Some little girls grew up dreaming of princess gowns. They exclusively wore the pink section of their closet. They played house and had tea parties.
I was not one of those little girls.
I wanted to be a boy. More specifically, I wanted to be my brother.You see, Casey was my best friend. He taught me now to throw a jab-cross. He shared his mom-and-dad-can’t-know secrets – like his first ACDC CD. We ate massive amounts of junk food and played I-can-hit-you-harder – a game of trading increasingly harder punches until someone gives up. We didn’t know it then, but this would become one of the main reasons I was a successful basketball player. I’ve always been a bit of a bruiser on the court, hitting harder and taking more than anyone else.
While I am now very happy to be a pink-wearing skirt-twirling girl, I still love going on boy adventures with Casey. Last winter, I joined him and his buddies in Packwood, Washington for Late Buck (the last weekend of deer hunting season).
There was a lot of hiking, zero looks, and more than a foot of snow. By the end of each day, we were not only “buck less,” we were cold and hungry.
For dinner one night we made burgers. They weren’t your typical bun meets patty. These were for the ruff-and-tuff, fill-your-belly, warm-your-body crowd. Are you tuff enough?
Ruff and Tuff Burgers
Serves 4
1 lb sausage
1 lb ground beef
Worcestershire sauce, to taste
Garlic powder, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
½ pound bacon (8 bacon strips)
4 eggs
4 slices extra sharp cheddar
4 buns, toasted
Ketchup and mustard
1 large red onion, sautéed (or caramelized if you want to get fancy)
Pre-heat your BBQ.
Note – If gas is all you have, it will do. But, these burgers are designed to be cooked over charcoal.
Combine sausage and beef in a bowl. Season to taste with Worcestershire, garlic powder, and salt and pepper. Form four large patties.
Cook bacon in a skillet. Set bacon aside, reserving bacon fat in the skillet.
Put burgers on the BBQ and cook thoroughly.
Roughly 3 minutes before burgers are ready to pull, get bacon fat good and hot. Hard fry all four eggs.
Tear bacon into pieces. Top each cooked burger with ¼ of the bacon and one slice of the cheese, allowing cheese to melt.
Note – This is an important step. The cheese helps hold the bacon in place, giving you bacon goodness in every bite.
Coat buns with ketchup and mustard. Plop cooked burgers on top. Layer each with a fried egg. Top with onions.
Serve warm. Eat in big bites.
Recipe in print-friendly format
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Burgers “with the lot” in Australia always have cheese, fried egg, slice of beet, bacon and often a piece of pineapple. No human can eat one with two hands but we certainly try.
I love your burgers!
Maureen – I can’t wait to tell Casey we’re eating burgers “with the lot!” This weekend is opening weekend and these babies on the menu list. Your Australian terms always make me smile. Thank you!
They look and sound AMAZING! It sounds like you have a great relationship with your brother.
Thank you. He’s a punk (oops, did I say that?). But yes, I do. My family is amazing.
Only one of us remained “buckless”.
Thanks for the cool story and get ready to do some hiking this weekend….we’ze going deep.
Love ya.
Now those are my kind of burgers. How can you go wrong with all those different meats combined?? I especially love all of the melted cheese on top!
Thanks Kristen! They may be messy, but they’re delicious. Casey throws down.
LOVE these burgers; such a cute name and a great recipe!
I couldn’t resist on the name. It just seemed too perfect for a post about my brother. Glad you like it 😉