Addenda

Honestly, you'd think my brain would work better than that.  In the previous blog today, which I tried to edit and can't seem to get there!!!!!! I meant to say "Friday Night Lights."  I really do know the difference between Saturday Night Live and Friday Night Lights!

There are a couple of other items I thought I would include, as long as I'm wasting print and space.

The new Whataburger, just down the road apiece, opened today.  I told my daughter that she can take me there for my birthday. The place is jampacked already. The sign out front has "One Nation Under God," and a row of flags is flapping away in our East Texas breeze.

Speaking of burgers: Wednesday's paper had a whole food section dedicated to EAST TEXAS' ULTIMATE BURGER. These people take their hamburgers seriously. Of course, DQ has its constant theme on TV every day, "That's what I like about Texas."  Those blizzards get more bizarre every day. Sonic is the other biggie in the burger field locally.

Anyhoo, the winner of the Burger favorite in the fast-food genre is Jucys, which got a 43% favorability. Burgers at home got second place and Smashburger came in third at 13%. Whataburger was way down the line with 5%, although, having had a Whataburger (pronounced waterburger), I think the place puts out an outstanding burger.

   There are burger places too numerous to mention, but the paper featured four "legendary" ones, reviewed by newspaper editorial staff.

    Where's Rufus Sports Bar uses a Hawaiian style bun, 1/2 pound of beef and plenty of topping options. You can build your own with just about anything in it. A favorite seems to be the Green Munster, with avocado, chopped jalapenos, mayo, lettuce, tomato, onion and muenster cheese.

   Daniel Boone's Grill and Tavern has a traditioal burger with a secret seasoning combo that the owner won't reveal. The meat is always fresh, brought in from Dallas. The bun is lightly toasted. Burgers are grilled or charbroiled. I hear it's a multi-napkin job.

   Chip's Burger Village offers a 1/2 pound burger on a toasted bun.  You can get a cheeseburger, chili cheeseburger, bacon cheeseburger of cheddar-jlapeno burger.

   The Butcher Shop in Longview is a full-service meat market. The buns are homemade. It has a fixings bar. Pile on as many toppings as you want.

   Then we are shown some make-it-at-home or tailgate burgers. The chorizo burger has chorizo sausage, ground beef and red wine. After the mix is grilled, add provolone cheese, fried onions, lettuce and chipotle mayo. Mm Mm.

   Buffalo turkey burgers have ground turkey, poultry seasoning, garlic, grill seasoning, scallions, celerly, veggie oil (for drizzling), butter and hot sauce.

   Super Spicy Sliders sound like winners. They consist of ground chuck, Stanley's hot BBQ sauce, jalalpenos, spicy taco seasoning, fresh cracked black pepper, slices of jalapeno-habanero cheddar, mayo, sriracha, spicy brown mustard, red onion, tomato green leaf lettuce and brioche rolls or slider buns.

   Want a substitute for ketchup? How about tomato jam? The ingredients are ripe tomatoes, lime juice, ginger, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, salt, jalapeno.

   There there's grilled green-onion mayonnaise with green onions or scallions, olive oil, salt and pepper, mayo, grated zest and juice of a lemon, chopped basil.

I haven't put in the amounts for the recipes.  You might ask me if there is one that sounds like you just can't do without it!

   Having mentioned previously about the four thick sections on high school football, I can't leave out that today's paper has the 2012 NFL Preview as well as all the Texas College Previews. Tony Romo looms large on the cover.

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Oh, did I forget the fireworks?  There is a fireworks stand every few blocks, I swear. There are almost as many fireworks stands as there are donut shops and Baptist churches - well, I exaggerate a little, but not much.  Buy one, get two free.  1/2 off fireworks.  Before every holiday under the sun, the fireworks stands are open and doing a land office business.  These Texas folks take every opportunity to celebrate large, loud and well-fed.  Yee Haaa!