Count On The Counter

Bria has been a tad under the weather the last few days (cutting teeth will do that to a gal), so my blogging has been a little slack. Last night, when I should have been working, I ended up watching this episode of 16 and Pregnant on mtv.com and cried my eyes out. Priorities, people. It was all thanks to my pal Elisa who told me about the episode. And, a fantastic time at lunch yesterday was also thanks to Elisa. We ventured to The Counter for lunch which sparked the following:

If I could eat out for every meal of the day, have endless finances to do so, and a stomach that stretched like the waistband of maternity pants (and didn't care about it either), I would choose the Counter for lunch. Clearly, I'm behind on the trend. My sister Amy, who lives in the Bay Area, has been telling me about The Counter for years. Oprah loves it; every major city in the U.S. loves it; your dog probably loves it. But it's fairly new to Utah. In case you are like me and are new to it as well, it's a burger joint. They give you a little sheet with all your burger options, and you check and circle and mark to your hearts content to create Your Perfect Burger. I happen to love burgers. Seriously. Love. Burgers. The first time, I created a fairly classic cheeseburger: 1/3 lb. beef patty (weighed after cooking), tillamook cheddar, lettuce blend (no iceberg in sight!), bermuda red onions, tomatoes (to pull off for Bria to eat), and mayonnaise. Let me tell you. Amazing. And when I went yesterday, I decided to go the same route, except I swapped in a veggie patty for the beef. The veggie patty was pretty awesome. It didn't look like a completely foreign mass, which I appreciated. There were visible and whole black beans and corn kernels, which made me giddy. But one beef (ha) I always have with veggie patties is the texture. I like it to hold its shape a little better. It did fall apart a little too easily, but that was my only complaint. I'll probably go back to beef next time.
Also, the sweet potato fries. Sometimes sweet potatoes give me the willies. I don't know. Sweet vegetables make me gag sometimes (like butternut squash). But these sweet potato fries will not make you gag, my friends. They might even make you cry with joy. Plus, they are served with a horseradish mayonnaise dipping sauce, which is like a modern and hip fry sauce. Oh so good. I much prefer the sweet potatoes to the regular fries at The Counter.
And lastly, Elisa and I idulged ourselves on shakes. She had chocolate; I had strawberry. What a fine choice, indeed. It was so big, I didn't even finish-- and I always finish. In fact, I didn't finish my burger or the fries either. It's so much food. Which I really don't mind.
So it's probably good Sam isn't here right now. We can convince each other entirely too easily that we should eat out, and then we might end up at The Counter every day. Not that I would mind on an emotional level, but apparently it's not healthy or financially responsible to eat like that every day or something. Whatever.