Here at The Ordinary, we are melting. The boys come down in the morning and throw themselves on the couch, their hot little arms and legs hanging off the edges of the furniture. They sit next together and melt into one another to become a languid needy lump of little boyishness, from which emanates demands for water and for the horrible sugary cereal we bought as a special treat. We’re in the middle of a heat wave and there’s no end in sight. The sidewalks are hot enough to cause blisters on bare feet, the streets are black and sticky, we’re all turning into wobbly mirages of our former selves. This summer is oddly like winter, in its cabin-fever inducing quality. I don’t mind so much, though. As with being snowed in, there’s something nice about finding ways around it – coming up with projects that take us from one cool place to another. Sitting very still and appreciating every slight breeze. And going to the creek!! This has been our summer of creeking. Sometimes we walk to the creek on the edge of town, sometimes we go farther afield, on creeking adventures. We take lunch, and we walk for a few hours in the shade, in cool water. Malcolm can swim in a few feet of water, and he’ll go along beside you like a sleek little otter, splashing and happy. Isaac walks slowly, his glowing little torso almost painfully beautiful with small sharp shoulder blades, xylophone ribs, and round belly. He fills his pockets with stones, which slows him down even more. He tells us he wants to live in mother nature, and so do we. These days glow like memory and anticipation. They feel like summer. And then I tripped on some sticks and slipped on some clay and dropped the camera in the water. Yup. “Lady graceful,” they call me. Sigh.

A while back we promised to try to make grillable burgers with roasted mushrooms. Yesterday, we did just that! They were super-tasty! We wanted to roast the mushrooms first, but we didn’t want to turn on the stove, the temperature being what it was. So we plugged the toaster oven into an outdoor socket and roasted them outside. Pretty clever, sis. Aside from roasted shallots and mushrooms, the burgers have white beans, pecans, and smoked gouda. They’re seasoned with sage, rosemary, smoked paprika, and a bit of tamari and marmite. They were slightly softer than the beet burgers, but they grilled up nice and brown on the outsides, and were very plump and juicy.

Here’s Jelly Roll Morton with Deep Creek

10 oz roasted mushrooms, prepared this way. (Cut them into very small pieces.) Be sure to include the shallots, garlic, sage and rosemary.
1 can white beans, rinsed and drained
2 slices whole wheat bread, ground into crumbs
1/2 cup pecans, ground
1 cup grated smoked gouda
1 t smoked paprika
1 t salt
1 t tamari
1/4 t marmite
lots of black pepper
pinch nutmeg

Olive oil to brush the burgers

Combine all of the ingredients in a big bowl. Using a potato masher and a fork, mash the beans till they’re mostly all smushed, and mix everything together. You can leave it as chunky as you like it, but you want it to be smashed up enough that you form a sticky sort of mush that can be formed into burgers.

Form them into burgers of whatever size you like. I made six. Set them in the fridge to chill for about an hour, or while you heat up your charcoals.

Before you grill them, brush them on both sides with olive oil. Turn them very carefully, as they’re a bit soft. If pieces start falling through the grill, it might be time to eat them!!