The Final Countdown.....

do do do doooo... do do do do do.... do do do dooooo.... do do do do doooooo.....


Are we in Vegas yet???

Uneventful Labor Day weekend around here. Cleaned on Saturday, ran errands yesterday and got to the last odds and ends of cleaning, and today was about relaxing. Also been working on a semi-pedicure for my feet for the past couple days... usually like to do one at a salon before we take a trip, but one of my heels cracked open and I'm not fond of nail chop-shops when I have open sores on my feet.

Yesterday I did some veal patties for dinner... Julia Child recipe, actually. Happened upon this post and it sounded good. The produce place usually carries ground veal for a good price. They turned out OK... the hubby enjoyed them, he ate two, I thought they were OK. I guess unless it's covered in tomato sauce and cheese, I'm not much of a veal person.

But, I did use some of my veal stock and I will say... good lordy... what a texture on that stuff. The most luxurious sauce that has ever come out of my kitchen.

Tonight was burgers. I'll get to that in a second.

Big swig of beer.

It's been a horrible year for Japanese Beetles around here. For that reason, I've been content to let the spiders around here go around living and unharmed and as undisturbed as possible. It's at least kept the mosquito down. When I caught some beetles munching on my basil plant last week I was more than happy to continue letting the spiders build their webs and hang around.

There has been one spider that has apparently been content to build a web across the ENTIRE deck. Like, I walk outside and I'm hit by parts of web. I have no idea how in the world it could go corner to corner of the deck. But it has.

Went outside today, and there was apparently a web kinda built on the sliding door attached to something else. Saw something fall, but it looked like a leaf at first. Um, no. It was a spider. A huge, ugly, huge, big, huge, stripey spider of some sort. I only found this out after I had picked some tomatoes, started the grill, threw burgers on and then started to water plants, and decided to use the water stream to get what I thought was the leaf off the deck. It somehow, very quickly, made its way up the door and right in to the door frame. GREAT.

I managed to get up the courage to get into the house, find the bug spray and head back out there and not get attacked by what in my mind was the Godzilla of spiders. I tried to attack it with bug spray..... just get out, scurry away and out of my sight.... but it was holding on. I then tried to use a broom stick to urge it to move on. It fell to the deck, I tried to attack it with the broomstick. Anyone who knows me in real life and knows my utter lack of coordination can imagine how comical a scene that was. I tried a couple more sprays with the bug spray, and it scurried between a space in the deck and was gone.

I ran back inside, but I was still spooked. I made the hubby go out to flip the burgers that were on the grill.

Oh yeah... the burgers!!

The mis....





Yes... I do more than just ground meat patties on a grill. I was not brought up in a wealthy or even middle-class household (although I think we reached middle class when I was a teenager) and burgers always had some filler. Sue me. I've always been told I make a tasty burger.

One of my keys is dried minced onion. Adds a wonderful flavor to the finished product, since they kinda rehydrate when they're cooking.

I also use the Kitchen Aid for mixing ground meat. It's not just for baking, people! I don't mind getting my hands into a pile of ground meat, but the KA just does a way better job than my hands.

And what is that in the bottom of the bowl??


Torn white bread mixed with milk. Although I think I went a bit overboard for my amount of meat, oh my WORD does it make a difference in the texture of the finished product. It's how you keep your burgers from becoming hockey pucks.




Add ingredients... that is the beef, the onions, some steak seasoning, onion powder, Lee & Perrin's and some steak sauce.


Mix away!! Whoot!!



The final mixture.



Um, yeah... the first formed patty and the egg you forgot to add.



The final product. Throw on the grill and cook away. Yum. Always a welcome meal around here.

As for the rest of the week.... only have to worry about tomorrow, and it'll be BLTs. I suspect the hubby will be home late, and I suspect I'll have to do some touch ups on the UV gel nails, and possibly get polish on them.

And oh yeah.... in the "whhhaaaa?" file... I already have a couple of 'net friends who are going to be visiting Vegas at a slightly overlapping time with our trip..... but apparently there will also be three cousins and an aunt in Vegas. Found out today that one cousin is going there with her mom (aunt) before a wedding in Arizona on Sunday. And the sons of the aunt/brother of the cousin will also be in town for some work conference. I just hope no one calls us for bail money.