Girls Night Thursdays!

The past month Nick and I decided to host "Girls Night" at our house (it really was largely Nick's idea...) since our friend Stephanie is often home alone due to the fact that her hubby works weird hours.  So we looked at our schedule & decided Thursday was really the only night it might be feasible to have her over... and since Steph & I both enjoy CW programs on Thursday evenings, the concept evolved into "TV night," and we decided to invite other friends who often find themselves alone in the evenings.

Anyway - we first thought to take turns ordering pizzas, but the last few weeks I've decided I'd really rather just cook something.  I love to cook, anyway, and this gives me an excuse to try more recipes, and make sure the groceries I *do* buy don't go to waste.  We can always do pizza again if I'm too tired to cook.  :)

Last night, there was no new TV on to watch, so we decided to play some Rock Band (which is always a big crowd pleaser, even if I'd really rather just watch - let Nick have some fun for a change).  I announced the day before that I would grill gourmet burgers.

So I took about a pound or so of ground beef, mixed it with some minced garlic & seasoned salt, and formed it into patties - whilst baking 8-10 pieces of bacon on foil in a hot oven.  I then grilled the burgers outside (charcoal grill) for about 7 min/side.  When I brought the (mostly done) burgers in, I put them on the cookie sheet I'd used for the bacon and topped each burger w/2 slices of bacon & a sprinkling of bleu cheese (folded each bacon slice in half, and put the cheese between the bacon slices) - then put the whole shebang in the oven again (which I'd left on) to finish cooking through, and melt the cheese.  I toasted the burger buns out on the grill while the cheese was melting.

I had also sauteed a large pile of button mushrooms in bacon fat on the stovetop (drained from the foil after the bacon came out of the oven initially) and served the bleu cheese bacon burgers with sliced tomato, fresh baby spinach leaves, and the sauteed mushrooms.  I also put a little stoneground mustard on my bun. 

The burgers were soooooooooooo good.  I wish I had a pic to share.

Oh, and Troy came by to Rock with us for a couple hours before he had to go in to work, so Nick had someone "manly" to talk to for a change.  ;)  A great time was had by all.  In (maybe) 2 weeks, we're gonna have a BYOB party (bring your own *bacon*) @ Steph's place.  I said I'd candy some bacon with brown sugar for the occasion... I think there are plans for chocolate-covered bacon... bacon martinis... bacon cupcakes... & several other artery-clogging treats...