Say Cheese!
September 18th is National Cheeseburger Day. On this national “holiday” please select only American cheese. No Swiss, no Irish cheddar, no French blue… Just American. Thank you.
- Jet Cannon
Photo: Vimeo
Burgers
Li’l Woody’s
Where have we been?? Reader’s Digest just listed the best burger in each of the 50 states and Li’l Woody’s won for Washington right in our own Seattle backyard!! Yet we’d never been there. So with Maserati Mike, we immediately engaged in some cuisine research….. and also to do a little day drinking. And we will not argue with Reader’s Digest. It’s a good burger. Not a monster pile of food but just a nicely balanced and very tasty burger. The fries were plentiful and excellent. Thin, greasy perfection. And we like their style.
WHAT WE STAND FOR
The best backyard burger you’ve ever had.
Fresh food, made to order.
Positive work environment for all. No jerks.
Supporting communities in need.
Always swimming upstream.
Doing everything 100%
Doing good.
- Jet Cannon
burger Buzz
May 31st is the last day to celebrate National Burger Month. Fire up the grill or hit the drive-in.
Americans average around three burgers per week! That’s 50 billion per year in total!
Subscribe to Buzzed Boomer for more fitness tips.
- Jet Cannon
Stay Classy, Buzzed Boomers
We often ponder what beverage to properly pair with our burgers. Actually, we usually just grab a beer but luckily someone is giving it some real thought. Fiona Beckett’s Matching food & wine post has some suggestions to help us up our game.
She starts with wine. Okay, a burger is just ground steak so why not? Cabernet, preferably, but she suggests a few others.
Next, IPA’s. Beer. There you go. Right up our alley.
Stepping it up, a Manhattan. Now we’re talking! Gourmet burger. Classy cocktail. She says it really, really works.
Finally, a milkshake. Not a big surprise there. Burger, fries and shake. Well, why buck tradition?
So there’s some things to try that we certainly didn’t previously consider. Enjoy!
– Jet Cannon
Where’s The Beef?
Growing up, we had a butcher one block away. Mr. Roberts was the grouchy butcher and sweet Mrs. Roberts manage the tiny store. Big candy bars were a nickel. Supermarkets were popping up one by one but most of our meat continued to come from Robert’s Grocery.
About the same timeframe in Burien, Washington there were four butcher shops. Today, there is one. Thankfully. And that’s were we get our Butcher Buzz. From browsing the Teriyaki Tri-Tip, the Kalbi Chicken, the Hawaiian Pork Wrap, Candy Salmon, and the homemade pepperoni to firing up the BBQ and dazzling family and friends with culinary excellence (and taking the credit), there’s magic in the process. Oh, it costs a little more but it’s worth it.
Support your local butcher if you’re lucky enough to have one. They can’t compete with Costco price-wise but there’s tangible value in the experience.
– Jet Cannon
Buzzed Boomer Tailgate Superstar
An embarrassing college football defeat could not dampen the fun of chatting with Billy, the proud owner of a magnificent tailgate vehicle. Converted from a Walla Walla, Washington ambulance, the rig now features a TV and plenty of room for tailgate food and bbq essentials. We asked about the condition of a rig that you’d assume was run hard and put away wet.
“In Walla Walla, it was 184,000 freeway miles. And it’s a diesel,’ noted Billy. Message… like us Buzzed Boomers, it’s still got some good miles left in it. Like us Buzzed Boomers who reinvent ourselves, the ambulance was reinvented from saving lives to celebrating life, friendship, bbq, beer, and college football.
Like most tailgaters, Billy was warm and inviting, interrupting our questioning only to grab a beer. He plans to hand off the Husky shrine to his son at some point so the tradition can continue. Thank you for making our day because the football game sucked!
– Jet Cannon
Elmers
Those of us at Buzzed Boomer love dive bars. We love live classic rock. We appreciate a properly prepared Martini (thanks Lindy)! We love pool tables. We crave a great burger. We love having our favorite IPA’s on tap. How about a place offering breakfast and great specials? And we’re grateful for a bar powering through the Covid disaster that closed so many restaurants.
Elmers in Burien, Washington is all of that except…. it’s really too nice to be called a dive bar. It WAS once a dive bar but owner Rachel has been steadily upgrading Elmers. And it looks great and it feels great. Our kind of place!
Not from Seattle? Elmers is a short ride from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and not far from a light-rail station if you’re visiting downtown Seattle.
We hadn’t been to Elmers in years but we’ll be back!
– Jet Cannon
Classic Burgers
Since 1950, Frisko Freeze has served up delicious burgers, fries and shakes in Tacoma, Washington. It was added to the Tacoma Register of Historic Places in 2008. While it did not make it into George Motz’s Hamburger America, which describes 200 great burger joints…. Seattle’s Dick’s Drive-In made the list…. it is on par with Dick’s from a classic burger standpoint. However, don’t expect fast service. It’s not. While they’ve replaced the little white order pads with a computer, the grill is the same size as it was back in 1950. But it’s worth the wait. When in Tacoma, check it out.
– Jet Cannon and Hunter S.
Post Game Burger
Seattle burger chain Dick’s is reminding us that there is hope to reclaim a basketball team, after the NBA champ Sonics left town years ago, with a special t-shirt. NHL hockey is coming to Seattle in the remodeled Coliseum so there’s a modern venue in which to play. And Dick’s has a restaurant right down the street! Dick’s features one of the best burgers in America according to me and George Motz author of Hamburger America. And the fries and shakes are excellent as well.
While we wait for hockey and basketball, we still have Dick’s.
– Jet Cannon
Chill Burgers
Any respectable Baby Boomer has their own burger grilling techniques and recipes yet we’re always on the lookout for new tricks. One thing most of us agree on is that this isn’t a time to go healthy. That means 20% fat content ground beef. Working in Worcestershire, onion salt, garlic, etc is up to the individual but we need the fat for flavor, drips on the charcoal, and to keep things together.
A number of chefs say searing in a cast iron skillet is a must. Celebrity cookbook countess Ina Garten says we should freeze our smash burger patties for exactly two minutes before grilling. Yeah, in the freezer. For exactly two minutes. She also likes Gruyere cheese, which is a great cheese, but we think it’s un-American to use anything other than American cheese. But to each his-or-her own.
Buzzed Boomer At-Large Correspondent Hunter S. insists that burgers go on a fancy griddle like a Blackstone. A cast iron skillet accomplishes the same thing but isn’t nearly as impressive. That’s from someone who doesn’t own a fancy griddle like a Blackstone.
Our Orinda, CA Correspondent Moge Starr talks up his super-sized Blackstone grill but he hasn’t written a thing for the blog so he’s been promoted to Chief Marketing Officer.
For your traditional burgers on the barbecue, another top chef recommends creating a slight crater in your patty and placing an ice cube on top to keep things moist as it cooks. Haven’t tried it yet but it sounds promising and it’s sure to generate interest from your less-informed friends.
Keep those cards and letters coming as we continue our quest for crowd-pleasing burgers.
Cheers and Happy Chilling Grilling!
– Jet Cannon
Loretta’s Northwesterner
Tough to beat this classic dive bar. Located in south Seattle, we made a stop after a visit to the Museum of Flight with out-of-towner Old Man Wrong. He was suitably impressed with the Tavern Burger, the patio, the Martini, and the general atmosphere. Great place!
- Jet Cannon
A Natural High
It’s been over year since indulging in an IN-N-OUT BURGER Cheeseburger – Animal Style. Catch a Buzz? More like a deep meditative state. Emotional bliss.
The 30-plus line up of cars in the drive-thru was managed in an efficient fashion that rivaled Disneyland’s line management. IN-N-OUT in ten minutes!
– Jet Cannon
