Lunch Plans, Burger Battles and What Will I Make for Dinner?

I'm quite bummed - the Wild are no longer in the hunt for the playoffs, having lost last night to the Golden Knights of Las Vegas 3-2. I watched the highlights on my phone this morning. There were a lot of really good shots, some great goaltending from both sides, but at the end, we lost. DH will be depressed all day, and many others here in the "State of Hockey" will be. Maybe when they change the name of the arena in a few months, the new name will signal a new beginning for the Wild. I'm still a fan, but I'm one of thousands of disappointed fans and I'm afraid we might lose some key players over the off-season. 

I live in what's affectionately called the 
"State of Hockey". We take our ice hockey 
VERY seriously up here in the Frozen 
Northlands. The fact that we've NEVER won 
the Stanley Cup is a sore spot for all of 
us who love the sport. *sigh*

I'm meeting my oldest niece for lunch today. I had some ideas I wanted to bounce off her and I also just wanted to catch up a bit. We see each other at family events, of course, but family events in my family are like meetings of a small nation. Although my generation is represented by three people - my sister-in-law, my husband and myself, the next generation (her children) numbered eight, and they are almost all married with kids of their own now. Like I said, a small nation when we get together for family celebrations. It's impossible to actually carry on a conversation during those times, so since I had some things to bounce off her, I thought meeting my niece for lunch would be a wise course of action. 

The restaurant is one of two known for what's called 
the "Juicy Lucy" burger. A hamburger with melted 
cheese in the middle of the meat patty. When I was still 
eating dairy, I considered them quite tasty. I'm sure 
there will be other options for me today that will 
leave out the cheese. 

We're meeting closer to her end of the Cities, but since it's May, that's not a problem. I'm not sure I'd like to do the drive in the middle of Winter, but when there's no snow on the ground, it's not a issue. We're meeting at Lucy's Burgers - home of the Juicy Lucy burger. Of course there are other things on the menu as well, but it's their Juicy Lucy that has made their fame. They're in constant competition with Matt's Burgers, each arguing that they came up with the idea of a "Juice Lucy" first. It's rather like the hare and the tortoise - they probably both came up with the idea at about the same time, and they're both renowned for it in their respective areas. 

I've had a Jucy Lucy from Matt's Bar in Minneapolis, and 
the other place in contention is called the 5-8 Club, but in 
St Paul, the clear winner is Lucy's Burgers. It's a bit of a 
shame that I'm not eating dairy any more, I'd love to try it 
here and see what I think about their version of this classic. 

I need to think about what I want to make for my dinners for the next few days. I haven't really thought much about it, but my side of the refrigerator is looking a bit sparse. I won't have a lot of time to cook, so I have to be very aware of my time and my requirements. At worst, I can quickly bake some chicken, I have two pounds of bacon that needs to be fried up and crumbled, and I'll have to check my freezer to see what I might have there (under the crap that DH keeps putting on MY little section of the larger drawer). Well, I'm off and running. Have an excellent Friday and I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up the week. Be kind, have fun, and Slava Ukraini.