Top 5 Tasties

I'm back again with lists. I won't rehash how they make me feel sane and all of that. I just wanted to introduce you to a new feature that I thought would be fun here where Life Is Still Sweet.

This idea was conceived from The Omnivores' 100 and from my one of my favorite movies, High Fidelity. Now I had a clip all ready to show you in case you weren't familiar, but that Jack Black can throw out many an F-bomb in this movie. I didn't want to offend anyone, or any wee-ones that may be near your computer. My main point is super hansom John Cusack's character likes to make lists. Top 5 lists to be exact. Things like "top 5 songs to play on a Monday, top 5 dream jobs, top 5 reasons he misses his girlfriend". You get the point no?

I will be hosting a monthly Top 5 Tasties where hopefully we can all share our top 5 of a certain category of food. Maybe soon I'll even have items to be won, some fun recipes, or you'll think I have very odd tastes. At any rate it's always fun to learn how similar or distant you are from the next foodie. You know like in kindergarten when the question "what's your favorite color?" seemed to encompass oodles of information about any one person.

Let's start with an easy one, Top 5 picnic foods. Seeing as summer is going to be coming to a close (well in other parts of the planet, but not in Arizona), let's reminisce about all that is good in the summer. I'll go first.

• #5 - Potato Salad It pairs so well with everything picnic, but sometimes the mayo factor can be dicey so it's only #5.
• #4 - BBQ'd anything Slather a sponge with BBQ sauce and I may eat it.
• #3 - Grilled hotdogs - Sometimes you just need a hotdog to remember life is simple.
• #2 - Baked Beans, ranch beans - I like beans.
• #1 - Hamburgers - Nothing on earth is more satisfying than a very flavorful burger. It's indulgent yet simple.

Let's make my favorite burger. We have these (or some rendition of these) at least a couple times a month.

• Let's talk beef. I prefer organic, but you can use whatever floats your boat. Even ground turkey is delicious in this recipe. I wanted to double the batch to freeze some for later so this is 2lbs of meat. It will give you about 8 medium size burgers.

• Next some veg. Now I don't do this to "trick" my kids into eating something green. That's a perk, but they better eat their veggies regardless. Them be the rules around here. I like how the zucchini creates a nice moist texture without my burger falling apart. This is about 1 cup or 1/2 of a medium zucchini grated. Then I grate half of a medium onion for good flavor. Sometimes I grate in one clove garlic, but I left it out today.

• Now your spice. I always add 1-2 Tablespoons dried mustard powder for some zing, a bit of paprika, salt and pepper. Now if I'm making a good guacamole burger maybe with some pepper jack, I throw in chili powder and cumin powder. If I'm making a mushroom burger I like to put in some sage. So pretty much after the generics feel free to mix it up a bit. Sometimes I like a can of green chili's in this too. Today I threw in just a touch of cayene pepper because I'm not sure what these babies may end up with on top, but a bit of heat is always good.

• Shhhh. Here's the secret. Butter, grated butter. Just 2 tablespoons per 2 lbs. I know it bumps up the saturated fat content, but it does something magical to your burger. Try it once, you'll see. Then get your hands in there and mix it up. Don't over mix, ground meat can become tough with too much handling.

Now all you have to do is divide your mixture evenly and make patties. The real cooks on Food Network say to put a dent in the center to ensure even cooking. So I do it, but you know whatever works for you. Next grill or cook in a skillet. I love these grilled, but when it's too hot or when the propane runs out the cast iron works lovely. I do like to crank the heat up at first to seal everything in on both sides, then turn it down for a bit to cook the rest of the way.



A good bun always helps round things out. If you're lucky enough to have bacon in the house on burger night you may as well go for it. I was the coolest person of the evening just by placing strips of bacon on a burger.

So there's my Top 5 Tasty - picnic food. Now it's your turn. What makes you sing, keeps you outside near the grill, wish summer was longer, makes you spread out a checkered cloth?