burger patty party at the beach

It is important to nicely note that before I fell so incredibly hard for my dear boyfriend, I was a vegetarian for 8 years! My first burger after over a decade's time was homemade and glorious from my dear B, and have to admit, I was a bit spoiled right off the bat from his desirably concocted, bodacious all-beef.

Two years now since that no-brainer of an experience, I obsess oh-so-heavily over trying to snag the best burger bites, always craving to chow down on the most devouring up-to-date. Um, I even have the Dressing on the Side t-shirt saying so!

Appropriately-so, the last few days we skipped off to the beach to honor our two years together, which in all the glory of our traditions, we prepared our own pleasurable patties and as seen above, I documented our delicious feat through the flames, frizzled onions, friendly-smears of cheese and of course, our face-shoving success!

caffeination cue: coffee-rubbed all-beef burgers

There's something comforting 'bout sharing your food-obsessed life with food-obsessed people. Not that I don't value introducing my inexperienced comrades to a surprising platter of balut or tender heap of veal cheeks, but I do love how some people just get it.

My best friend called a few weeks back while paging through the July issue of Bon Appetit to tell me that we must make the coffee-rubbed burgers. Simple, yet hopping with my daily go-to staple, there was no doubt that this transformed barbecued patty would now be my idea of all-beef perfection.

Coffee-Rubbed Cheeseburgers
Makes 8

Ingredients:
8 slices applewood-smoked bacon
1 pound ground chuck
8 slices smoked provolone
8 potato-bread hamburger

Begin by frying your slaps of applewood bacon. Being health-conscious girls, after preparing the crispy bacon and allowing the grease to soak into paper towels, we removed a large majority of the fat pieces (sorry, we're terrible).

Prepare the coffee rub and sprinkle 1 teaspoon on each patty. (We sprinkled a teaspoon on each side for a more accented java flavor.)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon freshly ground coffee
2 teaspoons (packed) golden brown sugar
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Preheat stove top or preferably, a grill, at medium heat and begin barbecuing the bold beef. Each burger will take about four minutes, each side, to show the charring affect. Add two slices of bacon per round; coat each with one slice of smoked provolone. Remove once gooey and gorgeous, and place on a toasted potato bun. Pair with your favorite complementing condiments, including a dollop of a decent barbecue sauce. (BA suggests their Texas Barbecue Sauce.)

Now, in perfect company and caffeination, chowdown.