Happy Sunday! Aka the second day of the second half of the year. I know. 
But! We have a few more days of long weekend (do you have tomorrow off? we do not.), hopefully some great cookouts coming tomorrow and Tuesday, and several more weeks of summer that definitely provide justification for killer-yummy food at gatherings.
Here are some of our summer favorites!
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I know, all about that farmer's market ish just like every other dang blogger in the world. 
SORRY.
It's a thing. Because produce! Because local! Because pictures!
Mainly because holy delicious, amirite? Jay and I are watching Mind of a Chef and Chef's Table right now on Netflix, and all the chefs are all "omg you can't possiblyyyyyyy use out of season produce, it just tastes like nothing," and they kind of whine it all pretentiously. And then I snort because I'm American and if I want kiwi in December I'm going to get it, damn it, and I don't care if it tastes like nothing or not.
Until, of course, I taste fresh, local produce in season that really does taste so much better, and then I apologize to the television, as you do when you're wrong.
So I made a crumble. Or a cobbler. The crust is kind of a mixture of both and the filling is just the sexiest local strawberries, but use any old berries you can find and don't beat yourself up about it, especially if you have no local berries. That doesn't mean you shouldn't have crumble. It doesn't, I promise. Additionally, I made these in individual ramekins because I think they're cute that way, but you could make this all in one dish and every other instruction would be identical. Your choice!
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So, as promised, here's our new burger. 
A Juicy Lucy! You've heard of this, right? It's a burger with stuff inside. I actually hate the name really strongly, so we're just calling this a stuffed slider. OF COURSE you can make this in a larger burger size, but why? Cookouts always have so many sexy sides, having a huge burger sometimes takes up space in your tummy that you NEED for those. Or for 57 beers. Whatever, they're light.
So here we go: a super simple burger stuffed with swiss on buttery toasted buns with a little mustard sauce that goes GREAT with the swiss cheese. It's almost French but totally not, and just a teensy bit different from a standard burger in that we eliminate the yellow cheese, bacon, and ketchup. BUT you can totes put those back on and this burger might be even better. OR. What about stuffing a few slices of sauteed mushroom inside with the swiss? Think on it.
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So, for the rest of the week, we have Memorial Day recipes. 
Or beginning-of-summer recipes.
Or recipes for when you want to pretend it's a cookout on a weekend but really it's Tuesday and UGH Tuesday. Where is Friday? 
But, you know, recipes that are kind of fun and casual and DELICIOUS.
Interestingly, both of the other recipes that I have for you this week feature ground beef because....I stink at planning? Oh, AND. Remember how Jay is a vegetarian? Was a vegetarian? Emphasis on was. He's been adding meat a little at a time back to his diet, and now it's just kind of present for a lot of meals. This wasn't my doing, mind you, and we still eat meat-free a lot of meals, but he's down with the ground beef every now and again too, thank goodness for the food blogger who makes 27 servings of everything no matter how few people are going to be eating it.
You know how it goes.
So these meatballs! They taste like a cheeseburger sans bun, but with all the flavors you love, and with cheese inside of them, and they are SERIOUSLY delicious. Seriously. Also, because the toppings have such great flavor, the meatballs themselves are SUPER simple. No egg, no breadcrumbs, no fuss. They're adorbs for an appetizer or even a lunch since they're served over lettuce which basically makes this a salad. You're welcome! Health food.
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Nope, not like the kind at Panera with random crunchy things on top and weird thick sweet dressing drizzled over dry chicken. 
Not like that. Like southern chicken salad but with Asian flavors including but not limited to Sriracha and soy and sesame, and YOU WILL LOVE THIS. Regular chicken salad is all well and good, but THIS is the summer appetizer that will get you invited back to fun places. 
I made this last week for Jay's lunch and then took leftovers to the beach to share, and that ish was GONE. I didn't get a single bite, which is a testament to how great it is. It's easy, too!
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Guys. It's a short week!
Thank GEE, amirite? We're having an insane 4 days until then, and Thursday evening can't come soon enough. Our major plans for the weekend include MAKING NO PLANS, so that probably means that we'll end up cooking a lot at home and finding some friends and family to hang out with. Fun! Fun?
Fun.
Whether or not you're doing anything official this weekend, it's still fun to have some flag-colored food, don't you think? I do. Nothing wrong with a white sheet cake decorated like a flag, of course, but here are some other, slightly more creative ways to incorporate Old Glory into your menu this weekend.
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Next week we'll have recipes that all start with the letter C!
jk jk.
Chicken cordon ... cream? Cherry chestnut cake? 
No. Just no. For some reason, though, this week both of our new recipes started with B, and FOR GOOD REASON. Bourbon is delicious, and lots of flavors go well with it. So, there. Remember when I told you that our neighbor Sebastian gave us some wild boar ribs, and we were sure what to do with it? Well, we smoked half and roasted half, and made this sauce to go with them. They were DELICIOUS cooked just like you would regular pork ribs - who'd have thought it? There was also kind of a flank steak piece attached that we had no clue what to do with, so we stuck it back in the freezer. Any ideas on this one? What is it?
But this sauce. Blueberry and bourbon as the base, with lots of yummy spices. Once you gather all your ingredients, BBQ sauce is totes simple to make - combine everything in a skillet, bring to a boil, and let it cook and reduce until it forms a sauce! Cinchy.
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Not 4 beans. 
4 types of beans, but TYPE doesn't start with a B and also the title up there was getting kind of long and also baked beans wouldn't illustrate that we are working with FOUR DIFFERENT KINDS OF BEANS here so...just work with me. 
In other news, Jay and I have come to the conclusion that wedding weekends are hard, waking up at 5am to teach yoga after a wedding weekend is harder, and travelling two weekends in a row even for fun things is, wait for it, hard.
We are DRAGGING this week, can't catch up on sleep no matter what we do. And, clearly, the 5am wake ups don't help anything.
BUT THESE BEANS. I made them for Jay's dad's father's day, and they're really just perfect for this time of year. An excellent side dish, ever so slightly different than a standard baked bean, and THE BOURBON. Also bacon. I have it in my head too that using green beans as one of the beans makes these super light, which is nice if you want to eat a whole vat of them. Let's make beans!
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It's Tuesday! Today begins the first of three posts discussing a quick + easy German style meal that you can make right at home. So, stick around for the end of the week and we'll end up with a super quick and easy and healthy and yummy meal. 
I'm a big fan of German food, mainly because I think that sauerkraut is one of the most baller things ever, right up there with ANYTHING ELSE PICKLED EVER. Lots of the elements in the meal that we're making have some kind of acid, including apple cider vinegar in these yummy potatoes. What I love about German potato salad is that you can serve it hot or cold, and there's no mayo so you can let it sit out all the live long day without being concerned about deadly food borne illnesses.
To be fair, I never concern myself with food borne illnesses, but that's another story. ...
I have an idea but if you don't like it I'd understand.
I think you should make Japanese food for Father's day.
It's just my opinion, and if you need to grill out I understand, but REALLY this is a good meal and it's easy to make so....why not go for it?
I'm making French food, but that's just because we recently discovered a moderately-legit French bakery near my house and my dad loves the bread so...I'll tell you about that next week.
This dinner, though. I actually made it for my dad a few weeks ago, and he loved it (phew, ya never know). It doesn't take a ton of time to prepare, is fresh and fairly light, and the FLAVORS. Oh, the flavors.
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Guys.
I'm still reeling over all this fun yummy healthy vegetarian-ish cookout food.
I'm also reeling over the fact that it's SO FREAKING NICE outside, and so perfect for lighter fun food.
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2019 note: we are still eating this meal all these years later. we've updated the recipe with some new tips and tricks, including a new recipe for chimichurri that comes out perfectly every time. check it out!
Happy Friday!
I'm thrilled that it's Friday. Some weekends come and you get stuff done and then you're fine and you go back to work. And then, some weekends come and OMGIjustneedtoliedownfor3daysandescapetheworldPLEASEletmedothat.
That's this kind of weekend for me, folks.
But, this isn't about me. This is about chimichurri, and how much I love eating it on Argentinean Barbecue.
Or whatever you want to call it.
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In keeping with this fun grilling theme we're having, I'd now like to show you the AMAZING pork chops we had with the spiced mashed sweet potatoes.
You can easily make these inside on a grill pan or even in a large skillet, so don't fret if it's cold and you're over grilling outside.
The glaze for this is really similar to the grilled tofu we did awhile ago, and could be brushed on any grilled meat or veg your little heart desires - it's so good and easy.
You could also make the glaze in advance and keep it in the fridge like you do BBQ sauce - just brush it on anything when you're feeling like a yummy savory-soy-flavored dish!
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This is a confusing name.
I'm sorry, it's Friday.
I mean. IT'S FRIDAY!
But still. This isn't Chinese-style chicken with lemon sauce that happens to not be fried so we're calling it grilled.
No.
It's Greek-flavored chicken with lemon stuffed in a most undignified fashion right under the skin so that when you grill the chicken it gets lemony and crispy and succulent on the inside and ....
.... I just decided I'm making this tomorrow.
Maybe.
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Yep.
We got a new grill. From my parents. Because they're awesome.
So, we had them over for dinner to grill some stuff.
Because they got us a new grill.
It makes sense, don't you think?
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Yeah.
Tomato Chips.
I'm a crazy person.
I'm not sorry, though!
This is this new thing I'm doing....roasting tomatoes at a high temperature in slices so they dry out and get kind of crunchy.
IT'S SO FREAKING GOOD.
Then you add gooey cheese and a burger? Done and done.
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Are you one of those people who always orders a side of braised mushrooms at every steakhouse you go to ever?
I love those mushrooms. They're good almost everywhere, huh?
That's because they're insanely easy to make and you should never EVER pay $9 for a side of them at a restaurant.
Unless you want to.
But, here's an easy way to make them at home!
This is a super fun no-measurement recipe that takes minutes to prepare.
You could also skewer these babies and grill them if you're feeling frisky. Get creative!
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No, not us you sillycakes. We don't have time for that.
No but really, we don't.
My friend Victoria is getting married today, and we're catering some of the food!
It's our first wedding, and we're a leeeetle bit excited.
Our fridge, however, is thrilled to be losing 40 lbs of pork-weight. It's a freeing feeling. I'm looking into creating a method for humans to do that while still actually eating pork. I'll keep you posted on that!
Anyway. Today, we're serving a lovely array of food.
We're doing sliced steak with chimichurri, but with CILANTRO-PARSLEY CHIMICHURRI instead of sage. There are so many great ways to make chimichurri!
We're also doing a smoked salmon display with lemon, capers, red onion, goat cheese, and GARLIC CHIVE CREAM CHEESE. Shut up. I'll show you how as soon as I recover and get my a** back on the computer next week.
Finally, in regards to all that pork, we're making pulled pork sliders with peach salsa - remember those from the last wedding shower we catered? So easy, so delicious, and so addictive. Barbecue is super duper popular in these parts, and these are little spruced up BBQ sandwiches!
I'm so excited for tonight. Victoria and Jason have been together for a long time, are getting married on the lake, and lots of my friends are going to be there. Couple that with the fact that I've been planning this or 2 months and cooking for 3 days?
Heavenly. I'm in heaven.
Children.
Note the title.
Not Cheeseburgers. Blue. Cheese. Burgers.
YES.
Remember awhile ago when we made bacon blue cheese meatballs for a choir party and they were devoured in the NAME OF THE LORD (we live in the south, let it go) with lots of wine?
That happened.
This is the same recipe.
But. You make them bigger, which is better, and you eat 'em on a bun.
ZING.
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Happy Friday!
I wanted to remind you of this stupendous potato salad, because later today I'm going to show you what you HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE TO make to go with it!
Also, I found this super duper fun Weekend Potluck organized by Tonya and some of her friends over at 4LittleFergusons. She, Marsha, Kim&Julie, Holly, Brandie, and Tabitha all have this fun roundup of recipes each Friday - there are some great ideas for what you might make at some point this weekend!
Click the picture below to go to the full potluck page - I seriously don't know what I'm making first.
Here's the original potato salad recipe - I've been making it for EVERYTHING this summer, and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon.
LOOK! It's a no mayo potato salad!
Listen, I love super fatty, carby side dishes in the summer. Seriously. A lot. HOWEVER, there is this thing in which sometimes when I eat too many fatty, carby side dishes in the summer my pants don't look quite as good as they did in the spring.
They look more like sausage casings.
So, I think it's nice to sometimes supplement fatty, carby side dishes with .... carby side dishes that have slightly less fat.
Makes sense, right?
This one, though, is GOOD. It has nothing creamy, but the addition of the vinegar while the potatoes are still warm is just....good.
I'm making this tomorrow for a family reunion! I'm totally psyched.
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