Black & Blue Burgers with Onion Strings

Hello all. Dinner last night was a HUGE hit with the entire family. That almost NEVER happens. Wasn't anything to fancy, burgers and onion strings. Here is how I started.
2 pounds of ground sirloin, 1/2 C plain bread crumbs and 2 eggs. I mixed it all together and made my hamburger patties. I made them about 1 1/2" thick. Put season salt and ground black pepper on the and stuck them on the grill. I know most people put them on there and let them cook on one side and then on the other for a certain amount of time. I don't do that. I have to admit, I'm a flipper. I always make 1 burger that I can cut open and check to see if it's done. Took about 10 min. When I was done with the burgers, I put them on a bun, with some blue cheese, bacon (microwave kind) and then my home made onion straws. They were yummy.

The onion straws. I took 2 large yellow onions and one of my really good knifes and sliced them very thin. Then I took those slices and let them soak in buttermilk for an hour and a half. Then I made a mixture of 2 C flour, 1 T season Salt, 1 T black pepper and 2 T Cayenne pepper. I mixed it together really well. I use a large stock pot for heating up my oil. I don't have a thermometer, so I just put my stove top on 7 and let it heat. When I thought it was hot, I dropped in a spot of the butter milk and it started to sizzle a little bit and I knew it was ready. Took a small bunch of onions out of the buttermilk and coated them in the flour mixture. Then I dropped them into the oil. Cooked them until they were a golden color. Pulled them out of the oil and let them dry on a plate covered with napkins. They were so tasty. Loved the little kick the cayenne gave them. It's funny because my son will NOT eat onions. He will eat the breading off onion rings, but never the onion. Well, last night he ate the whole thing. I was so happy! Dinner was a HUGE hit here in the Heier house!
What am I going to do for dinner tonight? NOTHING! The family is taking me out for dinner for my birthday! Couldn't go last night, so we are doing it tonight. Cant wait. What is up for dinner this weekend? Dunno. I love to go through cook books and look at different things and then make it my own. I hope you enjoyed this and can try one of these recipes some day! Enjoy my friend!
Kathy!