Sunday dinner: May Day edition, aka I declare grilling season officially open! Temperatures were in the 80s that weekend with not a cloud in the sky; perfect day to bust out the charcoal.

1. Turkey Burgers with Spiced Tomato Chutney and Cajun Grilled Onions (Real Simple, June 2009)
Homemade burgers are the best ever. I’ve also realized that mixing cheese into the patty, at least in this combination, is a lot more tasty than putting the cheese on top. The chili in the patty combined amazingly well with the spices on the onions and the cinnamon in the chutney to create a delicious, smoky-sweet flavor. Note to self: label random bags of leftover spices. At some point last year I was cooking a recipe that involved making my own spice mix, and I had a couple tablespoons left over, so I figured I would use it up on these onions. It turned out so damn good, but I have no idea what it was! Definitely some kind of mixture of chili powder, paprika, oregano, and salt. Maybe onion and garlic powder as well?…

2. Potato Salad with Bacon and Parsley (Real Simple, June 2009)
Fairly simple potato salad, though the Dijon and vinegar are a deviation from your standard creamy dressing. I think I still prefer creaminess and lots and lots of chives. The bacon for this recipe was cooked on the grill, since it was fired up anyway.

3. Strawberry Icebox Pie
The strawberry train continues! I ended up putting a whole stick of butter in the graham crust because it refused to stick together otherwise. I also replaced the cranberry juice with a handful of frozen cranberries from my Thanksgiving stash.

4. Raspberry Lemonade
My classic lemonade recipe with an added pint of mashed raspberries passed through a sieve. After the experience of a past lemonade batch ending up incredibly sour, I’ve learned to adjust the sugar by taste rather than rely on my previous ratios. I had wanted to try this with Meyer lemons, but as Murphy would have it, this was the week they were no longer in the store.