Wonderful Weekend v.4.2

Grab your  Rachael Ray enamel cookware set, gather your friends and host a potluck. You can each pick a different culinary style and expand your horizons!

Locate your nearest animal shelter and volunteer! Slip into your charming little Vince Cable Crop sweater and spend the day with amazing animals. The cute little cats and dogs will immediately adore you. What's a better pick me up than that?

How could you resist a face as cute as this?

Share your passion for reading by forming a book club that explores stories about friendship about the ages. A great novel to start out with is The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Keep it low-stress by asking a local bookstore or coffee house if you can meet there.

Blast some Spice Girls, Christina Aguilera, *NSYNC, Vanilla Ice and other 90s music and jump up and down on the bed, singing into your hairbrush as if no one were watching. Do the macarena. You'll get a good workout without even realizing it.

Slip on your Merona ® Blue Wool Beret and spend the weekend with nothing but a canvas and paint. Oh, how easy it is to unleash your fantastic French artiste when something so simple as a hat is placed upon your head. Then when the weekend is over reveal your creations to the world. As the award-winning novelist Jane Porter once stated:

"Happiness is not perfected unless it is shared."

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. What are your plans?

Basil Pan Burgers

I have loved Rachael Ray for as long as I can remember, and her release of her new book yesterday, The Book of Burger, had me craving a good ol' fashioned burger. Like I mentioned before, I don't own a grill, so I try to find other creative ways to do barbecue classics. Luckily for me, my trusty Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook  has a tried and true recipe for the most amazing burgers. And all that's required is your stove top!

Ingredients:
1 egg, slightly beaten
¼ cup chopped onion
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons fine dry bread crumbs (I like to use smashed up graham crackers)
2 tablespoons snipped fresh basil OR 1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
2 tablespoons ketchup
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
Nonstick cooking spray

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl combine egg, onion, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, basil, ketchup, salt, pepper, and garlic. Add beef; mix well. Shape beef mixture into for ¾-inch thick patties. 

2. Lightly coat a heavy skillet with cooking spray (or use a heavy nonstick skillet). Preheat skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add patties. Reduce heat to medium or until temperature registers 160° on an instant-read thermometer, turning patties once halfway through cooking. If patties brown too quickly, reduce heat to medium low. Serve patties on buns with basil leaves (if desired) and tomato slices. 

These burgers taste amazing, and cooking them on the stove doesn't alter their taste one bit! As always, you should make sure that the burgers are fully cooked before serving them by checking their temperature with a meat thermometer. Try these out and don't to pick up a copy of Rachael Ray's book The Book of Burger on shelves now!