How to Make Homemade Burgers for Freezing

Today was a perfect day for doing a very satisfying task. First of all it was raining (yay!!! my plants are happy!), and secondly, medium ground beef was on sale for a great price. I bought two of the family size large packs of ground beef. (I've come back to edit that one pack was 1.3 kg which converts to about 3 pounds). You want medium ground beef for burgers because that extra bit of fat gives it flavour and juiciness.

I used two large mixing bowls, emptying one package of ground beef into each bowl so I would have plenty of space for adding ingredients and mixing them up.

Into the beef, you want to add:

-ketchup and barbecue sauce. I like Diana Sauce original because it is not too "hickory" and it is fairly thick. I don't measure, but I think anywhere from a half a cup to three-quarters of a cup in total of ketchup / barbecue sauce per big bowl of ground beef will be enough.

-chopped onion and egg. I used almost a whole chopped onion divided between the two bowls, and mixed up three eggs and divided the mixture between the two bowls as well. The egg is important to help bind the burger meat together.

-Italian style bread crumbs. If you aren't familiar with this type of bread crumb, give it a try. Italian style crumbs include lovely herbs and parmesan cheese as well as bread crumbs, so you get extra flavour. You might use about a cup of bread crumbs per bowl.

-burger seasoning. I like even more flavour and discovered this mixture a while ago. This takes care of any salt or pepper you need to add, too. I took the lid off and probably dumped in at least a tablespoon in each bowl, if not more.

The next step is to wash your hands and get in there and mix it all up. You want to make sure you have incorporated all the bread crumbs and that the onions are evenly distributed.

Now it is time to rip off a whole bunch of sheets of wax paper and cut them into "squares". Don't worry if they are more rectangles than squares. The purpose of these is to stack your burgers between pieces of waxed paper to make it easy to separate them after they are frozen.

You will end up with piles like this. You'll need more wax paper squares than you think, if you are doing a big quantity of burgers.

I like to use a metal measuring cup to form my burgers. This is a one-third cup. It is a good size for a generous burger that suits most people. By using a measuring cup, your burgers will be the same size and will cook at the same rate.

Lay down a wax paper square, press your beef mixture into your measuring cup, invert the measuring up over the wax paper and give it a downward smack. Your beef will then slide out onto the wax paper.

Press your burger down, maintaining a circular shape. You don't want it to be too thin, however, so that it holds together and grills well.

You can get more finicky than this, rounding off the edge of the burger, but I think a homemade burger should look like a homemade, assembled with love, kind of food!

Place another square of wax paper overtop of your burger and add it to your stack. And here's the key!! You always want two squares of wax paper between the burgers so that you can easily separate them when they are frozen. Wax paper will not stick to wax paper. The last thing you want to do, which trust me, I have done with purchased burgers and even hot dogs, is to try to pry a knife between frozen burgers and accidentally slip and hurt yourself.

I like to put a stack on a paper plate (perfect way to use up your seasonal / special event leftover paper plates!) to keep them flat, so they don't freeze in an awkward shape when you cram them into your freezer (if it's anything like mine!), in large size zip lock freezer bags. Try to squeeze out at much air as possible before you zip them up!

My two family size packages of ground beef ended up making about thirty burgers altogether - delicious, consistent in size, and ready for grilling whenever people drop by in the summer. Like purchased burgers, you can cook them from frozen. A great way to spend some time on a rainy day.

Just so you know... I'm not being paid by President's Choice, or Gray Ridge Eggs, or French's or anyone else, but they are welcome to, if they wish, ha ha!!

Happy Anniversary

If you are of a similar "vintage" to me, you may remember the Flintstones song to Wilma. This little song always pops up in my head at the mention of an anniversary.

Yes, it is our anniversary, or was yesterday. Twenty-seven years of wedded bliss (sarcasm, I don't think there is anyone out there who can claim "wedded bliss" - it's all a series of ups and downs and a whole lot of in between).

Our "big" anniversary celebration was two years ago for our twenty-fifth when we took a trip to England. This year was much more laid back and local. We drove to Creemore, a cute little village a little more than an hour from us. Creemore has lots of cute shops with an emphasis on home décor, vintage, art, and beer. Yes, beer. The Creemore brewery takes up about a block of this village. They've done a fantastic job of making an experience for the visitor. You can taste three beers of your choice and take a tour of the facilities. Being as it was Friday, there wasn't anybody on the production line, but the inner workings were interesting nonetheless. Apparently beer is to have only four ingredients: barley, hops, yeast, and something else which I have forgotten. Guess I'm not making beer. Maybe it was water?? We were surprised at how small the facility actually was considering how much they make. Here are some captivating photographs for those of you who wish to create your own brewery some day:

Everything looked shiny and pristine. 

 

This last photo is a giant collection of kegs which would be sent out to restaurants for beer on tap. I did find out that Creemore Springs beer is not found in the U.S. because it is not pasteurized and cannot be exported to the states.
The village has done a great job of making things look pretty with signage, flower boxes and plenty of benches to sit on, complete with throw cushions. They must all take them in at night.

This is the outside of the Creemore Springs brewery building(s).  After we were all done with our beer tour (our favourite was the Premium Lager), we went for a drive up a long road which we could see from the village that just kept going up and up and up. At the top was a place to pull in. I took a picture of the beautiful valley. There are also many gorgeous homes in the area which are situated right at the tops of the "mountains" to take advantage of the beautiful views.

I didn't think it proper to take pictures of the homes, but I kept wondering, "What do these people do that they can afford these amazing homes?"

We continued our jaunt and ended up in Thornbury, another gorgeous small town on the shore of Nottawasaga Bay (the southern part of Georgian Bay) in the Blue Mountains region. We had been there earlier this summer for a car show. As recommended by our tourism daughter, we went to the cidery in Thornbury.

I've never been a fan of cider, but after a tasting (Yes, another tasting, and no, this isn't all we do) I think I could be a convert. They have not just regular apple cider (my least favourite), but they also have cranberry, blueberry, and blood orange. Husband's favourite was the blood orange cider, but I think I may prefer the blueberry.

The glasses look huge in this picture, but they aren't. They are only allowed to serve small glasses as part of the $10 tasting (called a Flight). I decided to try the four wines that were being featured. Then husband and I tried each other's selections.

Pinot Grigio, Reisling, Cabernet Merlot, and Syrah, in that order. They were all good but the Syrah is too "heavy and dark" for me. We would have purchased some blood orange cider, but they were all out at the moment.

We ended up the day at a restaurant we've already been to, The Dam Pub. We ate outside and had the steak in a peppercorn mushroom sauce (did not take a picture this time!) which was excellent. We were so full that I didn't have dessert even though they had Sticky Toffee Pudding which is one of my all time favourites. And to top off the day, we actually had RAIN, glorious rain, in the evening. We literally just sat in silence and listened to the rain. (Can you tell we needed it?) I'm pretty sure we could hear the plants sighing.

Still a Few Flowers in this Crunchy Summer

I don't water my perennial beds, just my small vegetable garden. We have been fortunate enough to have a little bit of rain (enough to fill my buckets under my downspouts, but not more). Despite these arid conditions, I do have a few things which have managed to bloom. Perhaps you have also had these same blooms in your gardens.

Delphiniums which usually get beaten down by the rain have stood tall for a greater length of time this July.

I love how iridescent they are. They remind me of carnival glass.

This dark wine, almost "black" daylily is one of my favourites. I don't get many blooms from it, but it is thick and meaty, unlike my other rather spindly daylilies.

Very dependable snowball bush which just seems to thrive on either neglect, or severe cutting back. It doesn't wilt like my little decorative pink hydrangeas.

My trumpet vine took forever to become established enough to bloom. This year it is doing very well and the hummingbirds are enjoying it. It is difficult to tell from the picture, but it is covering a wooden arbour attached to rail fences.

I'm not totally certain what this flower is, some sort of coreopsis, I think. It is tall and big and doing very well. I don't even remember its origins, whether I purchased it as a plant from a garden center, or whether it was gifted to me from someone's home garden. Regardless, it provides nice, bright colour right now.

My hollyhocks have been dwindling over the years. I had so many that were gorgeous dark pinks, light pinks, and a whole variety of other colours. Now many of them are washed out shades and too solitary to make much of an impact. I'm considering whether I should renew my supplies, or do away with them altogether.

You simply cannot go wrong with limelight hydrangeas. It would be the one I would recommend to anyone in any setting.

A traditional daylily. I have others which are more orange in colour, as well as a pure lemon yellow. Even though daylilies tend to be pretty bomb proof, mine are suffering in this drought and aren't putting on much of a show.

Of course, I don't feature my sad, dry, lifeless plants, or the strangulating bind weed which threatens to take them down, or the grasses that grow amongst all of them. I did pick a cucumber this morning and I have eaten three tiny tomatoes - candyland is what that variety is called- smaller than cherry tomatoes.

How doth your gardens grow?

Waterfalls and Wine

Yesterday was my birthday, the big five-two. I'm not much of a birthday person. I don't like get-togethers. I despise birthday phone calls, I don't require presents, and I cringe at the thought of being sung to, especially in public. So... both "kids" were working yesterday and husband and I decided to do something during the day. Our daughter, the communications major, put together a day for me (she's working this summer in tourism), knowing her mother well (i.e. no ziplining, no big city travel, no crowds).

In the morning, we left to drive to a very pretty part of Ontario, to go for a late breakfast. We ate outside in the shade in a little village. I had the vegetarian crepe (not a vegetarian, but the "innards" sounded yummy - onions, goat cheese, mushrooms...). Yes, I took a picture. Note the flowers as decoration!

After breakfast, we drove to a lovely conservation area that includes a waterfall. We've been to this waterfall before but it's been a while. Being in nature makes me contended. It was a scorching hot day, but we were in amongst the trees. And when a hot flash hit me, I just leaned against the stone wall which was nice and cool! (Why, why do hot flashes come back when you are quite sure they were all done? Happy birthday.)

You can see the wall to protect people from their own stupidity. I love the old cedars.

The gnarled root systems with all of their glorious texture and hidey holes make me imagine gnomes and fairies and other magical tiny beings living amongst them and emerging when all of the people go home.

This is one view of Eugenia Falls.

Here is a better view.

This is probably the best view. Don't ask how far the drop was. I read the info, but forget it now and I'm a terrible judge of distance. Suffice it to say that I would not want to look over the edge.

And now for your amusement, here is a selfy (selfie? the ie ending doesn't make sense...). Is there anyone, besides a Kardashian, over the age of 25 who can properly execute one of these things? I ended up looking like an elf and husband looks like he's trying to read the small print. Good god.

Now, onto better things... we then drove a short distance to another waterfall, different in nature and size. This one assumed that you were smart enough to stay away from the edge as there were no walls. We were also in amongst beautiful old trees with limestone rocks and a pretty river.

The river was shallow and there were many, many butterflies flitting around.

After a bit of a walk, we came to the falls. I could have walked right out to the edge if I wished. I did not wish to. I'm not great with the edges of talls things and have these irrational thoughts like, "What if I just inexplicably threw myself over the edge??"

These falls were not nearly as large, or as big of a drop as Eugenia. They are called Hoggs Falls. There was actually a fellow at the bottom fishing. We didn't wait long enough to see if he caught anything.

I'm pretty sure gnomes and fairies live here, too. There is nothing like the sound of water.

After the waterfalls, we were directed, according to daughter's itinerary, to drive to one of the many wineries that are becoming established in the general area. There are also many craft breweries and cideries as well.

This is the view from their parking lot. Just a gorgeous valley and the picture doesn't do it justice. It was so hot, the earth seemed to shimmer.

The winery was named The Roost, because the owners, after being part of the banking / advertising world of the big cities, including London, England, decided to 'come home to roost', establishing this winery on the wife's home farm. They've done a fabulous job creating a beautiful setting in the building itself.

After enjoying a wine tasting, we decided on this red and brought home two bottles.


We shared the charcuterie board in the shade with a glass each. (Isn't the whole charcuterie thing such a trend now? It used to be called wine and cheese. Now it's like a competition to find the weirdest crackers and the thinnest slices of meat.)

We toodled around after that, enjoying the drive and ended the day with a dip in the pool. We had cake with the kids (purchased... oh the horror! But I'm not baking my own cake. I gladly make a birthday cake for husband and kids, but I draw the line at myself). We amused ourselves by noticing the cicadas emerging from their outer shells and then administering to son, as he didn't quite escape from the wasps that he disturbed as he was shooting baskets in the driveway. They had been making a happy little wasp nest in the hollow post that the basketball net is attached to. He's fine - only one sting.

This was the perfect birthday. No party. No attention. I didn't announce to people at the restaurant or the winery that it was my birthday. I was out amongst the trees and the water, and then back in an air conditioned car. As a bit of an introvert, and a private one at that (who has a blog, I know, but I pick and choose what I share), it was lovely.

The Nose Knows

Quite a number of days ago, when daughter and I came home from town, my husband responded to our, "Hi!" with "We have a problem."

This was the problem. While daughter and I were out and about, tabby cat, Samson (he of the header picture) came in through the cat door with a rodent in his mouth. My husband only noticed this when said rodent was dropped in the kitchen and ran. It ran under our dishwasher (which had the bottom panel removed because of the repeated attempts by service people to fix the leak because it is under extended warranty, but that's a whole other story...)

Husband told us it was large and held his hands up to show the size. He was demonstrating 'rat size'. Great, so now we had a rodent in the house, potentially a rat, hopefully just a hefty mouse. Traps were set. Nothing. Time went on. More traps were set. Daughter slept with towels jammed under her bedroom door (we have an old house with gaps under the old doors).

Two days ago, I thought, "Boy, I really need to dump the compost regularly in this heat!", which I did. One day ago, I said, "Something smells in this kitchen. No, it's not the garbage." I contemplated going through the bag of potatoes, thinking one was rotting which can happen sometimes. There was also a niggling worry in my mind. "You don't think it might be..."

This morning, the stench was undeniably that of decomposition. It would seem the run under the dishwasher was the last physical exertion that mouse had experienced. Husband started to maneuver the dishwasher from its spot in the kitchen (it's built in), but it would only go so far. Both of us laid on the floor (yup, nasty smell just wafting out at us), flashlight in hand, hoping we could see the deceased in the back recesses of the dishwasher hole. I thought I saw some dark grey fur in the back corner and asked husband if he had one of those skinny grabber tools (mechanic types use it when they inadvertently drop something that's hard to reach). Yes he did and within moments I was rolling around trying to grab onto the "mouse". Well, in reality it was just a clump of the sound-deadening fabric that is wrapped around the machine. No mouse.

However, our olfactory senses told us that it was still in there, somewhere, so husband went to the basement and detached various lines so the dishwasher could be pulled out even more. And voila!! There it was (mouse, not rat). Plastic gloves were donned, mouse was deposited into a plastic bag and taken out to the burn barrel, and I proceeded to bleach and disinfect the area until absolutely no stench remained.

Have I mentioned we've been under a heat advisory these past couple of days. There's nothing more delightful than dead mouse on a hot day!


I know someone out there has a 'dead animal in your old house' story. Feel free to share.

Happy Canada Day

I'm sharing some funny bits with you, because as a Canadian, I'm allowed to make fun of myself and my country. Honestly, though, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Also, we don't all play or love hockey, just so you know.

We are polite, and we do apologize a lot. I don't know why. Sorry.