July Lake Life

I'm so tired today. But this is a good tired. We got home last night from a week at the lake with family. It was such a good week. You know having that many people in a small space for a week could have gone all Chevy Chase on us. (You've watched those National Lampoon movies, haven't you?) But it was all good. The weather was unbelievable. Here in the Deep South, July is typically hot and muggy. Miserably so. This week, though, was like magic, with low humidity and moderate temps. If you could order weather from Amazon, this would have been the week I would have added to my shopping cart!

Here's what our week included:

Swimming. Giant Jenga. Skiing. Boating. Cornhole. Scrabble. Kayaks. Farkle. Hammock. Porch sitting. Reading. Puzzles. Wading pool. 4th of July family dinner. Lots of cousins. Spot-It! Bedknobs & Broomsticks movie. Fishing. Coloring books. Morning coffee on the porch.

Peach Ice Cream. Barbecue. Low Country Boil. Hushpuppies. Lemon Pound Cake. Macaroni & Cheese. Quesadillas. Blueberry Pie. Peach Cobbler. Food Truck Pizza. Baked Rotini. Burgers. Blueberry Pancakes. S'mores. Bean Salad. Homemade Lemonade. Fresh Cucumbers. Shrimp Dip. Snow Cones. Boiled Peanuts.

Here. You can see for yourself. And don't miss the recipe at the very bottom!

The cooking was shared, so no one was burdened. I headed to the store on Tuesday to find something for dinner. No particular plan in mind. Which worked out well because I tried the food sample that day. And bought everything needed for the burgers they were demonstrating. Really easy to put together and totally delicious. It's the Thousand Island dressing that makes it special.

It's from Publix Simple Apron recipes. Because it calls for pre-made burger patties, precooked bacon and bought pimento cheese and Thousand Island dressing, it's very easy. It's really more assembly directions than a recipe. We will do this again for sure. Daddy-O grilled the burgers. Big Sister microwaved the bacon (according to package directions) and Jecca sliced the tomato and onion. Many hands make light work.

PIMENTO CHEESE BURGERS

4 ground beef patties, about 1-1/2 lb (we used pre-made ground chuck patties)
1/2 cup pimiento cheese, divided
8 slices precooked bacon
4 hamburger buns
1 medium tomato, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced
4 lettuce leaves
8 teaspoons Thousand Island dressing, divided

Preheat grill (or grill pan). Place burgers on grill; cook 4–5 minutes on each side and until meat is 160°F. Top each burger with 2 tablespoons cheese spread during last minute of grill time, then close lid (or cover) for cheese to melt.

Microwave bacon following package instructions. Slice tomato and onion. Separate lettuce leaves.

Spread 2 teaspoons dressing over top halves of buns. Assemble each burger in this order: bottom half of bun, beef patty, bacon, tomato, lettuce, onion, and top half of bun and serve.

Makes 4