9 Year Reunion

Obviously we'll have to try this again at Christmas after so many people decided not to be around, but the mini-reunion was still a fun time. Mostly spent making fun of pretty much everything. Especially New Jersey. Did you realize that simply living in New Jersey makes you less friendly? Ask Kim for more details.

We went to Ruby Tuesday this year, which seems to be less appealing than Uno's since far fewer people showed up. We ended up with a pair of (former) Sagans, a pair of Steves, Helder and myself. Then we proceeded to mock the vast majority of Facebook posts than people make. We also found out that Helder pretty much remembers nobody from high school, which will make the official reunion next year incredibly hilarious.

I would say that the highlight of the meal was when Steve ordered the Turkey Sliders, then commented after the waitress left that "I never had a turkey burger, I was just under a lot of pressure. It was the first thing I saw." I think he was distracted by the salad bar.

As for myself, I went with the Triple Prime Bacon Cheddar Burger (insert lame math joke about primes). No mayo. I believe my statement was "If there's mayo, so help me. . ." but no actual threat so that I wouldn't be asked to leave the restaurant. And there was no mayo. Clearly the key is to make sure that you make a ridiculous comment after asking for no mayo to make sure that it gets remembered. Good to know for future reference, until my plan to keep mayo off all burgers is enacted. If only I had my own restaurant.

-Jon

Much As I Expected

Although last night failed to deliver a burger (because we had gigantic burritos instead), today there was no question about what lunch would be. We bravely adventured the whole 200 yards through rain and puddles to make it over to R.F. O'Sullivan for a delicious meal.

After last night's crazy Carnival party (which involved rocking out pretty hardcore to I'm On a Boat and dominating some fools in Beirut/Pong), we had all intentions of having breakfast but instead decided to just wait until a more appropriate lunch time. Not that I wouldn't eat a burger for breakfast, as evidenced by a previous tale. Catherine showed up sometime around 11 I think and had to wait until Erica's roommate Jess could make it over on the T. She got lost. This cost us valuable eating time, but luckily Guitar Hero was able to hold us over until she got reoriented.

Good thing the Blackjack burger is so amazingly fantastic, because that was the worst Newcastle I have ever had. I think the 08 that I found on the bottle was probably the date it was good until, because I was highly disappointed in that beer. The burger itself was still as great as I remember, so the meal itself was a good time. Except that Jess ruined her burger by ordering it well done. What is wrong with people?

-Jon

The Ultimate Burger

Nope, I am not saying it is the winner of the Best Burger Ever. That was actually what it was called. Sorry for the deception.

Dinner was at a place in Turners Falls called Cafe Martin (I think I am missing some accent marks there, because there was a lot of French stuff on the walls). It it one of Kathryn's favorite places, and since I have no idea about anything that far north, she was obviously going to be the one making the decision. I felt slightly bad ordering a burger when there were so many fancy things on the menu, but I have a reputation to uphold.

We also started off with bruschetta, which was so ridiculously huge that I almost regretted the decision. At least until I ate it, because it was great. It also prevented Kathryn from having any chance of finishing her dinner. I, however, dominated the Ultimate Burger with surprising authority. I didn't finish my potatoes though. . .

The burger itself was another take on what apparently is my favorite. Sauteed onions, sauteed mushrooms, bacon and gorgonzola. I also put a couple tomatoes on there, even though they had no business with those other ingredients. But hey, tomatoes are delicious. And the whole thing was 8 oz (probably pre-cooked weight; why don't they just put the post-cooked weight? It's a mystery). And they cooked it right, which is highly pleasing. If I ever find myself almost in Vermont again, I will be stopping there for another one. Or maybe a filet mignon. Ooh! A burger made of filet mignon. Wait, that's probably going too far.

-Jon

November is Grilling Weather

So October was a little slow for eating burgers, but November is off to a quick start. Thursday night was another trip to Dad and Kelly's, and burgers were on the menu. There were also fancy French fries. I am not exactly sure what they were, but there was definitely some sort of garlic seasoning going on there. They were also really hot when they came out of the oven, which I experienced firsthand.

The sad part of the story is that of the 3 burgers that were not well done, Dad and I got the ones that were the most done, and Zannah got the rarest one. That is really unfair. She's a dog! Ours were only slightly past medium rare though, so nothing too serious.

We'll see if grilling continues once the snow starts. That's the real test.

-Jon