Forman and Kirkland prepare our dinner-

Sometimes you just don't want your meal to be particularly involved. Sure, fresh ground and blended meats cooked as burgers over an well laid charcoal fire are a fine meal. However, tonight we invited Foreman and Kirkland to provide us with a meal.

My daughter, Beth, did a lot of the preparation. Slicing tomatoes and red onion. "Why didn't you use the mandolin?" I asked. My wife had given us a mandolin slicing tool for Christmas. "I forgot we had one."

I like my onions sliced thin. So, I got out the mandolin. It is a V blade model. I used the safety grip to push the onion through the blades. Ah, nice and thin. Not as well shaped as I wanted. The onion was just a bit wide for the guides on the mandolin, and hit the blades at a sleight angle.

The meat was Kirkland brand ground beef, formed and frozen into uniform patties. I broke off half a dozen meat bricks and tossed three onto the George Foreman grill. We hadn't used this particular cooking tool on the frozen patties. I guesstimated eight minutes, based on grilling experience on the barbecue.

The first three were well done, a bit more than I care for. The next three were done for six minutes. The George Foreman grill does not require turning the meat. The drippings run off into catch trays. Easy-peasy. Paper towel clean-up, most of the time. Not a bad tool. Very little smoke, and set-up is pretty easy.

"Bacon." said Beth. She set up a half-dozen slices on the Foreman. We closed the lid. After a few minutes we peeked. Hmmm. Turning black at the tips, still white and fatty in the middle. I closed the lid and let it go a couple more minutes. The finished bacon was not particularly nice. The middle of each slice was still just barely cooked, the ends burnt (but still edible to a bacon mad eater such as myself).

The components brought together with inexpensive factory buns, honey mustard, ketchup and whatever else anyone wanted, and it was a fast and reasonably satisfying meal. Don't forget those cheese slices that come in little plastic jackets. Great burgers? By no means. A good meal? Unquestionably.

So, what did we learn, Dorothy? Kirkland burgers done from freezer to Foreman are best cooked about six minutes. George does not do bacon well. If you like to slice your vegetables on a mandolin, be sure they are the right size to fit between the guides. The George Foreman grill is not a bad grilling tool for indoor use, quick set up and fast clean up.

I still want to experiment with mixed freshly ground meats. I want to experiment with that for the rest of my life. However, for a quick meal, the team of Foreman and Kirkland make an adequate burger.

BLT Soup-

I some time back discovered Pizza Soup. Cambell's Tomato Soup, Campbell's Cheddar Cheese Soup, and whatever pizza toppings you have and want to add. Make the soup according to the instructions on the can, combining the two soups and adding the appropriate amount of water (or milk.) Add the other stuff.

Pizza Soup.

So, we are having Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato (BLT) sandwiches one day. I think, "What about BLT soup?" I think on this a while. Being a budding late-life foodie, it takes hold of me. Eventually I discuss it with my daughter, Beth. We play with food together in the kitchen, so I propose this. She does an Internet search, and we finally select Paula Deen's BLT Soup.

Yep. Someone else got there before me. That may be the great power and disappointment of the Internet. Original idea? Do a search. Someone else was already there, most of the time. As sad and disappointing as that may be, sometimes the did it better. Paula sure did.

Beth got the ingredients and did most of the prep work. I got to cook up the bacon. It is the bacon that we modified in this recipe. The recipe calls for five slices. Our family loves bacon. So, I crisp up a half pound for topping and crisp up the rest of the pound for the soup.

The rest was according to the recipe as linked. It was strange, cooking lettuce. I had never done that before. It all came together into a nice looking creamy soup. The mayo and sour cream topping seemed a bit strange, but added to a bowl of the soup and topped with a handful of crisp bacon bits and it really is something to experience.

We served ours with grilled cheese sandwiches. The soup looked very nice, with the lettuce and tomato adding color to the cream soup. That topping of mayo and sour cream was just the thing. That, and the crisp bacon bits on top. All of the flavor elements of the BLT sandwich in a hearty soup.

Be sure to prepare your ingredients before beginning. This soup requires constant attention to avoid burning the bacon and to see that the vegetables are properly wilted without over cooking. Being a cream soup it requires constant stiring. The attention is not wasted.

Trying to do preparation while the soup is cooking would invite burning somewhere along the way. Preparation in convenient containers avoids this risk and allows the soup to come together flawlessly.

It went well with conventional grilled cheese sandwiches. It encourages some experimentation in grilled cheese. This time around we were pretty conventional with the sandwiches. Next time we may go for a step or two up the cheese ladder.

That, however, is an experiment for another time.

Bacon Grilled Prunes-

Yes, it is from The Barbecue! Bible. I had some steaks to grill, and I wanted to try this. The prunes (pitted) were wrapped in bacon, skewered, and grilled. Simple. Very interesting. The juxtaposition of salt, fat, and fruity sweetness is really intriguing.

The steaks were another matter. Beef steaks, bone-in. I have not really mastered the direct grilling of steaks. I oiled them with olive oil, and rubbed them with my seasoning. I cooked them rare. Very rare.

Now, I like rare beef. These were very good. However, I still need to build confidence in direct grilling so that I can achieve various levels of doneness. I am not there.

Fortunately, there is an answer. Grill more steaks! A lot more.

While I am training, I might as well keep making those bacon grilled prunes! Mmmmm!