Dan's Daily Dose #18

     To keep cauliflower from browning during the cooking process, add a little milk to the water.

Dan's Daily Dose #17

     You can tell that burgers are done when juices begin to run clear out of them.

Dan's Daily Dose #15 & #16

Sorry for forgetting yesterday's post. Here are today's and yesterday's daily dose:


     When making a cake recipe that calls for nuts, heat them in the oven and dust then with flour before adding them. This will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the pan.


     To prevent splashing when pouring soup into a bowl, tilt the bowl at a 45 degree while pouring.

Cheddar Bacon Burgers

     High temperatures cause me to cook out of the grill because there is no way I’m using my oven. I will use the stove top but don’t really like doing that either. Matt was headed over for his weekly meal with us and he chose burgers from the list I gave him. I’ve found quite a few burger recipes online that I want to try and this one is one of them. Bacon cheddar burgers that incorporate horseradish and a few spices caught my eye a few months ago but decided to wait until it was grilling weather to try them out. Here is the recipe for those of you out there who enjoy a good burger:

1 pound ground beef (I use 80/20)

½ cup real bacon pieces

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons prepared horseradish

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground pepper

½ teaspoon garlic powder

4 hamburger buns

     I made only two changes to the recipe: 1) I only used ¼ cup bacon pieces because that is all I had and 2) I made 3 burgers instead of 4 because there was just the three of us. To prepare the burgers, add all the ingredients except the buns into a mixing bowl. Mix the ingredients until thoroughly combined; I use my hands to ensure this happens. Shape into patties and place the patties on a plate to go out to the grill. You might notice that the patties are barely being held together once you’d shaped them. Once they begin to cook, they should bind together enough to keep from falling apart. Spray the grill with some nonstick spray and cook the burgers for five minutes or so on each side, or until cooked to your preference.

     To go with the burgers, I boiled up some salt potatoes and served them with butter. I garnished my burger with a pickle slice, lettuce, and a squeeze of mustard and ketchup. After the first bite I knew this was the best burger I’ve made thus far. The burgers made up of beef tenderloin that I made a few weeks ago were very juicy but I like my burgers with tons of different flavors. These burgers definitely had that and none of the ingredients stole the show. The bacon, cheddar, and horseradish melded well together and gave the burger a smoky taste. Matt said there was the perfect amount of bacon and he liked the horseradish despite not normally liking the taste of it. Christine and Matt both finished theirs and I ate about ¾ of mine before stopping. I get tired of thick burgers about half way through even though I loved the taste of this specific one. I will definitely be making these again and next time maybe I’ll step up the bacon to see how that works out.

Rating: Delectable - Best burgers yet.

Dan's Daily Dose #14

     To get the skin off of garlic cloves easier, microwave them for 15 seconds.

Dan's Daily Dose #13

If you're recipe calls for half an onion, keep the half with the root because it will stay longer.

Dan's Daily Dose #12

     When storing celery, wrap it in aluminum foil before putting it in the fridge. It will stay fresh for weeks.