Turkey Burgers with Cranberry Mayonnaise

Summer has officially begun. One of our favorite summertime activities is swimming at the pool with Aunt Sheryl and Uncle Dale and eating burgers. One of our favorite burgers is a turkey burger jazzed up with apple and celery. Uncle Dale fired up the grill and cooked my special burgers and it was great. This is similar to a recipe that Rachel Ray published. We tweaked a few of the ingredients and put them on the outdoor grill. My favorite way to eat these is on toasted english muffins, but when we are grilling out, a toasted hamburger bun is great. By the way, the cranberry mayo is so good, I serve a straw with my burgers and cranberry mayo!

Turkey Burgers with Cranberry Mayonnaise

2 pounds White Meat Ground Turkey
2 Granny Smith Apple (chopped)
2 Ribs Celery (chopped)
2 Rounded Tablespoons Ground Sage
1 Teaspoon Salt
½ Teaspoon Black Pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Gently, shape into 6 patties. Grill over a medium fire until done.

To serve, place a cooked patty on a toasted hamburger bun or sourdough English muffin. Garnish with Cranberry Mayonnaise.

To prepare Cranberry Mayonnaise, mix 1 cup good quality mayo (I like Hellman’s) with 1 can jellied cranberry sauce.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Each week I receive a delivery of organic produce from Door to Door Organics KC. It is great, on Sunday, I receive an email telling me what will be in my order. On Friday, my order arrives. For the past two weeks, broccoli was included. So, I found a couple of recipes for Broccoli Cheddar Soup, tried them out and here is the best of the two. It is actually, a combination of several recipes. My whole family loved it. I doubled the recipe and only had one bowl left for lunch the next day. I served the soup with a loaf of crusty french bread - we love to dip our bread in our soup.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half-and-half
2 cups chicken stock or bouillon
1/2 pound fresh broccoli
1 cup carrots, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
8 ounces grated sharp cheddar


Saute onion in butter. Set aside. Cook melted butter and flour using a whisk over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir constantly and slowly add the half-and-half. Add the chicken stock whisking all the time. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the broccoli, carrots and onions. Cook over low heat until the veggies are tender for 20-25 minutes. Add salt and pepper. Put small batches in the blender and puree. Return to pot over low heat and add the grated cheese; stir until well blended. Stir in the nutmeg and serve.