That Was a Wet Evening

Never one to turn down a gift, I gladly accepted Chuck's offer of a pair of Red Sox tickets that he couldn't use. Kathryn was also more than willing to take a free game. Unfortunately, the weather was quite threatening as we headed down the Mass Pike, so we had some concerns about how much use we would get out of them.

We decided to forego the bus because if there was a major rain delay, the bus would not be leaving until the game was officially called. Instead, we decided to drive to Somerville first and have a burger with Alex and Erica. At this point, there was not really much rain, but the signs of future rain were apparent.

The four of us headed over to R.F. O'Sullivan, and, surprisingly, were able to immediately get a table. It looks like 5:30 on Saturday is not a busy time. Since I went for the Black & Blue Burger last time (see previous post I believe), it was time to go back to the Blackjack Burger. Good choice. It was equally delicious as previous editions of said burger. Plus this is one of the few places that will give you a rare burger. I know I have said that before, but I think it's important to bring up every time. Maybe other places could learn a thing or two from my eloquent words.

Possibly even more impressive than the burger was the fact that Kathryn finished her entire burger. These things are roughly the size of her normal sized head. And thus about half the size of my oversized melon.

After the burger, we walked down to the T-Station and headed for Fenway. Once we arrived at Kenmore, we were a little concerned because it was already 7:30 and, as it was not raining, we thought we had missed a few innings.

Boy were we wrong. Not only did we not miss anything, but the game didn't start until 9:14. A slightly more than 2-hour delay during which it rained for a total of 7 minutes. Seven minutes!!! At least the grounds crew kept things interesting by continually fooling around with the tarp and making the entire crowd think the game was about to start. Let's put it this way. During a real rain-delay at Fenway, the entire front section of the stadium is empty. During this delay, every person was still in their seats. So ridiculous.

By the time the 5th inning ended, the Sox were up by a ton and it was starting to rain again. We decided (along with about 13,981 other people) that it was time to go and took the T back to Porter Square. Of course, by this point it had stopped raining again, and we decided to walk instead of calling Alex for a ride.

Big mistake.

We made it about halfway before the sky opened up on us. By the time we got to Alex's apartment, it looked like I had just gotten out of the shower.

But the Sox won, and I did get a burger. I am still calling the night a win.

-Jon

Probably Not New Jersey's Best Work . . .

This weekend was the big trip to Baltimore to see the Sox take on the lowly Orioles. First of all, Camden Yards is much too nice of a ballpark for a team like Baltimore to have. It's really not fair. Second of all, there is some sort of crazy outside drinking festival that apparently takes place after every game right across the street from the park. That was a fun time, mostly because James, Joe, Bill and myself decided to ask every guy who walked by if he had met Lindsay. If you haven't seen How I Met Your Mother, you won't get what was going on.

After having some gastrointestinal difficulties on Sunday morning (a burrito looks surprisingly similar coming back up as it does on its way down), I was really hungry by the time we were going home. The bus hit a rest stop somewhere in New Jersey, and our choices were Roy Rogers, Pizza Hut or Blimpie (which I am pretty sure was the cause of the vomiting from earlier in the day). I'm aware that Blimpie doesn't serve burritos, but I think the sandwich from Blimpie caused my stomach to reject the burrito I had for dinner. Regardless, I ended up choosing a bacon cheeseburger from Roy Rogers and then loading it up with tomatoes.

Boy was that a mediocre burger. Even with my incredibly low expectations, I was still disappointed. I have no idea where we were, but I hope we weren't in New Brunswick because that would mean I missed out on New Jersey's best burger.

On the plus side, the Sox won both games we attended, so we had that going for us. Which is nice.

-Jon

The Sequel

It would appear that 6 pounds of meat was more than the ten of us could eat on Friday, which meant leftovers! Luckily, James was on top of his game so he didn't cook the extra meat, but wrapped it up raw for future consumption. This resulted in the leftover burgers being as good as the originals (like Back to the Future II) and not incredibly disappointing (like every American Pie movie after the theater ones).

After a long day consisting of watching the Red Sox, drinking a few Summer Ales, halfway doing laundry and stealing a hammock (with full documentation, NOT by Kathryn. . .), James fired up the grill, I sliced up some veggies and Kathryn. . . relaxed? Regardless, we had some more fantastic burgers. Then we moved the hammock into the living room. That has nothing to do with anything, but I think it's a funny image. Those things seem much larger inside than they do outside.

Tomorrow is apparently hammock returning day, which is sad. But there's always a chance of another burger, which would make the loss easier to take.

-Jon

Independence Day (Plus 1)

So maybe our timing was a little off, but after all the family related foolishness of the actual 4th of July, there was a burger- and beer-filled party on the 5th of July. And after having a "real" meal for the 4th, since it's also Mom's birthday, it was nice to have burgers since that just feels more appropriate. Sort of like turkey on Thanksgiving.

After several hours in the pool listening to the Sox game, we had successfully finished the first case of Sam Adams and left the bottles all across Jen's yard. James, Bill and I also found a really fun game where you take the ice cubes out of the cooler and whip them at whoever is currently crossing the yard. Of course, this game is only fun for us, but that's not really relevant. It was then time for some grilled meat.

Even though Nicky was there, Melissa took the reins and made some burgers that were ready in a reasonable amount of time and left the kitchen looking clean. If you don't know, Nicky's cooking is delicious, but the aftermath sort of resembles a hurricane, if a hurricane could be centralized entirely in one kitchen and only attacked pots and pans. The topping du jour was the spicy Montreal seasoning along with pepper jack cheese. This further lends proof to my theory that burgers with a little zip are just better. She also grilled up some red onions, and there were gigantic tomatoes for us normal folk.

I definitely have to get some of that Montreal stuff. I bet it would even make those frozen burgers that come 40 to a pack taste pretty good. Tomorrow I am heading off to try a new burger place on Mia's recommendation. I am not sure what to expect, mostly because she is a vegetarian. Should be interesting.

-Jon

My Best Work Yet

Alright, now we're talking.  I think I'm finally getting the hand of this grilling thing.  Well, getting the hang of it again.  I guess taking the winter off really hurts your abilities.

Today there was no falling apart of burgers, nothing fell through the grating, and everything came out right.  The burger du jour was grass-fed local beef from lovely Shelburne Falls, courtesy of Kathryn.  I decided to get a little crazy and try to do something fancy, and it ended up working out pretty well.  I picked up a red onion at Randall's (since it is clearly the superior onion) and went with the Nicky S. plan of grilling a nice cross section of it.  Then I threw a little crushed red pepper on the meat along with a bit of Tuscan seasoning (which comes highly recommended by Nicole M.).  Finally, in a stroke of genius, I melted the cheese OVER the onion.  Seriously, from now on, all toppings will go under the cheese.  It's fantastic.

After all that preparation, the burgers were finally ready.  I will say this for the Tuscan stuff:  even if it doesn't make the burgers better (even though it does), it makes everything smell great when you open up the grill.  Maybe it's part potpourri?  The burgers came out nice and rare, and as of yet, there is no food poisoning.

Plus, I got to add to the Summer Ale Challenge (also courtesy of Kathryn).  Between beers and burgers, there isn't a whole lot that could ruin this night.

-Jon

The Required Somerville Experience

Ever after all the burgers of the past week, I still had to make a command decision to visit R.F. O'Sullivan before the weekend was over.  I think that my journalistic integrity requires it.  Plus, I was pretty pumped to try the Blackjack burger after the last time I was there.  So after a pretty action packed day which included a surprise trip to the Red Sox and an incredibly expired beer at a place called The Lower Depths (although there were also some good, non-expired beers as well), we headed over to R.F.'s with Alex's friend Lindsey.

Since I was already planning on this burger being super fantastic, I was a little nervous that it wasn't going to live up to those expectations.  Fortunately, that was not the case.  There were some cajun spices on that thing, and the sauce on top was great.  I think it was some kind of creole sauce, but I am pretty sure I don't know what that means.

I do know that this is now the burger against which all future burgers will be judged.  ESPNZone Black & Blue Burger, you have been displaced!

-Jon

Burgers & Hockey

After going to the Worcester Sharks game tonight with Jen and Melissa, the number of hockey games I have attended in the past. . . 5 years has increased to 1.  Which is kind of strange, since hockey games are actually pretty fun to attend, even though we didn't get to throw those foam pucks on the ice.  I guess it was some sort of contest for tickets or real pucks or God only knows what.

Before the game, we stopped for dinner at some place called Junior's in Worcester.  It was a nice place, and we could eat outside, which unfortunately let us listen to 2 separate siren incidents, 137 motorcycles, and one guy who was driving down the street dragging some part of his car underneath for what had to be several miles.  Also, the Red Sox were getting absolutely hammered by the Rays, and that is always a bad thing.

I ended up getting the hamburger (which was the only burger on the menu) and threw a bunch of stuff on top of it, like bacon, onions, mushrooms and cheese, in addition to the tomato that it came with.  There was also lettuce, but it didn't make the cut.  And even though I ordered it rare, and this burger came anything but rare (more like medium well, but hey, cooking is hard even if it's your JOB!), it was still pretty good.

Also, the fries were fantastic.  You gotta have good fries to go with a good burger.

-Jon

More Bacon!

For Thursday night dinner, it's always a surprise what is going to be coming since that is dinner with Dad and Stepmom day.  But as the weather improves, the chances are greater and greater that it will be a burger day.  Last week, there were burgers in the fridge, and I was pretty pumped, but it was not to be.  It ended up being Chinese food, which ordinarily is a fantastic choice, but for some reason the place decided to:  forget that Dad ordered food, put a super-rush on the food, and pack it up before it was actually hot.  The dumplings were good though.

Fast forward a week and it was again Thursday night.  This time I was coming straight from volleyball, so there was no chance to get psyched up.  However, when I smelled the bacon cooking, I was pretty sure there were burgers coming, and the sight of Ruffle's chips and that Frito-Lay jalapeno cheese dip (it's a Dias thing) confirmed my suspicions.  It was burger night!!

That was a good burger.  And the Sox just scored 3 runs as I type this.  And I've got a Sam Adams in lap (it would be dangerous to type and drink at the same time).  Life is good.

-Jon

Two Stories in One

So apparently writing things on time is not really my thing.  I have heard that there is a way to "back-date" these things, but I am not exactly sure how to do that, or really what the heck that means.  Catherine?

Technically the first pair of burgers should not count, but I haven't had a burger in a long time so let's just go with this.  For opening weekend of the new place, James decided that it was time to grill something.  Our ideas were: burgers, bacon or a cake.  Also, it would appear that the last one is "impossible" to grill, or at least I have been told so, and we ended up going with burgers.  But they were turkey burgers, so they will have to be excluded from the search.

On the other hand, ground turkey with a little Italian seasoning and ground red peppers makes a pretty sweet burger.  Throw a little cheese on there with a couple slices of red onions and you've got a hell of a burger.  Or 2, since I really like eating burgers.

After turkey burgers, it was probably time for a full-on meat burger.  And this chance presented itself tonight during a trip to eastern Mass for dropping off a car (mine, specifically).  The plan is to watch the Sox tomorrow and then get a little crazy, but that is really not part of the story.

Back on track.  I got to Alex's first, so after battling with the door lock for about 7 minutes, I made it in and waited for Catherine's triumphant return to the United States.  After a few minutes of level grinding in FFIII, the Michel Clan of Alex, Catherine, Mrs. M and Tania (who is not technically a Michel based on her last name being something else) arrived, followed later by Mr. M and we all headed to  R.F. O'Sullivan.  This was apparently a popular decision for the evening, because we had to wait quite a bit for a table, although we did actually get a table this time, which is in stark contrast to previous trips where we ended up both table-less and burger-less.

I went for the Paddy-O-Melt, which was super great and only had the downside of being inferior to Alex's ridiculously delicious Blackjack burger.  At least now I know what to get next time.  I also made a good decision to not get tap beer because that place, despite having fantastic burgers, has not cleaned their tap lines in probably 8 years.  They do have Red Stripe though, so I had about 3 of those after the Magic Hat variety festival at Alex's apartment.  I would say, despite not contributing to the Sam Adams Summer Ale Challenge II, the night was a success.

-Jon