Ever since moving to Gilroy from Southern California, life has been pretty quiet and lonely. What initially felt like a downside has turned out to be a blessing in disguise, igniting our imaginations and driving my siblings and I towards exciting ventures in self-improvement.
I’d like to share with you a little short story about how my sisters and I ended up attempting to cook an In-N-Out burger…
As the clock struck 7:30 PM on a Thursday evening in Gilroy, I woke up from one of the greatest naps of all time. But then again – all of my naps are the greatest naps of all time because who doesn’t love naps, right? Let’s face it, all naps are top-notch.
Meanwhile, my sisters are doing sister things in their rooms. As for dad? He’s just wrapped up a marathon session in the kitchen, meticulously perfecting his legendary short rib recipe while our one-year-old Shih Tzu played outside of our backyard.
Time flew by quick and it was already almost 10:00 PM. Finally emerging from their cozy retreats, my sisters and I found ourselves united by a sudden whim: a spontaneous late-night grocery trip to Walmart.
Little did we know, this simple decision would ignite a culinary adventure, sparking the idea to recreate the iconic flavors of an In-N-Out burger in our own kitchen.
Racing Against the Clock: Our Last-Minute Walmart Grocery Dash Before Closing
As the clock’s hands inched closer to 10:00 PM, a sense of urgency filled the air. My sisters had a sudden craving to cook up a storm for the week ahead, and with only a handful of minutes left on the clock, we found ourselves embarking on a grocery run.
I reached for the small sand timer I had ordered from AliExpress. Giving it a swift flip, I watched the grains of sand trickle down, marking the precious five minutes we had to prepare. “Five minutes to get ready,” I said, knowing that every second counted in our race against the ticking clock.
We scrambled to throw on our clothes and dashed out to our trusty family Toyota Camry. As I settled into the driver’s seat, I reached for the radio dial, tuning it to our favorite station. With a sense of purpose, we embarked on our mission, fully aware that time was not on our side.
With less than an hour at our disposal, the challenge was clear:
- navigate the aisles of the grocery store swiftly and efficiently.
- ensuring we snagged everything we wanted and needed before the clock ran out.
Finding a decent parking spot wasn’t too difficult, since Walmart was about to close. As we stepped through the sliding doors of Walmart, we had a mere 40 minutes to gather all the essentials. Racing against the ticking clock, we darted down each aisle, our eyes scanning shelves in a frantic search for the items on our list.
Spur-of-the-Moment Decision: Craving Homemade In-N-Out Burgers
Amidst the chaos of our last-minute shopping spree, a spontaneous idea took hold: why not try our hand at recreating the mouthwatering magic of an In-N-Out Burger? With a shared enthusiasm, we tossed the necessary ingredients into our cart, already envisioning the savory feast that awaited us the following day.
Diced Yellow Onions
We went shopping with a nearly full cart of groceries. With less than 20 minutes to spare, my sisters and I split up to grab the ingredients for In-N-Out. The first item on our cart were diced yellow onions. (We diced onions before and it wasn’t a great experience).
Angus Beef Steak Burger
Since the produce section was near the meat section, we picked out our patties. We got a pack of 4 for my dad, 2 sisters, and I.
Kraft’s Deli Deluxe American Cheese
Next were the cheese. We discussed which cheese In-N-Out uses. I did a quick Google search on my phone and learned that In-N-Out uses American cheese. We grabbed a pack of Kraft’s Deli Deluxe American Cheese.
Oroweat Potato Buns
My youngest sister picked out the buns. It wasn’t an exact replica of what In-N-Out uses, but it was decent enough.
Mezzetta Sweet Banana Peppers
We already had other condiments at home, so last on the list were banana peppers. We weren’t sure what the sweet banana peppers tasted like, but we grabbed it anyway with barely any time to research.
Now we’re on our way to the cash registered, hungry and starving to perfect this In-N-Out burger replica.
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