A Cook's Quest

I'm going to spare everyone my raving and just say...go make these as soon as you can!  If you love a good burger this one will be at the top of your list.  Stuffed burgers are all over the place in blog land but they just were too complicated for me the day I planned to make them.  Instead, I did these and boy were we happy with them! Really though, what could be bad about a burger that has bites of cheese and bacon mixed in?  Is there anything wrong, ever, with adding bacon?  Not in my book!! What I love best is they are E. A. S. Y. to change up to suit your flavor preference.  Next time I will add finely chopped jalapenos for the hubby who likes his burgers with a little spice to them.  Go make them...please...and don't forget to pair them with these homemade buns because every great burger deserves a good bun to hold it all together!  Enjoy! I'm linking up to a few linky parties this week, go check out the great recipe...

I am a bit hesitant to say what I am about to say out loud for fear that it might jinx everything but, here goes anyway....I think the warm weather is almost (not finally) here! Yep, after the longest Spring with more rain and wind than I care to talk about, I feel safe saying Summer is close...very, very, close to arriving.  Of course with warm weather comes the season of grilling.  The traditional menu around these parts are hamburgers and hotdogs with all the fixings and side dishes galore.  But, a good burger deserves a great bun.  The bun is what holds all those lovely flavors of meat, cheese, condiments and veggies together.  It is vital, I tell you, to the burger experience. Now, I know you can buy a bun at any grocery store and many gas stations but I wanted something more than the standard sesame bun.  I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and with almost five stars how could I not try it? I am so glad I did!  The buns were l...

Some of you may remember recipe #15, the best pizza dough EVER , it is delicious no matter how ya top it and honestly I didn't think it could get any better.  But then I decided I decided to jump on the grilled pizza bandwagon and try my hand at grilling pizza, once I did I discovered that the world of pizza had just opened up some more!  I was worried that the dough would stick, that it would burn on the outside and be raw in the middle, that it just wouldn't taste as good as my regular method, but when I took that first bite I knew that I had a new summer favorite.  The grill created a nice smokiness, and the heat from the grill created a wonderfully crispy and chewy crust.  Next time you make pizza, try grilling it instead of baking it, not only will your kitchen stay cooler in the heat of summer but your pizza will taste better than ever! Grilled Pizza One recipe of pizza dough Oil Pizza toppings Preheat your grill.  I set mine on high and let it ...

My mom recently returned from a trip to Europe and one of the gifts she gave to me was this lovely assortment of goodies:  Are you wondering why she gave me a grater, rocks, a wooden scoop and a bowl?  I sure was!  Then she explained that the rocks were salt from Salzburg .  You, grate the rocks using the little grater, into the bowl and then use the little wooden scoop to get what you need.  My friends have all heard of this rock salt but I must have been living under a rock because I thought it was just the neatest thing ever!  To top it off, the salt makes my food, especially meats, taste amazing.  I've been adding it to everything I can and loving the results. Then while digging through my cupboards I found this little contraption, also a gift, and also from my mom.  I believe it was given at Christmas and I had forgotten about it.  So I instantly knew what I was going to do...I was going to make a rub, using my new favorite salt...

In a family with three young children, a busy husband and a very picky cook (yes, I am very picky) it is sometimes hard to find a recipe that all five of us love that is also easy to prepare.  These spiced chicken tenderloins are easy to make and even easier to eat.  The whole family loved, not just liked, but LOVED the sweet and spicy combo so much that there was nary a morsel left.  On a love scale, 1 being we loved them enough to make again sometime in the future and 10 being let's eat them for our very next meal, I would rate this a 9.  I got this idea from Our Best Bites , and modified it to my family's liking.  They can be as spicy as you want them to be and as sweet as you want them to be.  The original recipe calls for thigh meat, but I had tenderloins and they worked beautifully.  I used my own spice rub that I made a while back by throwing spices into a bowl until I thought they tasted good, spicy but not too hot ...