Pizza, Parks, and Burgers

With Brian back in town, we started off with Aversano's, a delicious Italian restaurant in Sumner where he grew up. I wish I hadn't forgotten to take a picture, but this place is like stepping back in time. Somewhere between the cluttered decor of the 90's with eclectic walls covered in memorabilia and a hideout for the Italian mafia, this place overwhelms the senses with rich aromas, stained glass lighting, and trolley car booths. They offer kids coloring menus and crayons, which I used to create a cute pink dinosaur while we awaited our food. My pizza didn't last long nor did Brian's stromboli. The kids played a bit of musical food, but chicken and pasta all disappeared as well. While it wasn't cheap, the meal felt like reliving a celebration of Brian's childhood.

Our next stop took us to Loyalty Park where Brian regaled us with stories of scout meetings and band practices at a park located down the street from his high school. The kids love the spinning elements and the zip line. While we played, some folks grilled and the aromas made us hungry despite the large meal we just finished. We also enjoyed the much cooler temperatures where sitting outside in the middle of the day in July we didn't even break a sweat.

After that, we returned to the house to relax for a bit and let Brian settle in. As we contemplated dinner, those burgers at the park kept coming to mind, so we decided to recreate our own version. We went to Fred Meyer to play our own version of Guy's Grocery Games. We tried to find the ingredients to grill burgers with maximum flavor while minimizing our purchases. 

We divided and conquered. Brian and Troy located the meat, returning with 4 bacon cheese patties, 4 regular patties, and a free sample of some delicious crab meat. (Appetizer anyone!) Amyrlin picked out sweet hawaiian buns while Bailey and I searched for seasonings. We decided that Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ, some Guy Fieri garlic butter seasoning, and a cheap bottle of ketchup would do the trick. We rounded out the selection with some free mustard packets form the deli since only Brian wants mustard. We reconvened to pick out bags of chips, cheddar cheese slices, and a precut pack of veggies for the burgers. Brian grabbed a bag of charcoal and a lighter and we headed for the checkout.

With our purchases in hand we drove to Allan Yorke Park, another place from Brian's childhood that we visit regularly. We got lucky that a family leaving left us a nice covered picnic table next to an already warm grill. We quickly set up shop getting the charcoal going and prepping foil for the burgers. Brian manned the grill and the little kids headed for the playground. In no time at all, the most amazing smell emanated from the grill and we couldn't wait. We popped open the crab and ate the succulent pieces as an appetizer.

To assemble our burgers we rationed out the cheese, seasoned the meat liberally, toasted the buns, and customized each one for each person's tastes. The resulting burgers proved to be some of the best we have ever tasted. Something about cooking outside on a grill in a beautiful place with family just makes a meal all the more special. 

We returned home late, tired, smelling of smoke, and utterly satisfied. Everything about being together again just felt so good.