Paula With My Family

My View

Yesterday was the first time in several months that my parents, my sister’s family, and I have all seen each other.  We decided to go to my sister’s new house and have a cookout.  A few months ago, my sister decided to move out into the country back in my home town of Boone, NC.  Growing up, my sister and I always complained about living in the mountains, so I was shocked to say the least.  My sister now lives on one of the curviest roads in the county.  Not to mention, it’s not even paved and my dad's car can't even make it up her drive way, lol!  Once we finally arrived, I understood why she chose the house.  The views were gorgeous and made me remember why the mountains are so awesome.  I love the coast and probably won't ever move back, but I will always love the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

Butter Burgers

I took the opportunity of having a cookout to try Paula's Butter Burgers.  Throughout my life, I have had a lot of different burgers and with a lot of things mixed in, but I can honestly say, I have never had someone mix butter into the meat before they grill them.  But, again, this is Paula Deen and we know she loves some butter!  This recipe was simple.  It only called for hamburger meat, butter, salt, and pepper.  Then, you simply grilled the burgers to perfection.  I know a lot of people prefer gas grills, but I prefer charcoal.  I love the flavor the charcoal adds, and to me, there’s nothing better.  I was surprised that the butter didn't really add a lot of additional flavor, but they were some of the juiciest burgers I have ever put in my mouth.  When you look at the picture, you may realize there is something missing.  This burger has no lettuce!  When we were getting a list together to go shopping, my Mom told me she already had lettuce so I didn't buy any.  When I got home and had everything ready to go to my sister’s, I realized the only lettuce my mom had was the bagged lettuce that was pre-shredded and had carrots.  I love my Mom, but she can be forgetful at times…but I can’t say much…now that I'm getting older, I'm getting just like her!  I was able to find Paula's recipe for Butter Bacon burgers online.  The only real difference between the recipe in the Southern Cooking Bible and the recipe online is that my recipe did not use as much butter and she didn't include bacon.

http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/recipe_view/butter_bacon_burgers/

In my opinion, one thing you can't leave out of a cookout if potato salad.  I have tried making my own potato salad before but I can never seem to get my ratios right between potatoes, mayo and vinegar.  So I was really excited about trying this recipe.  I do have to put a foot note in here.  I was not able to try the recipe as it was because of my Dad.  I love him, but he is one of the most pickiest eaters I have ever met and he is very particular about his potato salad.  So with that being said I could not put the celery or scallions in this recipe. I will say that even without the 2 ingredients, this potato salad was a winner.  My whole family loved this potato salad.  It was a perfect combination of the mayo and the vinegar.  I was really glad to see Paula uses apple cider vinegar.  I'm not a big fan of just the white distilled vinegar in potato salad.  The apple cider adds so much more flavor.  I would recommend this potato salad for any cookout, picnic or family reunion.  I guarantee everyone will be talking about it. 


Paula's Classic Potato Salad
 

http://books.google.com/books?id=jUw66qJg-PYC&pg=PA55&lpg=PA55&dq=paula's+classic+potato+salad&source=bl&ots=yOAFTwXeNc&sig=7VcRJUDAQlxSguRUS7B1V05Ldvk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=OQkcUpSuCZKE9QTVkYGoDg&sqi=2&ved=0CIwBEOgBMAk#v=onepage&q=paula's%20classic%20potato%20salad&f=false

You may remember a couple of weeks ago I tried the Family Reunion Deviled Eggs.  I was telling my Mom about them and she insisted I make them for the cookout!   So I re-made them, and as expected, they were a big success.  I will have to say that the small amount of hot sauce Paula adds to these eggs are not enough, so if you like things with a kick, make sure you add a little more hot sauce than the recipe calls for! 

Family Reunion Deviled Eggs

http://www.instyle.com/instyle/package/general/photos/0,,20538174_20538007_21068909,00.html