Drop Dead Diva
Fourth season premieres on LIFE on June 3, 2012

The Glee Project
Second season premieres on OXY on June 5, 2012

Rizzoli & Isles
Third season premieres on TNT on June 5, 2012

Royal Pains
Fourth season premieres on USA on June 6, 2012

True Blood
Fifth season premieres on HBO on June 10, 2012

What shows are you looking forward to watching this summer? Have a great weekend, everybody!

The suggested menu came from Chef Eric Lackey of Flamestone American Grill, who created the recipes on behalf of the Walmart Choice Steak Challenge. His rub for the steaks contains 11 separate ingredients, I spent a few minutes looking at the ingredient lists on premade rubs and chose McCormick GrillMates “Cowboy Rub”, which combines roasted chili pepper, crushed red pepper, cracked black pepper, brown mustard, cloves, coarse salt, garlic, coffee, onion, sugar, cocoa powder, tamarind, paprika, and hickory smoke flavor. I wish blogs had smell-0-vision so you could smell the aroma of this rub, it is incredible!

Chef Eric’s recipe called for coating the meat with the rub and then letting it sit in the fridge for 3-4 hours.  Chris wants a different kind of seasoning on two of the steaks, so I took the two smaller ones, peeled back the plastic on the black tray, coated both steaks with the rub and smoothed it out evenly with my hand, then flipped the tray upside down into a plastic storage container so I could coat the other sides. Here’s what they looked like after the first coat:

Chris grilled them over coals for about 5 minutes on each side, and after a brief rest on my plate while I anxiously waited for mine to cool down (and devoured an ear of sweet corn with butter and salt, omg so good), I started cutting in. People, it was the tenderest, juiciest steak I have ever had. Perfectly medium rare, deliciously seasoned and not too spicy on the outside, and just so, so good. I ate about 2/3 of one whole steak! I kept putting my fork down to take pictures as I ate because I couldn’t wait to share just how perfect it was

So with the $50 shopping card Walmart sent me, I bought two packages of New York Strips, two strips in each package, Kingsford charcoal, the Cowboy rub, ears of corn, deli salad, a container of mixed cut-up melon, a big sweet onion that we didn’t end up using, and two tomatoes that we also didn’t end up using. But I can now say with absolutely certainty that the USDA Choice New York Strip steaks sold at Walmart are tender, delicious, and worth every penny I’ll spend on them the next time I’m in the mood for steak!

Visit seeforyourself.walmart.com/steak to see a short video from Scott Neal, Walmart VP of Meat, get steak recipes, shop for spices and condiments, get grilling tips, and shop for grills and grilling supplies. Let me know if you’ve had Walmart’s USDA Choice steaks, what did you think?

Disclosure: Walmart provided me with a $50 shopping card, recipes, and information to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.

Welcome to Friday Fives, the weekly meme where I post a list of five of something. For this week’s edition, I’m thinking about the food we are going to eat on Memorial Day. It’s traditionally the first day of the new year when we fire up our outdoor grill and eat picnic-type foods.  These are the five foods we always have:

1. My All-American Burgers, topped with lettuce and fresh tomato slices, plus ketchup and mustard (recipe below)

2. Redskin potato salad bought at the deli counter

3. Boiled corn on the cob with butter and salt (there is something about eating corn on the cob outside that makes it taste even better!)

4. Watermelon slices

5. S’mores – we toast the marshmallows on rotating skewers I won from Hershey’s from a BlogHer contest, over the fire pit I won from Hershey’s the following year!

ALL-AMERICAN BURGERS – SERVES SIX

INGREDIENTS:

• 1.5 lb. ground beef
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tsp. water
• 1 tsp. seasoned salt
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• Optional – 6 slices American cheese singles, unwrapped
• 6 sandwich buns

PREPARATION:

• Prepare and heat grill. Combine all ingredients (except the sandwich buns of course!) in a large bowl and mix gently. Shape into six patties.

• Cook 4-6″ from coals 10-15 minutes until hamburgers are no longer pink in center, or they reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

• Top each burger with a slice of American cheese if desired, and close the lid of the grill or place a large saucepan lid over the burgers to help melt the cheese.

You can toast the sandwich buns on the grill just before serving, if you like. Serve with all the traditional fixings – we like mustard, ketchup, and sweet pickle relish!

What are your favorite foods to eat on Memorial Day if you celebrate it with a cookout?  Write a post on your blog, a link back to this post is greatly appreciated   No blog? No problem! Leave a comment on this post with your five favorite cookout foods.  Have a great weekend everybody!