Half of the adults in this house are generally anti-turkey burger. And 100% of the toddlers in this house don’t care what’s inside that hamburger bun, as long as there is a pile of cherry tomatoes next to it.

But if I mention turkey outside of sandwiches or Thanksgiving, I get a sigh. (And if you have ever had even a quasi semi-significant other, you’re probably quite familiar with “The Sigh.”)

My husband and I both come from red meat upbringings. In my house, if red meat wasn’t on the menu, fried chicken was. My husband? Total burger snob. His family actually raises grass-fed cattle so a turkey burger? It’s not a “real” burger.

When it comes to picky eaters, I’ve found that asking questions is key. My husband is a recovering picky eater. When you really dig down and press him, his biggest complaints about turkey burgers are that they’re flavorless and dry.

And he’s totally right.

Turkey is leaner than beef. Less fat means a less flavorful, less juicy burger. So when I make turkey burgers, I have to go above and beyond to make a Rockstar Burger. Or be plagued with The Sigh all through dinner.

Hawaiian Turkey Burgers are one of the very few turkey burgers I’ve made that get my husband’s approval. They’re modeled after one of my childhood favorite meals, Hawaiian Chicken. Standing alone, the burger itself would surely get a thumbs down. But when you take a bite, you get an incredibly juicy bite of grilled pineapple, turkey burger, steak sauce, red onion, and cilantro.

It’s not only enough to make him forget that he’s not eating a “real” burger, but it’s enough for him to call it one of his favorites.

And that’s high, high praise coming from a burger snob.

Hawaiian Turkey Burgers

Grilled pineapple, red onion, and cilantro give a tropical twist to turkey burgers.

Ingredients

• 20 oz package of lean ground turkey
• 3 Tbsp Heinz steak sauce, plus more for serving
• 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion, divided
• Handful cilantro, chopped and divided
• Salt
• Pepper
• Worcestershire
• 4 burger buns
• 4 pineapple rings

Instructions

1. Heat grill to medium high.
2. Break the ground turkey into pieces into a large bowl.
3. Add steak sauce, half of the red onion, half of the cilantro, salt, pepper, and a couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce.
4. Lightly mix with your hands and then form 4 burgers.
5. Place burgers and pineapple rings on the grill, cooking ~5 minutes on each side, until the burgers reach desired doneness and the pineapple has grill marks.
6. Serve the burgers on buns with additional steak sauce, grilled pineapple rings, chopped red onion, and cilantro.

Notes

Yields: 4 servings

Source: Confections of a Foodie Bride

Estimated time: 30 minutes

I don’t need a calendar to tell me that summer is nearly here. The days get longer, the electric bill skyrockets, we enjoy weekend lunches by the pool, evenings are capped with dinner and a beautiful sunset on the patio, and the neighborhood kids get louder with each passing day as they pile off the school bus. They know that there’s an end in sight.

I totally remember those days.

Nearly two years ago, we decided that we just couldn’t take another Texas summer without a swimming pool. We loaded up our 8-month-old daughter and moved to the suburbs. We found the perfect pool that just happened to have a house attached. Lucky us.

When the school year ends, that new backyard quickly becomes family barbecue central. Nieces and nephews pour in from Dallas and San Antonio with my sisters, brothers, and in-laws in tow.

I love entertaining, but I’d much rather throw an informal, potluck-style backyard barbecue with friends and family than a fancy dinner party. One requires food that’s far less fussy and lets me spend more time with family. And one requires mascara. It’s really a no-brainer.

Carafes of margaritas, sweet tea, and fresh-squeezed lemonade sit on ice next to a stack of Solo Cups. The smell of pork ribs and mesquite smoke in the air mix with chlorine and 50+ SPF sunscreen. The little ones squeal with excitement when the Cannonball Championship starts – biggest splash has bragging rights for at least a week!

The picnic-style lunch menu is rounded out with dad’s baked beans (it’s not a barbecue without them), hot dogs and burgers with a spread of fixins to make everyone happy, grilled vegetables, and a bowl of potato chips.

An ice cold watermelon is perfectly chilled and sliced into wedges piled high on a platter next to the salt shaker. We are a family divided: 1) my mother and I, who salt our watermelon before eating it and 2) everyone else.

No one’s perfect.

And just when you think you couldn’t – shouldn’t – eat one more bite, out comes a bowl of banana pudding and a baking sheet full of ice cream cones for dessert!

Is there another dessert that makes people as happy as eating ice cream in a cone? Adults relish in memories of childhood summers; the melody of the ice cream truck and camping out in the backyard seem much more recent than 20 years ago. And the kids giggle as they race to catch the dripping ice cream before it hits the patio. It’s the stuff that makes 30-somethings feel like teenage-somethings and cannonball into the deep end of the pool.

Nestlé® Drumstick® Lil’ Drums are one of my favorite summer treats. They’re smaller than the classic Drumstick – something that’s extremely important when we’re talking about desserts and bathing suits in the same sentence – but still have that signature chocolate-coated sugar cone. Do not stand between me and the Caramel Graham cone. With a drizzle of caramel sauce and graham cracker pieces on top of vanilla ice cream, it was love at first bite – try it, you’ll see. There are several new flavors, you can check them out here.

My husband typically shuns the Lil’ Drums and heads straight for the classic full-sized Drumstick.

Regardless of the flavor, anyone who doesn’t bite the bottom of the cone off first doesn’t get invited back.

I kid, I kid.

And now for the giveaway! Nestlé is kicking off the summer in a very fabulous way for one lucky reader with a $100 Walmart gift card and a Nestlé Drumstick prize package! To enter the giveaway, simply answer this question in the comments below: What is your favorite summer activity with your friends and family?

Giveaway Rules
1. No duplicate comments.
2. You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
– Leave a comment in response to the question “What is your favorite summer activity with your friends and family?”
– Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
– Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
– For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.
3. This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
4. The Official Rules are available here.
5. This sweepstakes runs from 5/14/2012 to 6/15/2012.

Be sure to visit the Nestlé Drumstick page on BlogHer.com, where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

This post was sponsored by BlogHer and Nestlé.

We met up with my friend Erica and her husband downtown to celebrate all things Texas craft beer (read: to drink beer outside on a beautiful day) at Texas Beer Festival a couple of weekends ago. Dozens of craft brews, many of them from Texas – every style for every taste, from the easy-to-drink “intro” Alamo Golden Ale that my Bud Light-drinkin’ baby brother would actually drink to a wildy fragrant Chai Porter that Erica and I decided would make a killer cupcake. And frosting! But, you know, maybe just not… beer

My husband seemed solidly unconvinced on the “cupcake + beer = successful bakery” business model.

Clearly, his glass was still half full.

If you’ve been around here for more than 5 minutes, you probably know that Jason and I are hobbyist craft brewers. We like to drink beer. We like to make beer. And we love to drink the beer that we’ve made.

Our latest project? I call her “Ruby Moon.” She’s a Belgian-style wit beer (the same style as Blue Moon, hence the awesomely creative name) that we infused with the zest and juice of Texas ruby red grapefruit.

Beer and ruby red grapefruit. They actually were kind of meant to be.

Our origins in craft brewing were very simple. We bottled our first wine the year before and wanted to do something a little different. Jason printed the description of a beer that he really liked from a brewery’s website, handed that piece of paper to the guy at our wine supply store, and 15 minutes later we had everything we needed to make beer. At home!

Jason’s favorite brew was our first, an agave wheat beer. My favorite brew is our latest, the Ruby. And the good ones in between: a Blue Moon knock-off, a Texas-style bock (Shawndabock!), and a honey wheat. But J loves his Agave Wheat. And I’m going to be hard pressed to find one I love as much as the Ruby.

And that’s coming from a margarita girl

Two things came out of this weekend: renewed interest for pushing the envelope on our next brew and 2) a wicked tan line. It’s a good thing that I bought 5 of those summery kimono dresses from Target. Because after forgetting to put sunblock on my chest, they’ll be the only things I wear for a while.

Interested in brewing your own beer? If you’re in the Houston area, DeFalco’s is our go-to for beer- and wine-making supplies. They were so nice and super helpful to the two dorks who walked in to their store 6 years ago and declared that we wanted to make wine. And their grain room smells like heaven. If heaven were a beer supply store.

I absolutely adore the strawberry + goat cheese combination. Sweet, juicy, in-season strawberries meet a creamy, tangy goat cheese. It’s a combination that knows no limits: appetizers, sandwiches, and even dessert.

Toss those strawberries with a good balsamic vinegar and peppery arugula, and pile it on some crusty French bread?

There’s a perfect balance, a combination of sweet and savory flavors, in each bite. Call it heavenly, call it perfection, or just call it lunch. But do set aside some of your strawberries this season to make a sandwich.

Strawberry Panini with Arugula and Goat Cheese

Lunch goes meatless with the sweet-savory combination of strawberries, balsamic, arugula, and goat cheese.

Ingredients

• Strawberries, hulled and sliced
• Drizzle of balsamic vinegar
• Handful of arugula
• Pinch of salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• Goat cheese, at room temp
• Loaf of crusty bread

Instructions

1. Preheat a grill pan or panini maker.
2. Place strawberries in a bowl, lightly drizzle with balsamic vinegar, and toss.
3. Split the loaf of bread in half and spread both sides with desired amount of goat cheese.
4. Top with strawberries, a pinch of salt, a couple grinds of black pepper, and a handful of arugula.
5. Top with the other half of the loaf and grill until golden brown and the goat cheese melts.
6. Serve hot. Warm. Or even cold as leftovers.

Notes

Yields: Servings vary

Source: Confections of a Foodie Bride

Estimated time: 15 minutes

This is the second recipe for peanut butter cup ice cream that you’ll find here on our blog. The first one is my favorite of the two – it’s absolutely divine. It’s a rich, chocolatey base studded with chunks of homemade peanut butter cup filling and chopped peanut butter cups.

How can you go wrong with that?!

My husband, however, is partial to this version: our favorite homemade vanilla ice cream swirled with peanut butter, fudge ripple, and chopped peanut butter cups.

And yet, our marriage endures

I’ll give him this – it’s my second favorite peanut butter ice cream But you can’t really go wrong with the chocolate & peanut butter combo!

Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

Vanilla bean ice cream swirled with peanut butter, fudge ripple, and chopped peanut butter cups.

Ingredients

• For the ice cream:
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 cups heavy cream, divided
• Pinch of salt
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1 scrapings from 1 vanilla bean)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 12 oz bag mini peanut butter cups, unwrapped and coarsely chopped
• For the fudge ripple:
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup water
• 6 Tbsp Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• For the peanut butter swirl:
• 1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
• 2-3 TBSP milk

Instructions

1. Warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup of cream, and salt in a medium sauce pan.
2. Pour the remaining cream into a large bowl and set a fine strainer on top.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks while slowly adding a couple ladles of the heated milk.
4. When the side of the bowl is warm to the touch, pour the yolk mixture into the sauce pan.
5. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula.
6. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream.
7. Add the vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste.
8. Stir occasionally until cool, and then transfer to the fridge for another 2-4 hours. (Setting the bowl in a sink with ice and cold water substantially speeds up the process.)
9. To make the fudge ripple, stir together the water, sugar, corn syrup and cocoa over medium heat until bubbles begin to form around the edges.
10. Let boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly, and then remove from heat.
11. Stir in vanilla.
12. Let cool and then store in a jar in the fridge (will keep for several weeks). The fudge ripple must be completely chilled to use.
13. Pour the chilled custard into your ice cream maker and freeze according to directions.
14. Whisk together the milk and peanut butter (the mixture might look a little separated but the final product freezes smoothly).
15. Add the chopped peanut butter cups and then let the mixer run another 1-2 minutes more (or fold them in manually).
16. Transfer 1/3 of the ice cream into a storage container.
17. Drizzle 2-3 Tbsp each of fudge ripple and peanut butter swirl over the top.
18. Repeat, with the next 1/3 of the ice cream and more fudge ripple and peanut butter swirl.
19. Transfer the last of the ice cream to the bowl, top with more fudge ripple and the remaining peanut butter, cover with a lid, and put in the freezer until completely firm.

Notes

Yields: 1+ quart

Adapted from The Perfect Scoop

Estimated time: 6 hours