All That and a Bag of Chips (if you'd like)

It's been a while since I did a food post. After a long day of work, it is hard to get motivated to make a nice meal. Sometimes the cooking part isn't hard, but the cleanup can be very daunting. These days, the economy is a driving force toward cooking more and eating out less, or toward eating cheaper foods. Fast food burgers are quick and cheap, but they aren't always tasty and definitely aren't good for you. The more upscale burger joints turn out gourmet burgers, but not everyone can afford (or justify) the price of a $10 burger. Fortunately, good burgers can be made at home; at the price of one gourmet burger, you can feed a few people or make several meals for yourself.

Personally, I don't like to add ketchup, mayo, or mustard so that the meat won't taste bland. I prefer that the meat is well-seasoned before it's cooked. Today I like to share my burger recipe. With less than $2 worth of materials, I made enough to last a couple of meals.

I had about half a pack of ground beef (a little over $2 a pack...I can't remember the weight) in the freezer, the leftovers from making something else. I was going to save that for a chili, but I came home craving a burger today and didn't want to spend the money eating out. Since I didn't have everything I needed, I hopped over to the neighborhood market to get some romain lettuce, a tomato, and an onion (total cost: $1.13). The rest was easy.

Since I don't measure, all I can tell you is what to add "to taste." Here's what I did:

1) Quick-thaw the meat in a "waterbath" (I just don't do microwaves because the edges of the meat end up getting cooked, especially ground meat). I covered the bottom of a pie tin with a quarter of an inch of water, then I put the frozen meat package upside-down so that the saran wrap side is partially submerged in water. The water melts the ice quicker than it would have if the meat was left out in open air. Since the foam bottom of the package needs to be thawed as well, I covered the bottom of a second pie tin with water and put that first pie tin on top.

2) After thawing, spread the ground beef out in a mixing bowl. Finely chop a little bit of onions, smash up some garlic, and throw it with the meat. The trick is to add just enough onions and garlic to flavor the meat without making the patties fall apart.

3) Add a dash of pepper, some celery salt (or regular salt, if you like), a little bit of Worcestershire sauce or balsamic vinegar (keeps the meat tender and gives it a bit of flavor), a tablespoon of mustard, and an already-beaten egg (which I believe holds the meat together better).

4) Shape the patties. I chose to keep them small because of issues with the bread (more on that below).

5) Cook the patties in a frying pan with some olive oil. Sear on high heat, then let it sit in medium-low heat to keep the juices in the meat. If you have a George Foreman grill, that will save some time and possibly cut down on the fat as well, but I do think the frying pan produces better-tasting results (mmm...carmelized onions).

6) If you have burger buns, that's great. If you only have loaves of sliced bread, that's OK too. You can either eat the burger like any other sandwich, or you can use a cup to cut out a round shape. (You can save the trimmed-out parts to make croutons or a bread pudding.) I kept the patties small because I only had sliced bread, and I wanted to play around with a concept--a stack of discs. I used a large cup to cut out the bread for the base, put on some lettuce, put the patty on top of that, then smaller slices of tomatoes, then a smaller piece of bread up top. To some degree, presentation does matter. A well-presented plate made me more eager to enjoy the meal, and tricks dinner guests into thinking that you've slaved away over the stove to put together a fabulous meal.


I wish I had a bottle of red wine and some fries (or chips) on hand to go with the juicy burgers, but I was quite satisfied without them. Prep time was minimal, and while it took 15 minutes to cook it to the way I want it, I didn't really have to watch over it too much.

Lightness of Being

Today happens to be Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers, and also to those of you who are celebrating it with your moms. I hope you'll all have a great time. My mom decided to celebrate it a little earlier in order to avoid the crowds--smart move by a very smart woman.

Summer is fast approaching, and I have been rearranging things in my closet to make weather-appropriate pieces accessible. It was also time for putting things that no longer fit into the "to be donated" pile. One of those items is a sheer mesh top. I am going to miss it, but the fact is, it has always been a little too short and a bit too tight. Sheer tops like that are great for the summer when I don't want to expose all my skin to the blazing sun, yet I have no desire to be baked.

Recently I found a good replacement that is suitable for work and will work with shorts or a pair of old jeans on the weekends. I just love the diaphanous feel to it. Wearing black suits in warm weather is not an ideal situation, but when I have to do it, I may as well keep the bottom layers light; I just don't want to deal with collars of dress shirts. I love how the cris-crossed drapery stays tucked in and conservative when I want, but flaps around when I'm done with the formalities. The two crossing flaps of fabric are held up by buttons. I like that I can release the flaps and tie them up front, or just have one flap up and leave the other loose. In short, the flaps create the volume without getting all frilly and girly. I usually don't like things with logos on them, but this one is fairly discrete and (ooooh) fuzzy! My grandmother told me that I loved to knead on fuzzy blankets as a child. I practically became a child again with the fuzzy little orbs. The simple black-and-white scheme is perfect for all of my solid-colored suits.

Pictures are a bit dark, I know. Oftentimes there is no daylight left by the time I get home, so I had to get a little more creative. Thankfully, it's been better these days, as the sun sets a little later.

[Vivienne Westwood Red Label blouse (from Net-a-Porter's new outlet...the only way I can afford to get anything from Net-a-Porter), Express sleeveless top, BCBG blazer, Forever 21 pants, Calvin Klein pumps]

Thrifting Jackpot: The Others

The last 2 items I got from my big thrifting haul finally came back from the dry cleaner's. The first is going to be a good transitional staple. The second is definitely weekend-only material, and boy is it fun.

The oversized brocade coat looks handmade--it was not lined, and there were no labels. I'm a very tactile-oriented person, and the texture of the patterns is certainly interesting. I was initially hesitant about buying it because of the huge size, but once I tried it on, my doubts vanished. While it is many sizes bigger than me, it is oversized in the right way. The back drapes gracefully like a cape. It looks great belted as well, though I have yet to wear it out that way. I paired it with more modern grayscale pieces for a Friday work outfit.

[circle pendant necklace--gift, Forever 21 tunic with side twist (trust me, it looks way better than pictured), Helmut Lang slim-legged pants (still way too long, but looks great cuffed and works in lieu of leggings for a professional look), thrifted coat, Payless pumps]





The last item was something I literally picked up on my way to the cash register. I was browsing the racks on my way out with my roommate when I saw the skirt and said, "take a look at this!" A blue leather skirt. How ridiculous is that? Nonetheless, I couldn't help but try it on and found that it fits in more ways than one. It costs nearly 4 times the price of the skirt (which was $7) to get it cleaned, but I think it's well worth it because of how cool it is. Since this is obviously not office-wear, it's not something that will require that many trips to the dry cleaner's. If I can find a leather cleaner that I can work with myself, I'll save some money.

Wearing a leather skirt, especially a blue one, is tricky. Leather is very rocker-chic, so it's natural to turn to some rock-and-roll accessories, but wearing too many "tough" items at once would be overkill. Also, a blue leather skirt is such an unusual piece that it deserves to shine on its own. Since I needed to head to the hair salon for a quick trim, I couldn't wear anything fancy up top anyway, so I went with a simple black beater. I went with a couple of pieces of simple metallic jewelry, but decided to forego the boots in favor of more laid-back sandals and a straw fedora. It was a hot and sunny day, after all.

[Urban Outfitters fedora, dagger necklace made by me, Kenneth Cole cuff (bought from the Minneapolis Macy's for $5), Forever 21 beater ($1 from the FIDM store), vintage blue leather skirt ($7), Sigerson Morrison sandals]



On a programming note, I am getting increasingly busy with work (yes, on the weekends too), so if I don't reply to comments, please don't take it personal. I don't expect the frequency of posting to change that much, but if I'm gone for an extended period of time, now you know why.

Father Knows Best

When I'm back visiting my family and want to, say, watch TV or be the first to get online that day, I have to turn on a couple of power strips. When I'm done, my dad makes me turn them off, or I'd hear him grousing about it the next day. I thought it was going overboard and was a bit dismissive of the power strip thing, since it's such a hassle and it couldn't possibly make that much of a difference. But guess what? He's right.

I came across this LA Times article last week about "vampire" energy use--that is, energy that is being used up when the appliance isn't actively being used. I've always been good about turning off lights that are not in use, or not leaving on the TV when it's not being used, but I haven't been so good about taking chargers out of the power strip when I'm done with it. I'm definitely paying attention to it now.

As for the TV, maybe it's time for me to get a power strip and do what good ol' Dad does.