Aaron's Bacon Burgers & Fries

Back-to-back days of feel good meals!

These are Big Burgers and this meal feeds 5 comfortably!

3 Large Baking Potatoes
2 lbs of Ground Chuck (Ground Sirloin for a slightly finer taste at a much higher price)
1/8 Cup of Pickle Juice
3/8 Cup of A1 Steak Sauce
1/4 Cup of Ketchup
1/4 Cup of Mustard
1/2 Tspn of Black Pepper
8 Slices of Bacon
1/3 Cup of Sugar
Salt Shaker
Vegetable Oil
Lettuce
Tomatoe
Pickles
Cheese
Fresh Hamburger Buns

1) Add some oil to a Frying Pan and fry the Bacon. Let Bacon cool. Transfer the remaining Oil and Bacon Grease to a Fryer. After Bacon cools, break into small pieces.
2) Take Ground Chuck and make 10 patties (you want them to be pretty flat less than 1/2 inch and pretty big in diameter).
3) Sprinkle Bacon bits on 5 patties and then stack a patty on top, You will want to pick each combined patty up and seal the edges together and then flatten together a little bit. Also, Push a thumbprint in the top side of the patty so that the burger doesn't ball up on the grill.
4) Mix the Pickle Juice, A1, Ketchup, Mustard and Black Pepper
5) Place Sauce from above and Patties in Fridge
6) Slice the Potatoe into thin (1/4 inch slices).
7) Mix Sugar and Hot water in a bowl, stir to dissolve sugar (You need enough water to cover potatoes). Add potatoes and let sit for 30 minutes.
8) Slice lettuce, tomatoe, and cheese to top burger later and put in fridge.
9) Heat up Oil and Bacon Grease in Fryer. Once at 300 F, add potatoes. Leave in Fryer until the potatoe bubbles and is crispy, then remove and add salt. (Probably have to cook in batches).
10) Place Burgers on hot grill (make sure to lubricate the grill first). When nearly cooked through (Burger should feel like the pad of skin under your thumb while touching your thumb and ring finger together), brush on the sauce made in step #4. Coat both sides before removing burgers from grill.
11) Add toppings to burger as desired with Potatoe Chips from step #9 on the burger or on the side.

Enjoy.

Chicken Wings

OK, continuing my blogs themes of Food & Recipes (Travel and Things are good to), I bring you my go to wing recipe:

I like my wings with a little bit of deep fried flour crust, but real light so that some of the regular skin is exposed and drenched in a tangy BBQ sauce.

Start with 12 Chicken Wings, cut-off the Wing Tip piece and trash and then cut the remaining Wing Section and Drumette section into two pieces (usually you can go through the joint pretty easily). You want to marinade 6 - 10 hours in a mixture of 1/2 cup of butter and a 1/2 cup of your favorite hot sauce.

Put some Vegetable Oil and Bacon Grease in your Deep Frier or Frying Pan to start heating up (you want it hot 300 F minimum when you put the first batch in).

Drain the wings from the butter and hot sauce. I sprinkle the following mixture into the bowl with the wings. I do half of it and then toss the wings and then dump in the other half:

1/3 cup of flour
1 Tblspn Black Pepper
1 Tblspn Paprika
1 Tspn Cayane Pepper
1 Tspn Garlic Salt
1 Tspn Chili Powder

As soon as the Oil is ready, start Frying (I have a Fry Daddy, so I can only do 7 -8 wings at a time, so I am looking at 3 batches). I have added a baking step later so that they are all hot when I am ready to eat.

I leave them in between 4 & 7 minutes, each batch gets a little shorter as the oil is hotter. You are looking for a brown to dark brown exterior for anywhere there was flour. Cooking through is not a concern, because we will baking them.

Once they are all fried, I dunk them in the sauce below (I often leave a few naked for cara to dunk in ranch post-baking, and you could certainly add a littler butter to hot sauce if you wanted hot wings).

1/2 Cup of Ketchup
1 Tblspn Cider Vinegar
2 Tblspn Worchestire Sauce
1 Tspn A1 Steak Sauce
1 Tspn Lime Jiuce
1/4 Cup Honey
1/4 Cup Sugar
1 Tspn Pepper
A pinch of Garlic Salt

(mix well, dunk wings, and then place on an oiled baking sheet)

Bake at 275 F for 10 - 12 minutes.

In the meantime, gather any Ranch, Blue Cheese, Hot Sauce and Sliced Celery that you want to add to the feast. This recipe can certainly be done for groups, just look to keep the ratios about the same.

Enjoy!

Awesome Baked Bean Recipe

I was messing around trying to create a game-time snack Sunday night and came across this number with some of my own twists:

• 1 - 15 oz Can of Black Beans (Rinsed and Drained)
• 1 - 15 oz Can of Pinto Beans (Rinsed and Drained)
• 1 - 15 oz Can of Navy 'Great Northern' Beans (Rinsed and Drained)
• 1 - 15 oz Can of Spicy Chili Beans
• 1 - Small to Medium Vidalia Onion
• 1 - Jalapeno
• 4 or 5 - Green Onions
• 1 1/4 Cup - Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce
• 2/3 Cup - Strong Brewed Coffe
• 2 Tablespoons - Worchestire Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon - A1 SteakSauce
• 1/2 Cup - Hormel Real Bacon Bits
• 10 Strips - Bacon
• 2/3 Cup - Brown Sugar

Finely Chop Vidalia Onion and Green Onions or Run through a Food Processor (Should be about 2/3 Cup chopped). Fry the 6 strips of Bacon until crispy.

Mix all ingredients, except for the 6 slices of Bacon, together in a bowl. Place the 6 strips of Bacon neatly on top of the beans. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 275 degrees uncovered.

WOW! What a Meal!

Cara and I went to GrillSmith for a Valentine's Day lunch. Wow, can't believe that I have never been. Probably the best restuarant I have ever been to. They 5 locations (2 in Tampa, Lakeland, Brandon, and St. Pete).

The Spicy Chicken Lettuce Wrap appetizer is one the favorite things that I ever eaten. Then the Chicken BLT Wrap was amazing also. Just wanted to let everyone know about the awesome food. Lunch prices are reasonable ($8.50 for the appetizer & $9 for the Chicken BLT Wrap).

Stuff

Grill Gloves, a TV, NHL 2009 were all checks. Landon and I got a seat for my bike so he can ride. Cara also bought Civilation Revolution which we have both wasted a lot of time at.

I have passed all sections of the CPA Exam and am waiting on my packet from the State of Florida. Great Holiday Season.

Christmas List

Amid many requests, I am going to post my Christmas Wish List. I will be editing it as I think of more things that I want:


1) I have changed my mind on Call of Duty 5 (XBOX 360); however, I need a new game and am looking for suggestions
2) Grilling Gloves (So I do not burn myself again)
3) Funds to Build a a covered area in the back for my grill and an attached Pergola
4) Flat Screen TV for the Bedroom (Mostly Cara's Request)
5) Seat to put on my Bike for Landon
6) A college fund for Landon :-)
7) Funds to start a Swingset for Landon
8) A Cruise
9) Cash for Jeans, Pants, and Shoes (these things are in order, so this is a low priority)

***That's all I can think of for now***

Awesome Picture Foward from Work...

Home

There has been some concern. So I will add a final post saying that I made it home safely and was glad to see my wife and son.

Switzerland 09/05

Last Post. After a busy two weeks, it is time to leave. I am very excited to get home, but have immensely enjoyed my time here. As I am preparing for 18 hours of planes and airports tomorrow, I thought I would reflect on the last two days after I received a complaint on yesterday's update.
First, I went out before lunch while computer was getting some work updates and walked parts of the town for the last time on this visit. I did work the camera some, so there are some pictures attached today. I also stopped by McDonalds as some asked for pictures of that landmark. The only US Stores I remember seeing are one Dominoe's Pizza, and about 10 McDonalds. They are literally everywhere.
Last night, I went out with some from the office to a Restuarant that the Clinton's visited on their first trip to Geneva. The restuarant has a nice plaque outside commerating the occasion. I had some air dried meats as an appetizer which I think was like raw beef jerky. It was pretty good, so I ate it and didn't really ask how it was made. I had Lamb for the main course, which is one my favorites, and something I had not had yet on this trip.
Busy day at work, but I had to take a long lunch because my computer was getting Windows Security updates. We went to a restuarant close to my hotel and I had the Lake Geneva Perch. This is one of my favorite meals here, prepared many different ways, and I wanted to enjoy it one more time before leaving. So much looked good there, I went back for dinner. I had their Barbecue Chicken, which didn't have sauce, but was excellent. Two portions of chocolate mouse today, and I definetely have to prepare myself for a diet change soon. Keep me in your prayers as I travel back tomorrow, as the ride over was not good for me.

Switerland 09/04

Sorry for the lack of a post yesterday. Got busy with work and more rain outside. It has cleared up a little bit today, so I am going to try and take some pics on my lunch break.

Switzerland 09/03

Super Busy Day! In the office from 8 to 8, and it was pouring all day. I'm told that it is very infrequent to get rain that hard in Geneva. I guess I can trade the bad day for all of the great weather that I have had. Running Late in the rain and craving fast food, I hit a McDonalds tonight. 5 things from the US menu: Big Mac, Filet of Fish, Chicken McNuggets, Fries, and the McFlurry. I had them all (Just Kidding). The Chicken McNuggets were a little different than back home, but basically the same (the batter was a little different). The fries are exactly the same.
Lots of rain so no pictues again. Sorry, no pictures seem to becoming a habit.

Switzerland 09/02

Long Day. With everyone back to work in the US, all kinds of things sprung up in the afternoon. Gorgeous weather is back in Geneva.
I received comments about the focus on food on this blog, and all I can say is that am meal even by yourself takes about 2 hours minimum. This means it is about all I do on days that I work.
Tonight I went to quick chicken place. It was not quite like when I smoke it at home, but it was good. The most amazing thing was the ice cream. It was coconut ice cream served in a coconut husk. It was amazing and cool, but about half way through I wondered to myself, "How many people have eaten out of this husk?" It certainly doesn't seem sanitary or cost effective to do it that way, but it was good enough that I put the thought out of my mind.

Switzerland 09/02 - Lunch

Wow. Lunch was amazing. The sandwich I had was so-so, because of too much mayo. However, I had a piece of apple pie, but instead of a crust on the bottom they used a thin slice of sponge cake. Additionally, the whole piece of pie was submerged in sticky chocolate sauce and then allowed to cool and harden. Simply Amazing. I wish I had brought my camera.

Switzerland 09/01

Labor Day. For me Labor Day meant going to work. Today was the first day that the weather wasn't beautiful, and it was cloudy enough that we did not go outside much and I didn't get to take any pictures. I was glad to see on-line that Hurricane Gustav was not nearly as bad as it could have been. I had pizza with spicy salami for dinner, which was excellent.

Switzerland 08/31

I spent a few hours at the museum today, but I was not allowed to take pictures. The museum in Geneva was very different than the Smithsonian or other museums in the US. There was a definite focus on Western Europe history, but their exhibits were much older than typical ones in the US. A few things that stuck out were all of the Roman & Egyptian Scultures. They had several intact Mummy casings which were pretty cool. They also had a room on Swiss Warfare History. This room was loaded with canons, guns, swords, and metal armor. They even had sets of armor that horses wore. I was not allowed to take pictures, so I took some pictures of my hotel today.
One note, nearly everyone in Geneva smokes. I have been trying to eat outside because the weather in gorgeous and most restaurants do not have AC. However, I have forgotten (since Florida's indoor clean air act) just have disgusting smoking can be for those around sometimes. It is nice that the weather has been so incredible. I am excited to see how well the Rays keep playing.

Switzerland 08/30

Today was a restful day in Geneva. I went to the Reformation Museum and Park this afternoon. I have lots of pictures from those sites. The Park was pretty cool, because it has over 100 different types of trees. The park also has a huge wall dedicated to the history of the reformation, and I tried to capture it in a number of photos. I also took a couple of hours to walk near Lake Geneva and listen to my CPA Prep materials.
One note, it is odd just how many people have dogs in the city, but they are always in control of them on the street or in the park. It is very different because the dogs go into stores and places with people or sometimes just sit patiently outside.

Switzerland 08/29

A night in France. Our trip to Annecy was smooth. It was funny to here the Swiss talk about the French. One such joke was, When God was creating the world, he created France and called it Heaven on earth. His assistant said, We are in Heaven, you cannot create another one on earth, so they created the French people. Obviously, that was not true, but it shows what the peoples sometimes think of another.
Annecy was a beautiful town, described to be similiar to Venice, Italy. Lake Annecy which is so clean that you can see to the bottom (although on our boat tour we did not see any fish), and starts a river that has many brnaches that flow through the old city. My understanding is parts of the old town section are over 500 years old, but the only dated stone I could find said construction of the building was completed in 1690. There were many castles around lake, but we could not get close enough for good pictures. All of the mountain ranges have paragliders and we were tempted to go try it out. The color of the old buildings' plasters on the outside was amazing and very different from anything that I have seen before.
We had some Glace (icecream) which was clearly the best that I had ever eaten. My dinner consisted of Fried Lake Perch and French Fries with a Chocolate Mouse desert. It was very good. Our waitress appeared to be very rude at the beginning per the French stereotype, but she ended up being very pleasant. Most people spoke english which was good for us.
The rental car ride over there was breathtaking, Ryan did a fine job of driving but it was often like the little car that could barely making it up each incline and coming home the lights in the car only went out about 20 feet when we were on a major French highway (A40). The scenery of the French countryside was amazing. The rest of the team from Lakeland are headed home today, while I am staying to help with the accounting close next week. I will probably do less travel for this second week, but the trip to France yesterday was definetly well worth it.

Switzerland 08/28

Interesting Day, and all of the pictures are of food. Lunch was at a "Sushi Train" Restuarant, but because I could not read the menu I could not get myself to eat the raw food. I had Terryaki Chicken, but had to use Chopsticks which was a challenge for me.

Dinner was a 4 hour affair with several people from the Geneva Office. We went to an Indian Cuisine Restaurant which was excellent. The first course was a Tortilla of sorts with spicy beans baked into the chip. The second course was a Lamb Patty and Fried Onions. The third course was Tangori Chicken with rice, pita bread, shrimp, and lamb. The shrimp and lamb respectively, were in types of gravy that was for the rice and bread. The desert was a cake and ice cream. It was an excellent meal and a good time.

I may not be able to post tomorrow, as a group of us are going to rent a car and head to Annecy, France for dinner and touring the city. Regardless, I should have some non-food pictures on the site again soon.

Switzerland 08/27

Wednesday. Chinese twice today. First, Chinese in a Food Court at department store for lunch. In the states you would expect to pay about $7, but in Switzerland it costs 30 francs. We went to Tse Yang for dinner, it was an excellent meal and we got to go visit another part of the city.

The day ended in Starbucks (we needed to order something simple in english [kind of]). Ryan had cheesecake which was kind of a joke after the bad Geneva Cheesecake he got on Sunday night. I miss Landon, Cara, and of course Iggy!

Switzerland 08/26

Crazy Day. Woke up late and ran to work. Went to lunch at a kind of a walk up stand by some city pools, but they served gourmet specials. Today was roast chicken with some cucumber and parsley side that was pretty tart. It was good, but Ryan and I accidentally headed towards the room with topless sunbathers. After quickly realizing our error, we found another location to eat at.

Dinner was steak, so I was happy. Not pictured below was the apple pie desert, which was a whole apple baked on top of a round crust covered with almonds and ice cream. An excellent dish for sure.

Switzerland 08/25

Today was Monday 08/25. I had to got to work today, but it was nice to see some familiar faces that I regularly work with but rarely see. We went on a dinner cruise in the evening, and the pictures start on the way to the boat and follow through the cruise. I was able reach out and touch the air over France and that was cool, and also ate some interesting cuisine. First, was Smoked Salmon and Lekes in some cream sauce; second, was Crawfish which was pretty much a small lobster; third, duck; and finally, a raspberry sorbet desert. Pictures are interspersed.

Rule for traveling Europe for the day: Neverever order Duck when visiting Europe. It will never be cooked enough and even if it was there is never enough to make a proper meal out of. If one wants to be happy, he should avoid ordering duck ever, but especially when traveling in Europe. On the flipside, I was very impressed with the crawfish.

The shot in the chocolate shop door didn't really apply to the day, but the chocolate goats were pretty cool.

Switzerland 08/24

Wow! What a day. It started at the hotel with breakfast, and was slammed after that. We went to the train station and caught a train to Lausanne and got to see Lake Geneva up close and visit the olympic museum. They had several special things going on as today was the day for the closing ceremonies in China.

We then caught a train to Montreux to see some mountains. There we were directed to take the Golden Pass train into the Swiss Alps. This was like an hour long version of Disney's Big Thunder Mountain with mile long drops on either side. At the summit of +2000 meters, we could see mountains in the distance from Rome and Instanbul. This was a breathtaking experience, and I now more fully understand the "I have been to the mountaintop" expression. To top the day off, we got to get close up to a reindeer. Lots of pictures from the day below!

I had to break them up into several slide shows. There are about 140 pics, so this photobucket link may help... http://s357.photobucket.com/albums/oo18/lotsofgall/Switz0824/?albumview=slideshow

Switzerland 08/23

The 23rd was long a day as I did not sleep on Friday night in the plane. We got into Geneva aroun 3:30pm local time and decided to run to St. Pierre's Cathedral about a mile from our hotel before the towers closed. We were able to climb some 300 feet up the spiral staircase to get a great panamoric viewpoint of the city of Geneva, its amazing fountain, and the mountains in the background. More tomorrow... We know were are going to vist other parts of Switzerland, but have not decided where.