Boston, MA

There’s something magical that happens this time of year in Boston. Once we dig ourselves out from our snow and ice covered hibernation and realize that it’s finally warm and STAYING warm, we just go crazy. It first starts off when we’re listening to NPR and we hear for the first time “40 degrees tomorrow.” Sure enough, tomorrow there will be guys walking around in shorts and T-shirts already. Now, I was born and raised in warm climates, so this is hilarious to see. Yeah, 40 is warm when compared to 20 degrees…but we gotta be real, it’s still not shorts weather. What happens when we hit 50 degrees? Oh man…that’s when girls in tank tops come out. When I talk to my mother in Florida and it’s 50 degrees down there, she turns the heat on in the house and puts on her “winter” coat. If it gets to 60 degrees here, people start sunbathing.

So, my point is that no one appreciates the change in seasons quite like Bostonians. We go a little nuts. The changes are so drastic that it’s hard to transition from one climate change to the other. Why, just a couple of weeks ago, I was sitting here in my office which is a converted sun room and had to do a double take. It had thunderstormed that morning, then the window on my left had bright sun streaming down and the window on my right was pouring rain. A literal example of the well-known phrase…”If you don’t like the weather in New England, just wait a minute.”

If you’re unlucky like me and don’t get to spend your summers on the Cape, (my *ahem* summer house in Chatham is being renovated [aka being put on stilts]), then suffering the summer in the city isn’t so bad. Yeah right…too bad I don’t have enough money to put gas in my private jet right now either. But I digress. Seriously, nothing wiles away the summer months like that good ol’ pastime of barbecuing. I just had my first one of the season last weekend, so let me share with you a fun little tip.

Mini-burgers are so hot right now. Ruby Tuesday’s got em. Match which is a trendy little restaurant lounge in Boston’s Back Bay has built their whole menu around the mini-burger (with a side of martinis). However, I was able to recreate the magic right in my own backyard. My friends were totally amazed with the teeny weeny burgers and asked how I got hamburger buns so small. The trick is to use plain ol’ dinner rolls! Yup, that easy. The hard part though is making the hamburger patties yourself since all the ready made ones are standard size. Benefiting from my experience, 6 pounds of ground beef makes approximately 60 patties if you make them dinner roll size. So, be prepared to play patty cake for a while. However, the comments you get from your friends is definitely worth the trouble! So have at it and happy grilling!

Boston, Match, Ruby Tuesdays, mini burgers, martinis, summer, spring, barbecue, barbeque, New England, weather, grilling