In anticipation of the 4th of July, here’s an extra special list-o-links, all guaranteed to make your holiday weekend even more holidayier. Which is TOTALLY a word.
1) Five Guys – I love these hamburgers so much that when I asked a college friend if she had a Five Guys in her town and she said no, I looked at her with great sincerity and said, “Oh, I am so sorry.” Best burger and fries I’ve ever eaten.
And people, I am no stranger to the burger or the fries.
2) “Up” – OH MY WORD I LOVED IT. If I were still in graduate school I’d probably really dig into the symbolism and then write a critical essay or nine, but since I haven’t been in graduate school since the 90s, I’ll just sit here on my blog and say really profound things like OH MY WORD I LOVED IT. You’re welcome.
3) “The Next Food Network Star” – Sometimes it’s difficult to find somebody to root for in these types of shows, especially when people get all cutthroat and catty and whathaveyou. But I really, really like the cast of this season’s “Food Network Star,” and I’m really, really rooting for Debbie, Jamika and Melissa.
And FYI: Bob, one of the judges on the show, has a blog called, well, Bob’s Blog.
(Which makes me think of The Bob Loblaw Law Blog.)
(And if you get the Bob Loblaw reference without having to Google it, you need to know right here and now that we are FRIENDS FOR LIFE.)
4) Pioneer Woman’s Sundried Tomato Pasta Salad – I should probably clarify that I haven’t actually made this recipe, mainly because I know that I’m the only person in this house who would eat it. And while I do love a challenge, I don’t really think that I’m up to the task of singlehandedly taking down a pound of corkscrew pasta with a cup and a half of Parmesan cheese on top. So what I’ve done instead is to look at the recipe about three times a day and then think about how delicious it would be. It’s the late-30s version of sitting around and daydreaming about how awesome it would be if Jake Ryan showed up at your house in his Porsche.
5) Two more recipes I cannot wait to try: Missy’s Bread Pudding (the title of her post made me laugh out loud) and Veronica’s Caramel Buttermilk Cake.
And no kidding, when I just typed the words “caramel buttermilk cake,” I heard the words that have closed many an Anglican prayer in my head: thanks be to God.
Happy Wednesday, y’all!
I’m a huge fan of next food network star. I love that Melissa is just a “home” cook and not a chef and is kicking booty!
That show stresses me to no end _ I would crack under that kind of pressure.
Totally with you on Five Guys. We’re slated to get one later this year. Not soon enough for me.
The Bob Loblaw Law Blog was great, but I always hoped he would go international and write the Bob Loblaw Hezbollah Law Blog.
Oh! We are definitely friends for life!! Hubby & I just watched ALL 3 seasons.in.less.than.one.week!! There is no end to the brillance!
Thanks for the links…it’s always fun finding new places to browse. I have done a week of 4th of July traditions for kids and recipe ideas on my blog as well…it’s been fun. :)
Bob Loblaw and Jake Ryan in the same post? I feel like I have come home.
I’m so trying that pasta recipe. Thanks for reminding me that all I have done is drool over the recipe. Time to buy the ingredients.
I made the pasta recipe!!! It was so beautiful, I put a picture of it on facebook and all my friends who couldn’t make it to the church picnic were absolutely green with envy! My guys actually liked it, too – maybe you could give it a go!
Girl, you make me laugh. I can actually see the glowing of the angels as I read that. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
We are friends for life, and if I wasn’t so sleepy this early in the morning I’m sure I could come up with another witty reference, but I can’t.
Go: Melissa! The next Food Network Star who will give credibility to all the homecooking moms! (PS: What about Clean House: The Messiest House in America last night? The “winner” stormed off in her car before the Big Reveal was finished. I’m guessing if you have a house that gets to that award, you are probably a few bricks shy of a load anyway.)
I’m all about Melissa. It’s time we had a home cook on FoodTV! And thanks for Bob’s blog, great information. And what’s not to love about Five Guys! When they bring your fries out in a paper bag and the bag weighs 5 lbs… Enough said!
I am so in agreement with you about the movie UP! I haven’t laughed and cried while watching such a good movie in a long, long time!! Amen and amen!
You are absolutely right, recipes make me drool and dream much more that hot guys these days!!! They rarely disappoint like those so called hotties do either!!
When school starts, I’ll make that pasta salad and we can eat it together. No one would eat it at my house either! Jeremy might politely nibble but then I’d be left with a huge tub of pasta…
Ohhhhhh, I really want to make that sundried tomato pasta, too. But, like you, I am the ONLY one in my house who would eat it. It just looks sooooo good.
Oh, and love the Jake Ryan reference…
Well, then, we are friends for life. I loved Arrested Development.
Oh, how I wish y’all were close enough to come on over and have some with me!! Miss you!
Can we talk about 5 Guys for a second? I feel the need to. The burgers are most definitely “the bomb.” But, you know…those are frozen patties they put on their grill…and I can’t help but wonder if maybe we’re just eating those frozen patties from Sam’s Club. Ha ha! Care to comment or know anything more than I do? :-)
Loved UP! I want my parents to go see it. Love anything PW cooks and puts on her site. So thankful for all the photos so I can drool over it yet not consume all those glorious butter calories.
You’re a Southern woman – take that pasta salad to a potluck! :-)
I almost spit my tea out when you mentioned Bob Loblaw!!!!! It wasn’t until he has said his name 20 or so times on the show that I realized it sounded like “Blahblahblah.” HA!
Pioneer Woman should be on the Next Food Network Star and make the camera crew come to the Lodge and film the season there. What did you say about daydreaming? And I would be the only one eating the sun dried tomato pasta at my house too. I think I’ll resort to the Strawberry Shortcake Cake this weekend. It will be gone in a matter of seconds!
The kids have been begging to go see UP, so thanks for the heads up (that pun was pitiful!)
*high fives* Glad to be FRIENDS FOR LIFE. Loves some Bob Loblaw. Haha.
And also, caramel buttermilk cake? Is that the hallelujah chorus that i hear?
BooMama, you posted an a-MA-zing pasta recipe on the other website (why can’t I think of its name…starts with an “a”) that I make whenever I want to impress company. With the Kraft Caesar dressing, sundried tomatoes, black olives, red onions, sundried tomatoes and parmesan. To. Die. For. Also? Your chicken salad (with the cumin and pineapple) on croissants. I am always a hit when I serve that.
Oh, my goodness!!! I’m still laughing, LAUGHING about the “thanks be to God” line. I thought that I was the only one who loved caramel that much:)
My oldest son, who is 28 years old and a music teacher, gave the same approval rating of “Up”. Only his words were, “Oh, Mom, I laughed, I cried. It is one of the best movies I ever seen and I’d gladly go see it again. You’ve got to see it!”
I’m still chuckling over your humor. You have SO made my day!
Loved it too. . .little video montage at the beginning was painful but so PERFECT and my favorite line was from Dug. . .”I am hiding under your porch because I love you. . .”
I am so glad to know that we can be friends for life! I could not agree more with every single item in this post. Also, I do the same thing with PW’s pasta recipe! I’ve been salivating over it at work no less than 12 times a day.
Jake Ryan :)
JAKE RYAN.
Now I’m going to be distracted for the rest of the day.
Hmmm… Never heard of the Five Guys. Not that you need more reasons to pity me, but I’m also allergic to the potatoes.
The Next Food Network Star… Is it just me or is there an extra helping of D.R.A.M.A this season? I didn’t watch last season, but I just don’t remember all the drama. Well there was the one tough guy who boo hooed all the time, but other than that, I don’t recall such silliness. I’m rootin’ for your same girls. Melissa really sort of kicked it up a notch the past few weeks. I’d love to see her win it. She would definitely have a following!
Thanks for the link to Bob’s blog. In past seasons of Food Network Star, I’ve been incredibly frustrated by the incredible frustrating-ness of the contestants, leaving me with no one to root for because they all annoy me. But these season is definitely better. And your top three are mine as well.
I write/produce/host a twice-weekly trivia night, and one of my regular teams is named Bob Loblaw’s Law Blog. I giggle every time I say it, because I LURVE that show. Also, there’s another team named The Rural Jurors, from 30 Rock. That one’s harder to say.
Hmm…I was gonna wail about how I can’t make things like the pasta salad recipe because nobody in my house eats stuff like that, either. But commenter(sp?) Leslie had a great idea. Make it for 4th of July gathering? I am so there. I can have a taste and let everyone else eat up the rest.
Five Guys burger & fries and an Arrested Development marathon… now that’s a great date night(with my husband who looks a lot like Buster Bluth). The only problem I have with Five Guys is that they don’t serve milkshakes.
Bob Loblaw! Love it!
And I’m having trouble with Next Food Network Star. Usually I pick a favorite within the first couple of shows, but there seem to be more people I don’t like than people I like this time. But I do like Debbie, Jamika and Melissa.
I too have been staring at that PW recipe for the pasta. Even talked to husband to confirm that he would join me in eating it so it would not beckon me at all hours of the day to eat it for a week. That woman can cook!!!
i am going crazy waiting for your post on the last bachelorette episode!!
ME TOO!! I’ve stared at PW’s blog and that pasta for 2 days. I’ve decided I’m making it, but without the olives (can’t stand them…). Regardless, I’m doing it.
OH! And I can’t remember if I commented on the bacon post but at the MN State Fair, last year they introduced Chocolate Covered Bacon. In a word: heaven. : )
I am afraid I am gonna have to admit right here in front of God and half of Alabama that I would have no problem taking down a pound of corkscrew pasta with a cup and a half of Parmesan cheese on top.
By myself.
In one sitting.
I did a bacon post today in your honor. Enjoy!
Bob. The Tush Man.
We were excited about Five Guys coming to town this past winter until the local paper ran a review – with calorie counts. Mercy. I’d have to run six hours a day for six weeks to make up for one outing with that deliciousness.
Friends for life!
“You, Sir, are a mouthful!”
Love love love that show. I have the 3 seasons on DVD thanks to wonder-hubs’ Christmas-giving awesomeness.
I haven’t even read past that, cuz I just HAD to hop over and comment.
Oh my, we are friends for life! I was devastated when they ended that show… well… devastated might be too strong a word. I was extremely disappointed. Yes.
To this day, my hubby and I reference the one-armed man by telling our daughter, “And that’s why you don’t chew with your mouth open!” :) She’s two. I don’t think she sees the humor in it.
And by the way, I think UP is the best Pixar movie yet! SQUIRREL!!!!
Up is one of THE BEST movies I’ve seen in a very, very long time. The 3-D glasses are for hiding the tears. I hope Ice Age doesn’t bump it out of the box office.
Well, you could sure come to my house for Ree’s pasta salad because I am SO making that tomorrow. With Ina’s inclusion of the fresh motzarella. Yum! And without the olives. Yuck.
I love the Next Food Network Star, too, but I’m rooting for Melissa. She’s just so, well, like me. And I love her for it. But you’re right–they’re all pretty nice. They’ve gotten rid of the yuckys already.
If it’s bread pudding you like, here’s a fabulous recipe. Seriously. You will thank me. So, you’re welcome. :)
http://hillhang-out.blogspot.com/2009/06/key-lime-bread-pudding.html
OK, Five Guys is great – they just opened one here & I’m so excited. Totally in love with the home style fries! BUT, if you are ever in Mobile, I MUST take you to my favorite local burger joint – oh. my. word! That’s the best burger ever – I promise!
I am so excited about 5 guys!! We are getting one really soon,,,, the sign is up!! Yea!
I agree with Five Guy burgers – oh so yummy! HOWEVER, if you are ever in NYC you MUST eat a burger at shake shack – OH MY! BEST BURGER EVER, EVER, EVER! I want to fly to New York right now just to eat a burger there. http://www.shakeshack.com
My husband and I just ran through all seasons of Arrested Development online. My all time favorite moment is the brief shot of the portrait of the Milford School for Boys.
You just made my day. I clicked on the link for Five Guys.. never thinking there was one in a thousand miles and lo and behold one is opening 3.7 miles from my house soon!!!
I’ve heard about them from my “southern friends” and never ever thought they would open one here in the heart of the midwest. Woo Hoo!!!
Happy 4th
Thank you, thank you for that link to Veronica’s Caramel Buttermilk Cake! I’ve been reading “The Help”, and everytime it mentions “caramel cake”, my mouth would start to water! Now I can try to recreate it myself! :)
The first time I went to a Five Guys, I wrote a post on my blog that just said, “Dear Five Guys, I love you.”
I did have to google the Bob Loblaw reference, but only because I’ve just started watching Arrested Development this summer. I’ve gotten through season one and cannot wait to watch the rest of it! Oh, how I love Hulu!!
I love Five Guys. Just sayin’. And I made Pioneer Woman’s sundried tomato pasta salad for the 4th, thinking my husband would be the only one joining me. BOTH of my picky teenagers ate it (note: I served the olives on the side, or I’d have been alone) and it got thumbs up from the kids, and my husband and I are addicted. Try it!
Five Guys is my favorite too. We just got on in Colorado Springs.