Actual Delicious Umami Burger . . . MmmmmWith that mad cow only a few miles away from my very own home, one would think that burgers would be off the menu. However, when you take a look outside and the sun is shining, and summer is merely around the corner, it's time to bust out the grill. And what goes better on the grill than any other thing in the known universe? Burgers.

And that is why I've searched the Internets for the most amazing twists on the humble burger. So you can totally show off to your dinner guests this weekend.

Don't forget the fries!

Here are five unbelievably amazing ways to prepare your burger this weekend.

I love me some barbecue. Real barbecue -- the smoky, melting-off-the-bone kind of barbecue that comes from hours and hours on a flame. Not being a master BBQ griller myself I have to rely on my local restaurants. But every once in a while I wonder if I can just cheat a little and get that same flavor at home without the hours at the grill.

Why not try with hamburgers? Here are four simple ideas for giving your burgers that smoky, barbecue flavor -- just in time for the weekend! Hope yours is sunny and warm enough for grilling.

Labor Day may signal the inevitable end of summer, but we've still got a few good months of grilling and cookouts left to go. We're here to make sure you don't waste them by slathering bad BBQ sauce on perfectly good meat. That's why we embarked on a blind taste test of eight different supermarket BBQ sauces to see which one is the most flavorful and deserving of your ribs, chicken, and pork. As it turns out, there was one sauce in particular that completely blew all the other competitors away.

Any idea which one it could be?

Dare I say it? A backyard barbecue is great, but without equally great sides, even the best burger lacks luster. And if I’m going to be brutally honest, I have to admit to feeling a twinge of competitive pressure when I’m invited to a grilling shindig like my friend Holly’s legendary summer potlucks.

She’s got a backyard smoker and makes what she calls “Texas Crack,” aka bacon-wrapped jalapenos, along with a mountain of assorted meats, and leaves the rest of the cooking to us. With that kind of bounty, I feel the need to bring my A-game side dish. No bag-of-chips or liter-of-soda for me. I need to see people loading up their plate and saying “ooh!” And if it happens that I can count a few plates with more sides than meat? Well, that’s just barbecue sauce on the ribs, ladies.

Lucky you, you’re about to learn my three favorite take-along side dishes -- easy to make, easy to transport, and guaranteed to be a huge hit.

It's a sad fact: 8 out of 10 Americans are grilling without the proper equipment. Every day people are walking out into their backyards and trying to cook food outdoors in a completely half-assed fashion. It's a wonder they don't injure themselves, or set the house on fire, or that any food gets cooked at all.

Okay, I totally made up that statistic. Probably most of us have the basics -- but there are some key grilling tools that can make the difference between grilled hassle and grilled bliss. Take a gander at our checklist and see if there's something you could add to your own arsenal for deliciousness.

Here's a fun way to add an element of surprise to your backyard barbecue this summer. In addition to burgers, hot dogs, kebabs, and other traditional grilled meat and veggie dishes -- grill dessert! Your guests will never expect it. Plus, you'll already have the grill fired up and ready, so why not make the most of it? Here are five irresistible grilled dessert ideas to give you some sweet inspiration.

Thanks to the provenance of my last name, I come from a long, proud line of people who like to eat hunks of delicious, dripping shish kebab, accompanied by perfectly charred bell peppers and tomatoes, which must be cooked over a bed of charcoal that has been lovingly brought to the perfect heat by a beloved grandchild frantically waving half the Sunday Times with her stick-skinny arms at a conflagration that gradually dies down to a sensuously flickering glow. The final perfection is then served on a bed of buttery pilav.

Oh. My mouth’s watering. I miss you, Grandpa John!

Poor Grandpa’s spinning in his grave, though, because when the time came for me to grill, I bypassed the Hibachi and went for the easier gas barbecue variety. I shouldn't have been so intimidated by charcoal grills, though. Thanks to a few innovations, I can do things my grandpa’s way and ditch the tank.

Remember in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy's house lands in Oz and she walks out into a dazzling full-color world? That's how I've been feeling ever since I got my hands on Lourdes Castro's new cookbook Latin Grilling. According to Lourdes, what ties all Latin food together is that it's vibrant. Chilies, cilantro, guava, chocolate, plantains, mango, and mint -- that's just a starting list of the flavors waiting for your grill.

Lourdes is a cooking instructor who specializes in Latin food, and she's put together a cookbook that takes you to 10 different Latin-American countries. Keep reading for the recipe that has me drooling the most: Sugarcane-Skewered Shrimp With Coconut-Lime Glaze from Brazil!