To usher in the barbequing season I got ambitious and decided to make my hamburgers from scratch rather than buy the frozen boxed kind from the grocery store. A box of eight costs roughly $1.12 per patty. I figure I can do it for less and they will taste just as good, if not better. So I bought 4 pounds of lean ground beef  for $17.23 and with all the ingredients, managed to squeeze out 16 patties. So that cost comes in at $1.07 per patty. Not bad. I think the two secret ingredients that make these hamburgers moist and tasty are the worcestershire sauce (shakey, shakey, wakey, wakey!) and the matzah meal–yes, matzah meal. For some reason it binds really well with the hamburger meat and eggs and doesn’t dry out the patty nor give it a strange bread-like flavour.

I have yet to throw them on the barbeque and do the REAL taste test with my kids. That comes later tonight. But in the meantime here’s the recipe:

4 lbs. lean ground beef

4 eggs

6 Tbsp. Lea & Perrin’s Worcestershire Sauce

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 Cup matzah meal (you can use bread crumbs if you like)

4 tsp. kosher salt

ground pepper (however much you like)

I think I can say with some confidence this past weekend was the first REAL weekend of Spring. And I say that because we spent more time outside than inside. It was absolutely glorious. Saturday was my “day off” from parenting duties, but hardly a day off. I decided to follow through with a purchase I’ve been wanting to make for some time, that being a very large scale planter for my front flagstone patio. The two plastic square planters flanking the front steps were serviceable but they were feeling a little insignificant so they’ve been relegated to the back deck for another gardening project. Planters are a great way to get creative without having the hassle of weeds and unpredicatable soil conditions. Planters are their own little microclimate, perfect for whatever style of garden tickles your fancy.

I found the planter of my dreams at HomeSense for a reasonable $59.99. It’s ceramic, which means it will be more high maintenance than the fibreglass kind, but definitely worth the hassle. It’s got a gorgeous irridescent copper glaze, which ties in perfectly with the front facade of the house. Rather than fill the entire pot with gravel and soil, I inverted a large plastic pot in the bottom and poured the soil in around it. Seeing as it’s still April, the garden centres didn’t have a whole lot of plant material to choose from just yet, so I’ve only just started to fill in the planter. Blue is my colour of choice for the planter this season. My centrepiece is a lovely blue hydrangea surrounded by periwinkle pansies. I took some decorative grasses and tied them into a little trellis above the hydrangea. The trellis will be more than just decorative; I’ve seeded a whole bunch of Heavenly Blue morning glories, and I’ll transplant these into the planter when they are mature. A lot of people choose pussywillows for the trellis feature, but rather than spend more money on something decorative, I’ll save that money for more plants.  I’m waiting to fill in the perimetre of the planter with a nice trailing vine, like ivy or potato vine. That should be available by the May long weekend. In the meantime every time I walk in and out of the house, I get to enjoy my handiwork.

Welcome to home-made.ca! A place for all things homemade. This is my first (albeit brief) post on this page. I have big dreams for this page, not the least of which is to show you all the great things that I like to make at home. That’s a catch-all for cooking, crafting, gardening, writing, my husband’s woodworking (my only contributions being the designs), and much, much more.

Ironically, I now have to go and make dinner for the children. So I’ll be back soon. –dorin