I had forgotten how burgers should taste

As planned, we drove the two hundred mile round trip to Sweetwater Local Foods Market on Saturday. The Market opened at 9:00 AM. We got there at 11:45 AM, and it looked like a storm had just swept through the place. We bought the last chicken; the last of the grass fed ground beef in bulk one-pound packages; the last four packages of beef patties, and the last pack of special snack sticks (a smoked meat product like a slim Jim). We bought organic lettuce, fair trade organic whole bean coffee, and a couple of cheeses made from raw, organic milk.

But our hope of filling our freezer was dashed; the Market has far greater demand than supply. This of course is a good thing, and I for one am happy we made the trip, despite the deep carbon footprint we left from going and coming without a full load.

Still, it was a heck of an experience to see how the Market had grown in just two years.

Yet the real experience was when we grilled the ground beef on Fathers' Day! Now, I've grilled a fair amount of food on the grill--from hot dogs to venison, and about everything in between. Burgers? I've grilled hundreds, maybe even a thousand or more. But I've never grilled one from grass fed beef until yesterday. Man, what an unusual experience.

First off, very little juice came bubbling up from the patty. It kind of just sat there on the grill and cooked without much sizzle. I had a hard time knowing when to turn the patties because they did not cook like an industrialized patty; they stayed plump, and they didn't curl up or shrink. Finally, I flipped them and there they were, beautifully seared and showing crisp, darkened lines from the hot grate.

I called for Rebecca to take a look at what I was doing because it fascinated me to experience such a difference in how they responded to grilling. She suggested I cut one open a bit to see what the inside looked like. I did and am glad I did because the burgers were done! Just the faintest hint of pink in the middle.

At the table, we ate the burgers and made unintelligible noises owing to an outstanding flavor that was but a very dim memory to me, until yesterday that is. "Best burgers we've had in our life," the teens opined. My Dad (79 years) said it took him back in time. My Mom just smiled and kept making noise.....

We'll be placing a large order that will hopefully be waiting for us next Saturday.

The price of safe food is not that much higher than the often-tainted industrialized stuff. We paid a buck apiece for the burger patties. The problem is, what a pain in the neck to access the stuff.