We came up with these recipes while vacationing in the small town of McMinnville, Oregon. We rented a great house through AirBnB to escape the heat and the COVID-19 for the month of July and it’s been wonderful! Our yard has a 75 year-old Douglas Fir tree, a grape vine, rambunctious squirrels, and a nice fire pit in the center of it all surrounded by Adirondack chairs. So this month’s virtual Instagram Live cooking class will be a “Campfire Edition”, held on Saturday, July 4th at 10am, with everything cooked fireside on the Weber Grill. We hope to “see” you Saturday on our Candelaria Design Instagram.

Caprese Burger Ingredients

Makes 4 burgers

1 1/2 lbs ground sirloin beef

1—2 tbs Worcestershire

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

7 — 8oz ball fresh mozzarella sliced into eight 1/4-inch-thick slices, patted dry with paper towels

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup pesto

Olive oil for drizzling

4 Focaccia hamburger buns

2 medium tomatoes sliced into 1/4-inch-thick rounds

Fresh Basil leaves

Caprese Burger Preparation

• For the burgers: Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill.

• Combine the beef, Worcestershire, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Form the mixture into four, 4-inch-diameter patties, each about 3/4-inch thick.

• Grill for 5 minutes. Turn the burgers over and place a slice of mozzarella on top. Cook for about 5 minutes longer until the burgers are cooked through and the cheese is slightly melted.

• Allow the burgers to rest for 5 minutes.

• For the pesto mayonnaise, combine the mayonnaise and pesto in a small bowl until smooth.

• To assemble the burgers: Drizzle the cut side of the bread with olive oil and grill until lightly toasted, 1 to 2 minutes. Spread the pesto mayonnaise over the bottom halves of the grilled bread. Place the burgers on top and add 2 tomato slices and basil leaves. Add the top halves of the bread and serve.

Bacon S’mores Ingredients

Graham crackers

Marshmallows

Chocolate Bar 

Bacon

Preparation

• Break graham crackers in half. Break chocolate bar in half and center one square section on each of 2 graham cracker halves.

• Cook bacon strips on grill 3-5 minutes until desired texture.

• Roast marshmallow over the grill about 1 minute until desired char.

• Top each graham cracker half with your roasted marshmallow & 1/2 a bacon strip. Add other graham cracker half and press gently to sandwich.

• Enjoy!

Squirrel Tail Cocktail

2 shots Bourbon

1 shot Chambord Liqueur

1/4 shot Frangelico Liqueur

1 shot Club Soda

Few drops of Aromatic Bitters

1 blackberry

Pour all ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Shake and serve over ice. Garnish with a small Pine branch. Enjoy that Squirreltail!