Yeah, you heard me.
Hamburgers.
Not hot dogs, those tubes of meat pudding whose ingredients are better not known before you eat one. And these days, you really need to make sure your ground beef is as fresh as it can be, unless you are really comfortable eating the processed, packaged stuff.
Memorial Day has become, like nearly every other commercial holiday in America, a time to eat. I'm aware of the hypocrisy I'm about to commit, but I'll go ahead and get on the soapbox anyway. Memorial Day isn't a celebration; it's meant to be a day of reflection, a day to remember those who gave their lives for our country. It's like the Fourth of July Lite, now. All that's missing are the fireworks.
But if you're going to eat, then you might as well make sure that it's good. And personally, I can see having a cookout after spending a day at the cemeteries and memorials. It's quick, you're still outdoors, and it's more conducive to sharing stories and remembrances because it's so informal.
I plan to drive down to a veterans' memorial in Phoenix and take some pictures tomorrow, and then spend the day avoiding my oldest brother's in-laws, fleeing the scene, and taking refuge with my former choir director. I'm bringing sherbert to the brother's place, and a lemon cake and deviled eggs to my choir director. Gee, no favoritism here at all, eh?
Follow me over the Kos flower for a discussion of Memorial Day traditions and the recipe for excellent burgers.
Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868, by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, and the day itself was observed on May 30th. Prior to that, though, there were accounts of Southern ladies' organizations going to Confederate graves and decorating them--and there is still some controversy about where Memorial Day was first celebrated. The official location was named by Pres. Lyndon Johnson as Waterloo, NY, in 1966.
In 1915, a poet named Moina Michael wrote a response to "In Flanders Fields," the famous, poignant poem that begins,
In Flanders field, the poppies grow
Between the crosses, row on row
Moina Michael's answer to that was:
We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.
Ms. Michael started wearing a red poppy to commemorate the war dead in America, and sold poppies to her friends and neighbors in order to send money to needy servicemen. The idea spread to France, with the proceeds going to help war widows and orphans; by 1922, the VFW became the first veterans' organization to sell poppies.
Congress created the current 3-day holiday weekend in 1971, with the National Holiday Act. In 1999, Senator Daniel Inouye introduced a bill to return Memorial Day to May 30th; the bill was reintroduced in the House four months later, but remains in committee. The idea is to do away with the automatic 3-day weekend and have people truly focus on what Memorial Day really means, as many feel it's become more of a picnic holiday than a day of remembrance.
Did you know who places the little American flags on all 260,000+ gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery? It's the soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry, and they do it the Thursday before Memorial Day. These soldiers then patrol the grounds until after the holiday to make sure every flag remains standing where it's placed.
In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis started placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National cemetery as an annual Good Turn. They still do it today. In 1998, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts began placing candles at each of the 15,300 graves of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye's Heights, every Saturday before Memorial Day--the practice, still observed, is called the Luminaria Program.
Some towns even hold parades on Memorial Day. Does yours?
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I searched for a burger recipe that would incorporate something different, but delicious. I think I found it. It's called "The Best Umami Burger," umami being a Japanese loanword that means, "pleasant savory taste." There's an Umami Burger restaurant in Los Angeles, and the entire concept seems to be catching fire. This recipe comes from White On Rice Couple's cooking blog, and was borrowed from the couple's Vietnamese in-laws.
I love Asian cuisine. I love the flavors, the textures--God help me, I've eaten some things that I wouldn't ordinarily touch otherwise, drawn by the smell and captured by the taste. But this appealed to me because it demonstrated how a family not only embraced their new home, but adapted one of its signature dishes and made it something special.
Without further ado, here is "The Best Umami Burger."
Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef--try finding a store that will grind up 2 lbs of fresh chuck, or a place that sells organic beef.
1 1/2 Tbsp fish sauce (for more daring, savory depth, use 2 tablespoons--and you can find this at an Asian grocery or even in the Asian section of your grocery store)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
Hamburger buns
Condiments of your choice
1. In bowl, combine all ingredients together.
2. Allow to marinade for about 20 minutes.
3. Gently form meat into balls, then flatten into patties. Cook on a skillet or grill. (1/2" patties on a medium/high-heat grill will take about 3 minutes per side for medium rare--but remember to keep the meat thermometer handy!)
4. Toast the buns lightly. If you really want to raise the savory quotient, spread a little butter on the toasted buns, or spicy mayo.
5. Put burgers on buns, your buns on your favorite perch, and eat.