Labor Day Grill

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Ta Tonka Fromage Burgers

Grilled Sweet Corn

Creamy American Potato Salad

Glazed Carrots

Fudgy Brownies

The Ta Tonka Fromage is a family joke -- it's bison burgers with cheese. On a vacation in New Mexico, we learned that the Native American word for buffalo is Ta Tonka, so we celebrate that little nugget of knowledge each time I make the burgers. I mix a pound of bison meat with 1/2 of an onion, finely chopped, and splashes of ketchup, soy sauce and whatever steak sauce is kicking in the fridge. This mixture is shaped into patties, grilled and served with American cheese slices, because I'm the kind of food snob who only buys Kraft Singles, not the store brands. You'll find very few convenience foods and "cheese food" type ingredients in my home, but I like Kraft singles for superior meltability and kid-friendly packaging.

The potato salad is from America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook and it uses a technique that I wrote about for Greek potato salad - tossing the warm potato chunks in seasoned red wine vinegar. This was a very good potato salad, with the expected dollop of Dijon in the mayo, sliced, boiled eggs and chopped sweet pickles, not pickle relish. It was quite tasty and the recipe page shall be bookmarked.