Grilled Cheese Sandwich - Five Guys Style

Ain't That Unusual by Goo Goo Dolls
"Hey, you never made it.  Ain't that unusual?"  Exactly what I was saying when I had my encounter with a Five Guys Grilled Cheese sandwich.  Not that grilled cheese is unusual - at all.  But their methodology is a bit outside the box.  And it's brilliant.  And it's very unusual that I hadn't thought of doing it their way a long time before now.  Leftover hamburger buns will never catch me heaving a sigh, saying "What in the heck am I going to do with all these buns?"  I know what will be happening!

I was in Utah for family events recently and happened to be staying in
downtown Ogden for a few days.

Close to our hotel was a Five Guys Burgers and Fries.

One night around dinnertime, we were looking for a place to eat.
I wasn't too hungry but my sister, Brenda, was, so we set
out to find her some dinner - at the Five Guys.

S'mores Ice Cream

'S Wonderful by Ella Fitzgerald
When we are in a relaxed mood - a state of bliss or complete contentment - we tend to relax our speech as well.  Slang enters our vocabulary and we run our words together.  We're not worried that our English teacher is going to be around the corner, ready to correct our enunciation and grammar.  We have confidence that those around us will understand what we're saying, regardless.  And it'S Wonderful!  This song is an Ira and George Gershwin collaboration.  And I particularly enjoy Ella's recording of it because she goes beyond the 'S Wonderful combo of the title.  She goes ahead ahead and relaxes far enough to rhyme "fash"(fashion) with "pash"(passion) as well as "emosh"(emotion) with "devosh"(devotion).  The result is a peek into an intimate confession by someone who has entered the nirvana of love!  Yes - nirvana of love!  That dreamy sublime state of discovering that you've found someone who will step on a raft surrounded by swans and sail away with you!  Confused?  Watch this clip of Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire do just that in "Funny Face"!  Meanwhile, I'm going to enjoy s'more ice cream - simply because it'S Wonderful!

You can track my aging process by tracking my camping habits.

As a kid, I was eager and excited to load up the camping gear - tents, sleeping bags, fishing poles, roasting sticks - and head out to nature!

Our family often took camping trips on the river in canoes, pulling over at night to set up camp and eat fish and, if I remember right, bull frogs!

You'll eat anything to get to the inevitable end - roasted marshmallows and chocolate on a graham!

Miso Marinade

Let's Stay Together by Al Green

I will have to give my sister, Brenda, credit for this recipe's song choice.  After explaining the idea I was going for - the idea of being together and getting to know one another - she came up with this song in less than 10 seconds.  The down side of the moment was that she started singing it to me - while we were doing a couple loads of laundry in our hotel's laundry room - which is about 8' X 10' - and we were sharing the space with one other hotel guest - and my sister didn't stop with a sound byte - she kept singing.  And singing.  She has a beautiful voice.  The laundry room had good acoustics.  Maybe I can't blame her.  Needless to say - we all got to know each other very well - that hotel guest and us - as they slyly "snuck" a photo of us which I'm sure was shared with all their friends, entitled something like "The Nutty Ladies in the Laundry Room"#getmeoutofhere.

I'm late in posting today because I attended my nephew's wedding this morning.

I realized how appropriate my recipe was this week - in light of the occasion and all.

I'm offering a marinade.  

Something I came up with after monkeying around in the kitchen.

Marinating meats and veggies is all about bringing two entities together and giving them a chance to sit and visit a spell - learn about each other and exchange ideas.

Getting married is like that - only it's for a much longer period of time than a few hours or overnight - let's hope!

Minty Limeade

Mambo No. 5 by Lou Bega

We're going down Cuba way today, folks.  The birthplace of the mambo AND the mojito - which is the inspiration for today's recipe - the drink, not the dance.  We're in the dog days of summer.  That heat is hanging on.  And this drink is what's helping me enjoy every single ray of sun.  Come on, Lou!  If only my name rhymed with - well, anything - I'd get a shout out, too!  Let's mambo our way to the store to get some limes and mint . . . . and club soda!  Party at my place!

I've been trying to cut back my intake of diet sodas.

I'd really become a champ at chugging those drinks down.

And I mean CHUG!!!

Fresh Herb Ravioli in Brown Butter

Scarborough Fair/Canticle by Simon & Garfunkel

I love my back yard.  It is enchanting to me.  There are hot summer evenings, like the ones we've been having lately, where I half expect to see fairies peek out at me from behind leaves and flower blossoms.  We don't have fireflies here, but we should.  But should some fireflies arrive and bring along some fairies with them, I imagine that this song would spontaneously start playing - out of nature itself.  It is one of the most mystical magical songs I've ever heard.  Spellbinding.  Although the message is sad - love being promised only when impossible tasks are completed - the tune seems to hold hope.  In this enchanting back yard of mine, I have a pot filled to overflowing with rosemary, chives, and unbelievably huge leaves of velvety sage.  If I were a fairy, it's the very place I would choose to hide. 

As I was tending to the plants on my back patio last week I noticed that my pot that holds chives, rosemary, and sage has become enormously bountiful.  Other pots are doing well, but this particular pot  is definitely the overachiever of the patio planet.  I figured I better be thinking of ways to use this bounty of freshness - and quick!