Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger!

I'm neither a "Saturday Night Live" nor a John Belushi fan; but, how could I not think of the famous line when writing about cheeseburgers???

There is nothing spectacular about these burgers -- no secret seasoning mix or sauce, no list of 147 ingredients to buy for just the right tantalizing of your tastebuds. Make 'em any way you want to with your own special recipe. The beauty of these is in the aesthetics -- they're just cute!

So buy ground beef (turkey burgers don't have the same visual effect, though dark-colored vegetarian ones would), get some slices of American cheese, and have some fun! You can place lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and onions under the patties to oomph-up the nutritional content, and even serve 'em on whole wheat buns. But your kids won't care -- they just want to see jack-o-lantern cheeseburgers with funny faces.

One word of caution -- only put the cheese on the burgers just before serving. Cheese has this amazing tendency to melt. Really! I'm not kidding! So if you put the cheese on the hot burger patty too soon, you will serve plain ol' boring burgers instead of entertaining ones. Trust me, I learned this one the hard way ....

Jack-o-Lantern Cheeseburgers

Cook as many burger patties as you need, and place them onto buns.

For each one, prepare a slice of American cheese by taking a sharp knife and carefully cutting out a jack-o-lantern face. Stay as close to the center of the cheese slice as you can, and remember that simpler designs are more effective for clarity.

Place the cheese on top of the burger patty as close to serving as possible.