Children really do the darnedest things, don’t they? Bob is excited after installing his new soft-serve ice cream machine, with grand plans of the Belcher kids running the soft-serve counter all summer long. Meanwhile, Linda struggles with her over-helping personality, which the kids have taken advantage of (paper writing, mask making, dream journaling).
On this day the kids take it too far, as Louise devises a plan to get them all out of Phys Ed class for the remainder of the year: Independent Study. Tina chimes in at the wrong moment, and suddenly the Belchers find themselves at the community pool with Linda leading their synchronized swimming class.
An impromptu grading by the school district — with a failing score sending the kids to summer school — leads to Bob taking over, a fake anthrax scare, and a doodie in the pool (a real one named Jezebel). Linda “dives” in in the knick of time, leading the crew through a routine and to a D average grade — and no summer school. Go Team Soft Serve!
Before we get to the Burger of the Day, let’s get to the episode rundown:
Episode number: S02E03
Next-door neighbor: Pookah Pagoda Pookah Shell Warehouse
Vermin Vendor: RattyShack
Burger of the Day: Shake Your Honeymaker
Review
The Shake Your Honeymaker burger is an 80/20 beef patty with dried thyme and marjoram mixed in, and sits on top of green lettuce and caramelized onions. Above beef level we find a dates/garlic/sherry vinegar mixture, along with feta cheese and a drizzle of honey. A DRIZZLE. And as always, we went with a brioche bun.
Folks, this is the burger. THE burger! Our previous best burger was A Good Manchego is Hard to Find, from Season 5. That burger came in with a rating of 4.5, but the Honeymaker topped it. Here’s how the previous King was taken down:
As noted in our review, the Manchego scored a triple-level savory, something we loved to death. The Honeymaker does the same, coming at us with caramelized onions, the burger, and the dates and honey toppings. But the Honeymaker also adds a complexity of bitterness and sharpness — the sherry vinegar and feta cheese cut the sweetness and give you an acidic finish with each bite.
Only sad part: the show calls for honey mustard, but the burger had none. I’d replace the honey with honey mustard — and add on more dates to the mix.
All of these ingredients work well together, like a ragtag group of kids doing a prenatal yoga routine in an empty public swimming pool.
Grade (out of 5)
nate N carey 