Food Wednesday: The Artery Clogger

Happy Food Wednesday, fellow chowhounds.

Today we are going to build the ultimate cheeseburger. Oh yes we are. I am chanelling my inner Pioneer Woman and have documented the process for you with a ridiculous amount of photos. Didn't want anyone to miss out on the deliciousness!

So, let's get cooking!

First, pop your fries in the oven. My technique for this was covered last Wednesday.

Find your buns, baby.

Squish away. Yes, I do wear gloves. Can't stand the feeling of raw meat. Ick.

Time to turn up the heat.

As your burger begins to sizzle start to fry up some bacon. While this is far too much for one burger, it won't go to waste!

Don't forget to season that burger.

We had an avacado on hand so that got nominated as a topping.

It was getting a little ripe to be used for much else.

About now your bacon should be starting to smell lovely and get a nice color.

Burger, too!

Condiment time...mayonaise, mustard and ketchup. The 'ol standbys.

If anyone doesn't love this photo...boy oh boy.

Alright, now we get down to business. Top the burger with a slice of your favorite cheese...

Fry up an egg. In the bacon grease. I know, I know...

Place your avocado slices on the bottom half of the bun...

Then bring in the good stuff...

And the burger, of course...
Lay on the crowning layer...

Top it off with top bun and fries...

And watch your boyfriend try to take a bite! From what I heard it was pretty darn good!

Craving

I was lucky enough to go on a school trip to Italy in 2005 when I was a freshman in college.

I had been wanting to go there for forever, as long as I can remember. It is calling me back.

I've been coaxing Andrew into going sometime fairly soon, I'm hoping spring/summer 2011. Back in 2005 when I went I had a brand new digital camera and not nearly as much interest in photography as I do now. I think I took around 400 pictures on an 8 day trip. I am so looking forward to when I can go back with my Nikon and bring home the gorgeous shots Italy has to offer.

Bonus points if you can name where the above photos were taken. The first and last should be pretty darn easy.

Have you been abroad? Where would you like to go back to?

35

One month from today will be our third anniversary.

I have so much to say about it, but am going to wait until after it comes and goes to see if what I am so hoping will happen on that day happen.

At the same time if what I'm hoping happens happens, I want to be surprised and if it doesn't happen I'm going to be sorely disappointed. Trying really hard not to set myself up for failure.

Vegas, Baby

Andrew and I went to Las Vegas over Memorial Day weekend. We left early Saturday morning and came back late Tuesday night. We had booked our trip, the airfare and hotel room back in November. When we arrive at the Treasure Island the suite we had reserved wasn't available. I was incredibly irritated since I had called a few days earlier to make sure our reservation was still a go since we'd booked it so far in advance. So we get there and there is a huge line to check in. Turns out many people had reserved suites and they had double booked us all. Lovely. We ended up getting a deluxe room for the night on the corner of the building looking right down on the strip. In addition, we also got a $200 food credit which was really great as it paid for all of our food except the massive amounts of water we were drinking the whole time we were there. The first room was great because of the views, but the suite was terrific because of the whirlpool tub. We loved that thing!

We walked so much while we were there it's crazy. I think our favorite thing was the water show at the Bellagio. Pretty stunning really. We even got to see it from the top of the "Eiffel Tower" at the Paris Hotel. We also had tickets for the Bodies Exhibit which was at the Luxor and did that Sunday afternoon after we'd walked all the way down the strip to get there. The walk back was a killer.

We went thru all the "cool" hotels: The Venetian, Ceaser's Palace, The Bellagio, New York, New York, Excalibur, The Luxor, The Mirage, The Paris, MGM, and a few others I can't name off the top of my head. We also saw the classic car museum at the Imperial Palace which my dad said we had to see since Andrew is a car guy.

Overall we had a great time and only lost about $20. Oh, we also saw the Jersey Boys the first night we were there. We were expecting a concert but it was really a musical production about the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. We had purchased our tickets back in March and were up in the balcony seating because we are cheap. When we got to our seats, we were early, the attendant asked us if we'd like to be moved down and we of course said yes. Our new seats were on the floor, seven rows back from the stage. Not too shabby for paying to be in the $72 section and getting moved to the $170 seats!

Have you been to Las Vegas? What was one of your favorite things?

The Diego Story

One Monday when I arrived at the apartment there was a little boy out taking is dog for a walk. Since this is a pet friendly place there are many dogs around and people out and about with them. His dog was really cute and was using the grassy area across from our garage so I went over to ask him what kind of dog he had.

Turned out that his dog was a long hair Dauschund. He was the cutest little guy and so friendly. The next day during my lunch break at work I looked online to see what sorts of dogs were available for adoption. I saw a couple that looked really nice, but the breed just didn't suit living in an apartment. Since we've moved in here I've started going for walks at night and Andrew didn't like me going alone so I thought getting a dog would be a splendid solution.

As I continued to browse I saw Diego. He was at a local animal shelter. I called and they said they had him still and that they'd had him for nine days. Now usually, I would have just jumped in the car after work and gone to pick him up but I didn't. Surprisingly I actually thought about it and talked about it with Andrew. What a concept! The next day, Wednesday, I looked online again to see if he was still on the site and he was. I could not wait until 2pm to call and let them know we'd be coming to see him that evening after work.

When I got to the animal shelter I had already filled out the adoption application and faxed it over so they let me right into see the available dogs. I, of course, wound up in the cat area. Not my cup of tea. Once I finally got to the dog area I walked in tentatively. I knew it was going to be so difficult to see all the dogs that needed homes and not want to take them all with me. Luckily, Diego was in the first kennel and he was the only one I saw. I walked in and saw him as he stood up and wagged his tail, trying to stick his nose out to sniff me and licked my hand when I put it down and turned right back around with his paperwork in hand. He was going to be mine and that was they way it was going to be.

They put Diego and I in a little room to get used to each other and a few minutes later Andrew arrived. He was a little skittish at first, but warmed up quickly. We got the paperwork done and he was ours! I stopped at Petco on the way to the apartment to get supplies for him. The little turkey isn't spoiled at all, he's got two beds, all the treats he could ever want (and he doesn't care for any of them, he's rather picky), chewies galore and all the love he could ever need.

He really is the best little guy and we are so happy and lucky to have found him.

You can be sure that you will be hearing much more about him and seeing many more photos!

More Bullets

I know it's been a ridiculously long time since I've actually posted something remotely close to content and I have to excuse to share. So, before I try to sink my teeth in again, here are some bullets to get you up to date:

• The job I had last July, got laid off after 6 weeks
• It was fine with me as I wasn't liking it at all although really sucked that I had to start the job search again
• Between July and October I pretty much hunted for a job so there wasn't a whole lot of good news to report to you for those months
• July and August were two of the hottest months the Seattle area had seen in years - think 100 in Seattle for consecutive days - not cool, no pun intended, well maybe a little
• FINALLY, after almost three months without work I got a job
• Last Wednesday marked 8 months
• I now am the office manager at a marketing/printing company in downtown Seattle
• Liking it a lot - the people are great and the actual job isn't bad
• Christmas came, Christmas went
• Welcome, 2010
• Andrew and I spent our Valentine's Day watching the Daytona 500
• That is not happening again
• Turned 24 in March
• Am getting old
• Around then Andrew and I were looking at houses and found one we really liked, I was hooked and wanted it so badly, it was lovely
• Fast forward a few days and one of us changes our mind about buying a house
• Pretty sure you can guess it wasn't me
• March 31st, we sign a 1 year lease at an "estate" apartment/townhouse complex
• 9.5 months to go
• April 28, we get Diego
• More to come on him soon
• Memorial Day Weekend, we go to Las Vegas
• Only lose $20 - not too shabby

So. There's the bullet edition of the last 11 months. How exciting. More detail to come on most topics soon! I know you are all, wait, is anyone actually still reading this?, on the edge of your seats!

Diego

Internet, meet Diego.

Grace in Small Things - Five

1. Peanut M&M's

2. Being Employed Right Now

3. Having a Wonderful Boyfriend

4. The Smell of Rain

5. Being Loved

So I signed up to be part of a scarf exchange on another blog, don't ask which one because I'm not on my personal computer where I have the link. Today I got an email from the owner of the blog telling me who I was paired with for the exchange. I was excited! Until I realized the link to my own blog was there as well and I haven't posted anything here for, well, almost 3 months. It's ridiculous, I know.

I have been thinking about things I want to share to you all (hello...all I hear is the chirping of crickets!...I wonder why?) but between having a new job (yay!) and life there just hasn't been much time dedicated to blogging. As we've all noticed.

So, I'm not going to commit myself to writing 5 days a week as I have in the past or say that I'll even write at all. Since my only audience is myself and maybe Andrew, if he even still checks in here anymore, I'll be writing simply when I feel like it.

I do have things to share so you can expect to hear from me a bit more frequently.

And I'll leave it at that.

October: Breast Cancer Awareness Month

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