Summer in Minnesota means going to the lake. My family started heading to Lake Washburn in the 1950s, meeting up with the same group of people every year.  These days, a lot folks have moved out of state—from California to Tucson and Chicago—but every July, we reconvene for summertime shenanigans.    

I’ve been to Rome, New York City and the Antarctic Peninsula, but the lake is my favorite place in the world.  Maybe it’s the waterskiing (a sport I’ve recently discovered is right up there with menudo, as far as hangover cures go), or maybe it’s the late night bonfires and sing-alongs.  Or maybe it’s those long talks with family and friends who will never judge you… even if you fall in the lake fully-clothed with your digital camera in hand whilst relieving yourself during a moonlit boat cruise. There is just something about that place that makes me feel really freaking good.

And, of course, there is the food. It takes me a full month to recover from the amount of disgustingly delicious amount of food I consume in those five days.  Tube steaks, ribs, homemade pizzas, s’mores, potato salad, and a few too many beers leave me at least five pounds heavier than I was when I arrived.

This year, we started a new tradition. Our friend Linda orchestrated our own Build a Better Burger contest. The rules were fairly straight forward:  Bring all your grilling ammo to Cabin Six at 4pm, burgers must be prepared and quartered for judging by 5PM. That's bascially it. 

We had seven entries and needed four grills to fit all the patties.  As you can see, the equipment wasn't exactly professional grade, but hey, it's the cabin. Please note: Duct tape only holds the grill cover on it's not filled with fiery charcoals. In hindsight, this is painfully obvious. I was the one who learned that removing a piping hot grill cover wtih a giant beach towel is actually pretty difficult.

 

The Jucy Lucy concept (aka a burger stuffed with cheese) is one of the biggest 2009 culinary trends at Lake Washburn, with three of the seven burgers using a stuffed burger method. My friend Maggie and I (who served as my burger making teammate) were in the Jucy Lucy burger camp.  We opted for a beef burger with chopped onion and garlic, stuffed with cambozola bleu cheese (which melts like cheddar-- perfect for a Jucy Lucy), and finished with a garlic, paprika, salt, pepper and coffee rub (yes, coffee). 

 

In order to ensure each judge got cheese in their bite, our patties were enormous, with four piping hot cheese pockets per burger. Needless to say, I am pretty sure they weighed over a pound each. 

Our competition was stiff.  First, we had Barry Peterson of Roseville, Minn.  with his Lo-Cal Special.  This man's grilling skills are unparalled in the Brainerd Lakes area, and his burger ingredients were top-notch: an all-beef patty, filled with a bleu cheese/bacon mix. Once cooked, they were topped with a shredded lettuce and balsamic mixture.  Trust me, there was nothing lo-cal about this burger and Peterson was definitely the crowd favorite.

Other burgers included Linda Lundquist's Stuffed Sonoran Burger, which was grilled over true mesquite chips brought in from her hometown of Tucson, Ariz.  Jennifer Lundquist, also of Tucson, Ariz., took advantage of her mother's mesquite chips by sharing the grill. However, her H1N1 burger, filled with bacon, was a show-stopper all on its own.

 

Maggie and I are already planning next year’s burger to defend the title.  Any suggestions?  Oh, and if you want to make our burgers at your next grilling event, here is the winning recipe.

Molly and Maggie’s Bleu Ball Bacon Burger