...Burger Bonanza

I was watching a burger special on the Food Network with my roommate Josh on Saturday evening waiting on some of the basketball games to start.  We were salivating over the awesome creations that were featured on the show, with a wide variety of ingredients and condiments.  So we knew we had to try to make our own.

We got the fattest meat we could find (80/20 chuck) and all of these items to add to it:
- Tempura batter (to use when frying the sweet onion rings and sweet potato fries)
- Pepper-jack cheese

- Bella mushrooms

- Tomatoes

- Avocado
- Wasabi mix (to make wasabi mayonnaise)

- Sweet onion

- Sweet potatoes












- Kaiser rolls

We made two very large hamburgers (almost a pound each) and had some chicken for our Indian roommate so he could partake.

Then we started to make our onion rings and dipped them in ice cold tempura batter.

Then we sauted the mushrooms in lots of butter.  Paula Dean eat your heart out.

 And we finally grilled all of the meet to perfection.












With a little pepper-jack on top melted of course.

This first one is Josh's creation.












The next is Neil's chicken sandwich.












And finally I broke my sandwich down into the steps so you can see all of the ingredients.

And yes, that sandwich did end up being 5 inches tall!

... of Diet Planning

So I'm thinking about a few different dishes I want to try with some sweet potatoes I picked from the field last time I was home.  Here are two I'm working on this week:

Sweet Potato Risotto

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 2 small sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan (2 ounces)
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Add the sweet potatoes and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 minute.
3. Add the rice and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook, stirring frequently, until absorbed.
4. Measure 3½ cups of water. Add ¾ cup at a time and cook, stirring occasionally and waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding the next. It should take 25 to 30 minutes for all the water to be absorbed.
5. Stir in the Parmesan and oregano.

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Sweet Potato Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 1 (15-ounce) can sweet potato puree
• 1 1/2 cups cold half-and-half
• 1/4 cup dark beer
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• Pinch salt

Directions

The day before you make the ice cream freeze the ice cream insert for a full 24 hours.

Add the sweet potato puree to a large bowl along with the half-and-half, beer, light brown sugar, cinnamon, ground ginger, allspice, and salt. Whisk together until smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and chill the mixture thoroughly before churning.

Churn in your ice cream machine until it freezes to a soft frozen state, about 20 to 25 minutes. Put in the freezer to continue to firm up until you are ready to serve.


I'll let you know how they turn out once I'm done.

...of Housing Students

This week alone I've had three parents ask me if their students being athletes on campus means that they can move to the front of waitlists for private 1-bedroom apartments on campus....why yes, because I fully endorse giving particular people special treatment.

Srlsly?

...of the Homemade Pizza Maker

So I had some awesome people over this weekend to the Cary house since I'm house-sitting and try to make an effort not to spend an entire weekend by myself there.  Granted, Geoff managed to visit for the weekend but that was unexpected.  I could tell you why, but then I'd have to kill you -- or he would -- but the end result would be the same.  Let's try to avoid that ;)

So the group kept growing every time I turned around.  First, just 2 guests.  Then slowing built up to 10 plus me.

I had to figure out what we could have for dinner that a) I could afford and b) allowed everyone to follow their own dietary preferences.  I landed on homemade whole-wheat pizzas, and man were they awesome!  Jennie O and I made the dough and prepped all of the toppings two hours early.  We had everything:

- Mushrooms
- Prosciutto
- Salami
- Pepperoni
- Corn
- Broccoli
- Ranch Dressing
- Hot & BBQ Sauces
- Grilled chicken
- Red Onions
- Spinach
- Fontina & Mozzarella Cheeses
- Pineapple
- Canadian Ham
- Olives

And everyone had a very unique experience and even had leftovers.  I'll say for less than $30 ($3 per head) this was an exceptional group meal and the process was simple.  And believe it or not, cleanup was a breeze as well.

Here's a few pictures of our experience...

...the Browsing Shopper

So I wanted to get out of the house today and decided to check out a few stores.  I finally went to the Outlet Mall of Morrisville (at exit 284 of I-40) and I was underwhelmed.  Big time.

Not only do the stores there lack the size and selection I deem necessary for high-end outlet malls, it was virtually empty.  I seriously had to look around for a while before seeing the first person.  And another 10 minutes before I saw the first customer.

I wanted to check out the Saks Off 5th Outlet, but I can say now I should have saved my gas.  The men's section was smaller than a gas station.  Disappointment big time -- like when your marsh mellow falls into the fire right at the perfect moment of blackened texture.  Man I love some smores too, so this really sucks!

Morrisville Outlet -- you are dead to me.

Next stop, the new Nordstrom Rack in Durham next Sunday.

The Kids Are Back in Town!

Well we have had over 8500 students move onto campus in the past 8 days, and boy has it been a rush.  This is my third opening at UNC, and my 8th overall, and I feel like there's been at least some improvement each year.  But one thing that never changes are the influx of parents and students bringing with them the same questions, no matter how obvious we make the answer on our website.

Case in point, "When can I move back in?"

Me: "As early as Wednesday, August 18th, or any day after."
Them: "So what about Thursday?"

Me: <speechless>

And schools are becoming much more direct with the separation of students and parents, and forcing it to happen earlier.  I fully appreciate this movement, as the longer a parent stays around the more complaints or requests I get that simply cannot be accomplished.  We've learned that parents generally are much more needy than the students, which is interesting since it's the student that lives on campus.  But sure enough, if the parent remains on campus for more than a day someone on our staff will hear from them about an improvement that is needed for their perfect student to achieve greatness.

We've always called these people "helicopter parents" for their nature of hovering.  But yesterday I heard a new term, "velcro parents."  I think that adequately describes their tendency of sticking to their students in an almost annoying fashion.

Don't get a me wrong -- I know that parents and students are my job.  But sometimes I wonder if we all just take a few seconds to think about what we're asking if stress can be eliminated -- especially since I get the same question 15000 times!

HUGE

I'm not sure why ABC Family has been off my radar for so long, but now that my busy season at work has ended I have a little time to catch up on shows via Hulu.  One show I decided to give a try is called HUGE, about a fat camp which puts together Nicki from Hairspray fame and other kids who are battling more than just their weight.

It's an interesting show, although I doubt it'll be around for long because it's a little slow and has had next to no publicity.  But if you're in the mood for social issue exploration masked by comedy then give it a try, I'm sure you'll like it.