Chocolate Covered Bacon

I know Chocalate Covered Bacon sounds gross, but it is oddly delicous!  I have made these twice so far, once for my New Years Eve party, and once for supper club.  Both times they have been a big hit.  And who doesn't love bacon!

Final product.  Yummy!

Look at all this crispy bacon, ready to go!         Lined up, ready for the fridge to set.

Chocolate Covered Bacon
* adapted from Appetizers Magazine

Ingredients:
One 16 ounce package of thick cut bacon
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
One 12 ounce bag of semisweet chocalate chips
1/4 cup finely chopped cashews

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 375F.  Cut bacon strips into thirds and arrange on baking sheet in single layer.
2.  Sprinkle bacon lightly with brown sugar.  Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until bacon is crisp.  Transfer bacon to wire racks to cool (up to two hours).
3.  Melt chocalte in a small sauce pan over low heat until melted. While chocolate is melting line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4.  Dip bacon pieces halfway into melted chocolate, letting excess drip off.  Place onto parchement lined baking sheet.
5.  While chocale is still wet, sprinkle with chopped cashews.
6.  Chill until chocolate is set.

Notes:
-Dark or bittersweet chocolate may also be used.
-Chopped pistachios or almonds may also be used.
-Make sure to use a use baking sheet with a lip on it, otherwise you will end up with bacon grease all over you oven!
-Finished product may be stored up to three days in refrigde, in an airtight container for up to three days.
-If you have a double boiler or fondue pot use that to melt the chocolate.  I have a Melted Bliss chocolate melting pot.  Out of all my kitchen gadgets or tools it is the best $5.00 I have ever spent!  I actually use it all the time!

Fancy Brownie Dessert

In order to save money my husband and I have been religious about bringing our lunches to work.  To make brown bagging it a little more tolerable on Sundays I try to bake cupcakes or brownies.  That way we can have a nice treat in out lunches.  As you can imagine we end up with some extra.  So here is a fancy little dessert to make with the extras!

 

Fancy Brownie Dessert

* from my own brain.

Ingredients:

Prepared brownies crumbled into pieces, but not crumbs

French vanilla ice cream

Sliced fresh strawberries

Chocolate syrup

Directions:
1. Break up brownies into pieces, but not crumbs.

2.  Simply layer the brownie pieces, strawberries and ice cream in a glass dish.

3.  Top with chocolate syrup.

4.  Enjoy!

Notes:
-You can any use fresh fruit you like, raspberries or cherries would be good too.
-I really love to use Bailey's ice cream in this recipe.  It is so easy to make.  Soften (don't melt) 1/2 gallon of french vanilla ice cream and add 1/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream.  Use a stand mixer, or handheld beater to combine and smooth.  Then place in a Tupperware to re-freeze.

TexMex Pork

I was starting to get a little sick of chicken and beef all the time.  I was looking for some new pork recipes and I stumbled upon this stunner!  This is one of my new favorites!  It is so quick and easy, and healthy to boot!

TexMex Pork
* adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients:
1 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 3/4" cubes
1 1/2 cups refrigerated fresh salsa
2 cups hot, cooked long grain rice
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup cubed avocado
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions: 
1.  Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Spray pan with cooking spray, add pork to pan, and sprinkle with the salt and pepper.  Saute until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. 
2.  Add salsa and water to pan, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened.
3.  Serve pork mixture over rice, top with sour cream and avocado.

Notes:
-Don't skimp on the salsa!  This is were your flavor is coming from, so you want to get good quality fresh salsa.

"Our Body: The Universe Within"

I am big fan of the International Museum of Surgical Science.  They are a lot of neat stuff there, including one of the last iron lungs! There are also one of the few remaining mansions on Lake Shore Drive, and the only one open to the public.   So imagine how excited I was when I got 50% tickets for their new exhibit "Our Body: The Universe Within."

Well we went and to be honest it wasn't all that great.  The individual exhibits weren't that interesting, and the craftsmanship appeared to be poor.  I am sure it is a painstaking long process to preserve the bodies in a such a fashion, but it seemed like the creator rushed through it.  Even the support structures were  subpar; PVC cut unevenly and missing digits.

Gunther von Hagens' Body Worlds is much better.  I have seen it twice already and I am planning on seeing when it comes back to the Museum of Science and Industry this spring.  Von Hagens' work is much better, it really gives a new prespective on the human body.

The Cake Ball Experience

Cake Balls are quite the fad nowadays, they are everywhere! You can even get a book that is all about cake balls.  I will admit a lot of them and awlfully cute.

I have been intrigued by them for some time and I have wanted to try them out.  They just sounded so gross.  Mashed up cake, mixed with icing, dunked into a candy coating, then rolled in sprinkles?  Talk about sugar overload!  Recently a friend asked me to come over and help make some cake ball pops for her niece's first birthday, so naturally I jumped at the chance.

It took us three hours to make 50 cake ball pops, not including baking the cake!  These little suckers were very labor intensive, a two woman job minimum.  And they tasted just as overly sweet as I had expected!  The cake itself had a weird, "already been chewed" texture to it as well.

While they did end up looking cute, in my opinion they weren't worth the effort.    Mini-cupcakes are just as cute and taste way better!

Chicken Pot Pie

This is one of my husband's favorite dinners.  So I figured what better recipe to be my first blog post!  This pot pie is much easier to make than it looks.  Plus it still tastes great microwaved the next day!

Chicken Pot Pie
* adapted from Pillsbury.com

 Ingredients:

1 box (15oz) refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 3/4 chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 cups cut into small pieces cooked chicken. (I use two large chicken breasts)
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed

Directions:
1.  Heat oven to 425F.  Place one pie crust in bottom of glass pie pan.  Press into bottom and up along sides.
2.  In 2-quart saucepan melt butter over medium heat.  Add onion, cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until onion is tender.
3.  Stir in flour, salt and pepper until well blended.
4.  Gradually stir in milk and broth cooking and stirring, until thick and bubbly.
5. Stir in chicken and veggies, remove from heat.  Spoon mixture into crust lined pan.
6.  Top with second crust, seal edge.  Cut slits in top of crust to vent.
7.  Bake 30-40 minutes or until crust in golden brown.  During last 15-20 minutes of baking, cover edges with strips of foil to prevent excessive browning.  Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Notes:
-To seal the pie crust press the tines of a fork into the edge.  Make sure to overlap.
-Until you get the hang of sealing the pie it is a good idea to put a piece of foil or a baking sheet on the rack below your pie to catch drips.