He was the treasure . . .

"Measure wealth not by the things you have,
but by the things you have for which you would not take money."
~author unknown

One day a little boy sat in the family sitting room twiddling his thumbs. It was raining outside and he was so very bored, not being able to go out and play like he usually did. His father was at work and his mother was busy in the kitchen. As he sat he looked up at the mantle over the fireplace. Sitting on the mantle, just out of the reach of his little hands sat a vase, one of his mother's dearest treasures. It had belonged to his Great Grandmother and his mother had told him now very special it was to her . . .

It was a pretty thing, all white porcelain and gilt trimmed with a beautiful rosebud border . . . and his little five year old hands itched to pick it up and see if the beautiful roses went all the way around to the back. The more he stared at it, the more he wondered . . . and before too long he had pulled a chair over next to the fireplace and was standing on it stretching his little hands up to touch it, not realizing of course, that a little boy's hands are often clumsy and not at all meant to hold delicate porcelain treasures. The vase fell to the stone floor in front of the fireplace and shattered into a million pieces . . .



He began to cry and was soon sobbing, each sob becoming louder and louder. Before too long his mother came running in from the kitchen, her footsteps echoing loudly and quickly down the hall and around the corner. As she entered the room, she stopped and looked at him, taking in what he had done . . .

The little boy sobbing, managed to get out the words . . . "I broke it . . . the vase . . . I broke it."

And then . . . his mother gave him a gift.



"Oh thank goodness!" She said with a look of relief, "Thank heaven's, I thought you were hurt!" And then she held him close to her tenderly in her arms, until his sobbing stopped.

In doing so, she let him know that he was the treasure . . . not the vase. As many years that have passed and however old that little boy has become, this is a gift he still carried in his heart . . . he was the treasure . . .



There is nothing I like more on a hot summer's day than a lovely burger, either cooked outside on the grill (doesn't the smell of a barbecue get your taste buds tingling!) or on a grill pan or skillet. Any way you choose to cook these delicious burgers you will be pleased. These are real winners! My Todd eats them with a knife and fork, and I suppose that just makes sense, as they are a real mouthful!



*Tasty Cheese and Bacon Burgers*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Delicious and moist beef burgers topped with a mixture of three lovely cheeses and sitting on a bed of shaved onions, lettuce, tomatoes and crisp bacon. What more could a person ask for??

1 pound of lean ground beef
1 fat clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
salt and black pepper to taste
8 slices of streaky bacon
4 ounces crumbled blue cheese
4 ounces cream cheese
4 slices medium cheddar cheese
4 TBS good quality mayonnaise (I use French mayonnaise)
1 medium onion, peeled and shaved
lettuce leaves
1 large tomato, thinly sliced
4 large burger buns, sliced in half and toasted

Combine the blue cheese and the cream cheese in a small bowl, mixing them together well. Set aside.

Mix together the ground beef, garlic and a little salt and pepper. Shape into four round, flat patties. Let sit for a few minutes for the flavours to melt together while you slice the onions and tomatoes.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Fry the bacon slices in the heated skillet until they are nicely crisped. Remove to some paper towelling to absorb some of the fat away. Keep warm while you cook the burgers. Cook the burgers in the same skillet, browning them well on each side and cooking them until they are done to your taste. Once they are cooked, top each with one fourth of the blue cheese mixture and lay a slice of the cheddar on top.

Spread the mayonnaise onto the bottom half of each toasted bun. Top each with two slices of bacon, a slice of tomato, some lettuce and the shaved onions, laying these ingredients on top of the bacon. When the cheese has melted on the burgers, carefully place one on top of each dressed bun bottom and then cover with the top halves of the buns. Serve immediately.



To see what I got up to next . . . pop on over to The English Kitchen. You won't be sorry you did.