Tomato Update

Last week I was at Mum's at the golf course for lunch. Every once in a while I get adventurous on my own, or at least that is what I tell myself. It is quite often some sort of social pressure that I rationalize into me deciding to try something.
Anyway, I made no special request for my burger. When I do this I usually remove anything I don't like when the burger arrives. I did it a little differently this time. "Do tomatoes really have that much of an impact on a burger? Have I actually tried a tomatoey burger, or is this just a picky tradition?" So, I left the tomato on and took a bite.
Tomatoes are still gross!

A Home-grown First

Today was the very first time I can remember using something I have grown myself in a dish. This summer we bought a chili plant. It has lived on our balcony and in our living room. It has been a very thirsty plant. We've watched lots of flowers bloom, close and fall off, but three made it and slowly transformed and grew into chili peppers. This week the first one became fully mature and had the privilege of being cut up and used in tacos tonight! It felt good being able to utilize something I'd taken care of over time. (And the taco meat I made with the chili was really good too!)

Grape Juice

I like grapes, yet I've never really liked grape juice or grape flavoured things. Yesterday I decided to try a box of grape juice with my lunch, just to see if I still felt that way. The first sip and I was like, "Hey, not so bad. Why don't I like this?" And then I kept drinking and I was reminded that, yes, I don't like grape juice. I can't pin it down. I don't enjoy it after the first sip. HEY! This may be classical conditioning. Throughout my life, once a month I have had a very small amount of grape juice with Communion.
Could that be why a regular glass is just weird?
VERDICT: Still not something I'd chose for myself.

Burger Bulletin

On my birthday this summer I was lucky enough to go Mum's at the Golf Course. It had a very different atmosphere from their other location, which has a diner feel. I had previously been told by a friend that there was a burger I needed to try here: the 40 Creek Double!

It comes with lettuce, tomato (I gave mine to Kristin), strips of bacon, two types of cheese, 40 Creek BBQ sauce, condiments and two patties of your choice, either 6 oz. handmade or 4 oz. sirloin (or angus, I can't remember which).
I chose the handmade patties and, man, did I chose right. Amazing beef! It was cooked through and seasoned well.
Put all together it is quite tall. I had difficulty biting from top to bottom, but the burger is so good that you don't really care. You just shove your face into it to get another amazing bite, regardless of the quickly accumulating mess.
This is the best burger I've had eating out in Brandon and suggest everyone try it, but make sure to bring a hearty appetite.

In a more recent burger development, A&W has expanded their burger offerings beyond the Burger Family to their close personal friends: Four Buddy Burgers are now on the menu.

The Little Buddy Burger

They are smaller, snack oriented burgers and are available as a single or double, with or without cheese. Starting at $1.75 with the Little Buddy Burger, A&W's value burgers are more expensive than the McDouble and some don't even have cheese.
I'm personally fine with cheeseless burgers, so the only issue to settle is whether or not the Buddy Burgers are worth the extra money.
I tried the Little Buddy Burger. It's composed of a fluffy, seedless bun, tantalizingly seasoned patty, Teen sauce (aka mayo, which I declined), ketchup, mustard and fried onions. They come in a pap--
FRIED ONIONS?! No fast food place offers fried onions on a value, snack burger. My mind has already been blown and I haven't even tried it yet.
It is a very good little burger. The onions complement A&W's secret seasoning very well. There is a generous squirting of both ketchup and mustard, plus the bun looks, feels and tastes like a real bun. I bought two buddies since we were driving through supper to visit family. I'd devoured one before I'd even finished filling up on gas. It's a burger I never want to stop eating.
Thinking of going back to a McDouble now feels like thinking about eating doll-house food. The extra 36¢ (plus more for upgraded Buddies) is worth it every time! Better quality + Fried onions = New snack of choice. If I subtract will power from that equation then the result would be: EAT EVERY DAY!!!

Buddy Burger picture courtesy of http://s3-media4.ak.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/L_TgQpUfhjeRgpgWeZeCQw/l.jpg

Cream Corn Soup

In the broadest sense of the word soup encompasses a very wide range of textures and thicknesses from consommé and miso to bisque and chowder. My personal soup spectrum is not broad. I have strict limitations as to what makes an edible soup, namely,

• clear broth without bits
• clear broth with tasty bits
• tomato soup without bits
• crumbled crackers are an acceptable addition to any soup.

I have shied away from thick soups as a rule. (Tomato soup overloaded with crackers is the only notable exception.) I'm afraid of the texture. Also, the thick soups that I've usually been exposed to are either mushroom or seafood based and those are at the top of my never-ever-never-never list.

Two weeks ago I had the chance to expand my soup experience. We visited friends for supper and had cream corn and home-made tomato soups. I am missing the gene that enables a person to say no to tomato soup. I had to pick it. The cream corn soup was thick and intimidating, but I made a point of trying it and not just sticking with what I know.

It was much more than I had been expecting. There was the corn, of course, which is always welcome, but there was also cheese and smoky ham! What could be better? I'm still not used to the thick soup texture. It kind of feels like it gets stuck in my mouth. That being said, having the co-mingled flavours of corn, cheese and ham in my mouth, for any length of time, is highly desirable.

It is soups like this that will put thick soups back on my menu.

VERDICT: Make

Experiment II - Best Food Ever?

I had this idea a few days back. We were having grilled cheese and I was thinking about how much I love grilled cheese. On a side note, I love grilled "cheese", but not grilled "processed cheese". Anyway, I was ruminating on just how amazing a crispy, buttery, molten-cheesy can be. Deep in thought I remembered that I had said I could live off garlic bread a few days before. Inspiration settled upon me. What if I made grilled cheese and used garlic butter to make it? Or made a regular with grilled cheese with some minced garlic inside? I plan on trying making as many variations of this idea as possible and reporting on just how amazing each and everyone of them are.

+

=

?? BEST FOOD EVER ??

photos from http://umami.typepad.com/umami/images/imp061115_014_1.jpg and https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq5kqgPCEZbTWHryCKkwe_S1vbaAQSHOP1ffnPMLbwLJfeVjsGNFSAcrowKoOQqT2KXk2qrATDhBGuLkuxhDfbsrOBtsIViIxDy4dg9olcd1f88XBSFYzsgnqnqAl5KfshkZgKpCIZwQuy/s320/DSC06780.jpg

Experiment I

Question: Co-op Gold Cola + Co-op Gold Black Cherry = Cherry Coke?

Result: A definitive NO!

Burger Brief

It has been a considerable time since I've written about hamburgers. I have been considerably busy, though I have also eaten a considerable amount hamburgers in this time. Here are the burger highlights
Weirdest - Burger Pizza

We had borrowed bikes from the city of Adelaide and taken a ride down to the closest beach. We took a tour and decided to get some lunch. I was intrigued with the burger pizza that was on menu. I've had them before, but when this one arrived it was unlike anything I'd ever encountered before. The bottom was a pizza topped with beef, onion and cheese, basically a normal burger pizza. The toppings didn't end there, however. On top of the pizza was fresh lettuce and tomatoes and a quartered burger bun! It was the most literal burger pizza I've ever eaten. I'm sure it tasted fine, but in the end its strangeness is what sticks in my memory the most.

Top 3: The best of the best of my burger encounters since being back in Manitoba.
3 - Blondie's

1/2 burger

Shortly after we got back my mom took us to Blondie's, a burger joint on Main street in Winnipeg, just south of Kildonan Park. The place has a unique atmosphere (click the link to find out more) and a dazzling array of burgers starting at large and building up enormous beyond all reason. I chose the 1/2 pound burger and it was as big as Kristin's head. Luckily I was very hungry. I quartered it with the steak knife provided in lieu of the usual toothpick or plastic sword. The remaining quarters were still bigger than the largest burger I could buy at McDonald's or the like. It was delicious and beyond filling. It took some doing, but I did manage to eat the entire thing.

2- Dave's Hot 'n' Juicy Burgers

Recently Wendy's upgraded their burger offerings. Their classic burgers have become Dave's Hot 'n' Juicy Cheeseburgers. Wendy's has always been my favourite fast food chain. I feel it is the least like fast food. I was a bit worried when I heard of the change. It's not often good to mess with a good thing.
Then I tried them. Mess away, Wendy's, mess away! The beef definitely lives up to the name and is a definite upgrade. The toppings, as always, are fresh. What brings it all together and takes it over the top for me is a brand new addition: the butter-toasted bun. The added crispness of the bun and butter flavour make for a great burger that is unlike any the competition can offer.
Dave would be proud.

1 - Lots of Meat Burger

My favourite burger of the last while, is also the most recent. We went to the Clay Pot in Brandon. It's just down the street from us and yet I'd never been there. The menu is quite diverse, from diner style burgers and sandwiches, to more normal entrees and even a wide selection of sushi! It's everything I've ever wanted.
I had the Lots of Meat Burger because, well, I love meat. It has a patty, cheese, bacon, a slice of fried ham and a fried egg. Fried ham was the only burger topping I'd never encountered before. The burger was very good. The beef was savoury and plentiful. All the toppings worked well together, especially the addition of the ham. It makes me want to go to the Clay Pot everyday. I'm pretty sure I could never get tired of this burger, but, hey, if I did I could just order the sushi.

photos borrowed from: 

http://www.urbanspoon.com/rph/332/1443832/464180/winnipeg-blondie-s-restaurant-it-s-as-big-as-his-head-photo

http://the305.com/2011/09/20/40335/

http://www.urbanspoon.com/u/map/1559458/restaurant/Winnipeg/Clay-Pot-Cafe-Brandon

Ya Pear

Today for fruit club we had Ya Pears. They are basically a cross between an apple and a pear. The ones we had were very juicy and from what I understand that is what they usually are like. I didn't like them. The texture was okay, but the taste is what turned me off. It tastes like a chemical approximation of pear, which isn't one of my favourite tastes to begin with. So for me Ya Pears are Na Pears.

Verdict: Polite

photo borrowed from http://www.flickr.com/photos/reid-bee/3426968383/