Burgers!

The Pioneer Woman just made me hungry. I must try this burger. I was browsing the Cowgirl Food recipes on The Pioneer Woman Cooks and my taste buds will not rest until I have feasted on its awesomeness.

PW's description of her high maintenance burger preference hit home with me too, especially because she and I are both former vegetarians. When Donald and I met in college, I didn't eat red meat and only ate chicken occasionally, for a protein fix. Donald, of course, was a happy meat eater, and we politely agreed to disagree.

I definitely blame Donald for my return to eating red meat. It started gradually. I'd catch a whiff of meat cooking when we drove by a restaurant on a road trip, "Mmmh! That smells good!" He would laugh and look at me out of the corner of his eye (his eyes were on the road, of course), and reply "You know that's meat, right?" I had no good response.

The best part was the first time I ordered a burger at a restaurant. Donald looked at me like I had just given him the keys to an Aston Martin. He was so surprised and giddy that when I actually enjoyed the burger I had ordered, he would have proposed to me all over again. Since then, I think it still surprises him when I order a burger, but I'm quite picky about them. They must be medium-well done (I can't handle pink). They must have something fancy on them (like blue cheese). And they cannot be fast food.

The ONLY exception I have made to this burger rule is In-N-Out Burger. Those are heaven, I don't care what you say.