 

"Why?" you ask. Good question.

Because it took over four hours to cook in the crockpot! Plus, the Lit'l Smokies® on top (those not being entirely cooked in bacon fat were essentially steamed and needed to be broiled to brown the bacon).

Another reason? We had to deal with that tantalizing smell for almost all the time they were cooking! I swear some of the men (and women) were drooling in anticipation once they asked, "What's that smell?" and I told them.

I used the turkey version of the Lit'l Smokies®. You can't tell the difference from regular, taste-wise, and it's got half the fat. And it's hard to find, so plan to buy them in advance! I went to two different stores in search of them.

Also, I used thick-sliced bacon, which was recommended in several of the recipes Hillshire Farms' website says you also can use turkey bacon for a leaner version, though that didn't get as positive a response on the recipe boards. (Yes, I did extensive research, bordering on obsessive.) 

My bacon was fattier than normal, so I think I'll get the 25 percent leaner (and thinner) type next time.

Once done, they were very popular (though they definitely played second banana to the prime rib my friend, Amanda, served). And I have just a few words for you re the prime rib: Precooked. From Costco. Tender. Excellent.

I've included another link from the Hillshire Farms website that hopefully will lead to faster Bacon-Wrapped Smokies, or as I like to call it now, Bacon-Wrapped Sausage Candy. You can then toss them into a crockpot on low to keep them warm (don't forget to put the lovely brown sugar and bacon fat "sauce" in with them to keep them tender).

One key mistake on my part: I forgot my camera and didn't have the presence of mind to use my cell phone's camera to show you what they looked like.

Instead, you can drool at a picture of the finished product on the baconology.org website, which offers another version cooked in the oven, as well as several other mouth-watering sounding bacon recipes. This one's originally from allrecipes.com. (See direct link for a lovely picture.)

Thanksgiving Week Was Filled with Lessons

Lesson number one from my Thanksgiving week was simple: homemade isn't always better. 

My aunt got a turkey dinner from Meijer this year and we all brought fill-ins. While the stuffing was nothing to write home about (though admittedly, I'm a harsh critic of any stuffing but my aunt's or mom's), it beat StoveTop. The side dishes were fine (I was particularly fond of the orange-cranberry concoction), but the turkey was the star. It was moist and juicy, which isn't always the case with store bought rotisserie chickens, and a nice surprise. Kudos to Meijer for that!

Lesson number two: you have to be a much more hard-core shopper to go into Kohl's and actually stand in line to buy something. I picked three items, looked at the line (even the jewelry counter was ridiculous, though I did have a jewelry item) and ended up putting them back. Kmart was not as insane, thankfully, and I got most of the really little kids' presents there, so mission accomplished, more or less. 

I should have gone out shopping Saturday, but instead, I spent the time at a friend's "mini-Thanksgiving" where I ate my fill including an amazing lemon-infused boneless turkey breast as well as great desserts and played a "new" game (meaning new to me) involving quotations. 

We had a lovely time, bringing me to lesson number three: friends who are like family are nice to have. 

And Tati, if you're reading this, I want the recipe for those pecan tarts and the little chocolate tarts, too! (They may not qualify as healthy, precisely, but at least they're tiny.)

Holiday Recipes

You have my high school reunion to thank for this entry. One of my friends there mentioned he'd seen the blog online, which jogged my memory. Thanks, Tim.

Where's the blog been? you ask.

Thereby hangs a tale. Here are links to some work I've been doing for Patch.com, an online newspaper (in this case, the Hartland, MI edition). As some people do serve turkey and stuffing at Christmas, I am including links to two great holiday recipes from people I've interviewed for Patch.com in the past few weeks: stuffing and Roast Muscovy Duck. (The latter previously ran in the New York Times and is a good alternative to a turkey or ham, making a dinner for two to four people.)

A Collection of Recipes to Try

I haven't been doing nearly as much cooking as I want to be and thus have been collecting an incredible number of healthy recipes that I'm holding in reserve to review (and probably change out a bit here and there).



Two such recipes are from Alyssa Yeager at Kitchen La Bohème I love reading her blog; she's a very creative person on a mission to eat healthy and primarily vegetarian and vegan. I totally respect that, but I'm not sure I could give up eating my mom's pot roast and meatloaf (or bacon with my eggs). The links to Alyssa's blog entries are below:

EASY DELICIOUS VEGAN Pumpkin Spice Loaf with Maple Glaze
VEGANIZE IT Turkey Cutlet Sandwiches with Smoked Paprika Mayo and Roasted Bell Peppers


Last night, I also saw a re-run of Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals, which featured an intriguing "pizza." Why is "pizza" in quotes? Simply because its base isn't dough, but a portobello mushroom cap. I love mushrooms on my pizza. I think I also could learn to like pizza on my mushrooms by making her Portobello Pizzas recipe. I also liked the looks of Proscuitto with Pears and Arugula, another recipe in the same episode.

If anyone makes these recipes before I do, let me know how they turned out.

By the way, it appears The Rachael Ray Show is moving to ABC as of tomorrow, which I didn't realize until I didn't see her in her usual 11 a.m. NBC slot and did some research on the Web. I don't watch TV all that much, so I guess I missed the memo.