Chocolate Covered… BACON?!

I can't decide if this is a good thing or just flat out disgusting! There seems to be a new fad growing in the food industry – adding bacon to just about anything. Yep, now bacon is a universal staple and no longer faithful to just eggs and toast. Bacon is ready to explore new territories: baked in brownies and cookies, and even dipped in chocolate. I've actually heard of a coffee house that adds bacon fat drippings to their coffee. Ironically, they're a Vegan restaurant, but I guess anyone can break the rules for some good ol' bacon lard.

If you're interested in why this makes sense to anyone check out this article on NPR. Even though our taste buds crave sweet and salty combinations, I not sure if I'm ready for bacon ice cream topped with chocolate chips.

-Jess

Image used from NPR article "Bacon Gets Its Just Desserts".

Happy Halloween!

So, I know I'm a day late, but I hope everyone had a wonderfully scary Halloween! After my first attempt to carve a pumpkin in ages, I finally finished up my little one. Quite successfully, if I might say so myself! The big one turned into a disaster. The walls were too thick and my small kitchen knives couldn't make it all the way through. So much for a cute cat carving! While I was scooping out all the insides, thinking how sticky all of this was I remembered something my mom and grandma used to do with me. Toasted pumpkin seeds! Now I was excited to scoop out the goo and squish through it to find all the hidden seeds. Pumpkin seed recipes have come along way from the ones we used to make with salt water and oil. I did some digging to find a recipe and came across 3 very unique ones on 101 Cookbooks: Sweet & Spicy Pumpkin Seeds, Curried Pumpkin Seeds, and Black Tea & Butter Pumpkin Seeds. Here are the recipes if you too are dying to make use of your leftover seeds:

Sweet & Spicy Pumpkin Seeds:

• 1 egg white
• 1/4 cup natural cane sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grained sea salt
• 1 cup fresh pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 375. In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the egg white, sugar, cayenne and salt. Add the pumpkin seeds and toss well. Drain off any excess egg white (using a strainer) and place seeds in a single layer across a baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until seeds are golden. Sprinkle with a bit more sugar and cayenne pepper when they come out of the oven. Taste and season with more salt if needed.

Makes one cup.

Curried Pumpkin Seeds:

• 1 egg white
• 2 teaspoon curry powder
• scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grained sea salt
• 1 cup fresh pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 375. In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the egg white, curry powder and salt. Add the pumpkin seeds and toss well. Drain off any excess egg white (using a strainer) and place seeds in a single layer across a baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until seeds are golden. Sprinkle with a bit more curry powder when they come out of the oven. Taste and season with more salt if needed.

Makes one cup.

Black Tea & Butter Pumpkin Seeds:

You can use many different types of tea here. I opted for a smoky black one, but you can go for one infused with other flavors, or even tisanes (I have a dried lime tea that I be would be interesting in this recipe). Choose a tea that is fragrant and has a pronounced flavor for best results.

• 1 teaspoon (black) tea
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grained sea salt
• 1 cup fresh pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 375. Using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder, grind the tea into a fine powder. Set aside. In a medium-sized bowl combine the butter and salt. Add the pumpkin seeds and toss well. Place seeds in a single layer across a baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until seeds are golden. Sprinkle with the ground tea. Taste and season with more salt if needed.

Makes one cup.

TIP: If you have time I do recommend soaking your pumpkin seeds in salt water over night, then letting them dry back out before following the recipe. Even on the sweet recipe you still want that complimentary "salty" taste. Sprinkling salt is just not the same.

I leave you with a great picture of our Halloween party this year!

-Jess

Simply sweet… and last minute!

I love my friends, I really do… but they plan everything LAST MINUTE! I’m an overboard planner. I know exactly when and where I going to do things and how much it’s going to cost and what to bring. I even have the weekend planned by Wed! So when I found out ON LABOR DAY, that we were invited to a party, I panicked! Now what am I going to do! Every store in town is closed on Labor Day, and I can’t be “that friend” that shows up with no food, and then pigs out on everyone else’s ! Hmmmm, what to do, what to do? I quickly remembered a recipe that I’d almost made several times for a quick circumstance just like this. I grabbed my trusty Betty Crocker cook book and opened it to the most basic desert recipe I could remember- Butterscotch Brownies. I was back in business! This recipe has all the basic ingredients that I always have in my house. Let’s just say I kept my reputation as “the awesome dessert girl” and got rave reviews from everyone at the party. I recommend keeping this delicious “back-up brownie” recipe for every last minute invite!

Butterscotch Brownie

• ¼ cup butter or stick margarine
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tbs. milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• ½ cup chopped nuts if desired
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt

Heat over to 350. Grease bottom and sides of square pan 8 x 8 x 2. Melt butter in 1 ½ quart saucepan over low heat; remove from heat. Stir in brown sugar, vanilla, milk and egg. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spread into pan. Bake about 25 min. or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes in pan on wire rack.

You can also add any toppings to it such as chocolate chips, nuts or candy pieces. I used chocolate chips on top, and then baked them so it all got gooey!

- Jess