Honey Pepper Bacon Pops

Everyone loves bacon, right?  Every time I host a party, anything wrapped in bacon tends to be my biggest hit.  Even the bigger flops are easily ignored when there's bacon involved.  It's like the magical cure-all at a party.

Even more so when it's just bacon.  ON A STICK.

That's right, kids.  Who needs cake pops when you can have honey pepper bacon pops?!

Ingredients:
24 mini-skewers (about 4", but bigger than a toothpick)
1/2 C honey
1 T soy sauce
2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
16 oz thick cut bacon (cut in half)

Directions:
1. Take pre-cut bacon and lay on a lined broiler sheet.
2. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.
3. While that is cooking, combine honey, soy sauce, five spice, and pepper until smooth and thin.
4. Remove bacon from oven, and skewer the bacon.  Brush both sides of the skewer with the honey  mixture.
5. Bake for 5 more minutes, until nicely crisp.  Remove and serve warm.

Don't mind the darkest edges.  We reheat them in the oven a bit too long.  Still tasted great, though!

Thirsty Thursday: Strawberry Mint Julep

 Today's drink actually takes some planning.

I apologize for that, but I do promise that your outcome will be amazing.  I picked up the original recipe from Cookie and Kate, but I thought it was a little vague.

As I made it, it turns out that mine will be a bit vague as well.

I made 8 (16oz) drinks, plus 2 non-alcoholic drinks.  My measurements will reflect as such.

 First off, the strawberry infused bourbon.

I had Jack Daniels in the house, so it was whiskey instead.

Rough estimate of ingredient ratio:
1 cup of whiskey
1/2 pound of strawberries

I started with about 2 cups (JD) and around 1 pound of strawberries.  I basically quartered my strawberries (cut off the stems), and kept throwing them into the bottle until the liquor was completely filled with strawberries.

From there, you put the bottle in a dark space (I chose my pantry) for 3-7 days.  Every day, give the bottle a bottom over top rotation to readjust the strawberries and mix up the liquor.  You don't have to shake it, just one spin will help the infusion process.

Mint Julep Ingredients for one 16oz jar:
7 mint leaves
1-2 tables spoons of honey
1/4 c of strawberry infused whiskey/bourbon (more if you don't want to add Sprite)
ice (to fill the entire glass)
about 1/2 c of Sprite (or not if you're more of a straight up person)

* For my jars, I used both wide mouth and regular jars.  I just used everything I had in stock.

 Directions (*skip to the very bottom for a non-alcoholic idea):
1. Add mint leaves to your glasses.  For my glasses, I had a variety of mint leaf sizes, so I added the biggest leaves first, then the mediums, then the small leaves last.  Not because I'm weird, but I wanted to make sure that the quality and quantity of the mint was the same across all the glasses.
2. Cover mint with honey.  I just poured it in, but I basically aimed to cover the entire bottom of the jar and all the leaves with honey.
3. Muddle the mint in the honey.  If you have fancy contraptions, go ahead and use them.  I had a hand held mixer's beater.  I just used that, muddling the mint until it was slightly broken down in the honey.
4. Strain the strawberries from the liquor.  I used a cheese cloth, but you can use any strainer that will keep out the strawberry particles.
5. Measure out the appropriate level of liquor and add to your glasses.
6. Stir the liquor, mint, and honey together.  This will sweeten the beverage and also insure you don't have a huge clump of honey at the bottom of your glass.

7. Now, fill up your glass with ice.  I wanted a nice cold beverage, so I filled it as high as possible.  Use your own discretion.
8. Top off glass with Sprite, and give it a final stir.

Since I was using mason jars, I then covered the glass with a cupcake liner and screwed on the lid.  This keeps the bugs out, and also will hold your straw in place. I pre-poke a little hole in the cupcake liner with a pen tip (skewer, ice pick, whatever is handy) and then place the straw in.

To re-mix the drink, my brother in law recommends blowing a light bubble in through your straw.  That will help in the process.

Finally, clink in cheers and good health, and enjoy!

Non-alcoholic Idea:

For the tween at the party, I made this version of the drink:

1. Follow steps 1-3 above, muddling the mint in the honey.

2. Quarter (or more) 4 fresh strawberries, and add them to the glass.

3. Mix together the honey, mint, and strawberries.

4. Fill up glass with ice.

5. Top with Sprite, cover and enjoy.

While this is not nearly as fun as the alcoholic version (in my opinion), it is still a fun mocktail that anyone can enjoy.  I though it might turn out too sweet, but I had one after the rest had run out and I was excited about how good it was.

Blackberry Goat Cheese Tart

 Here's another quick, yet tasty appetizer that doesn't take long, but looks and tastes amazing when you serve it.

Blackberry Goat Cheese Tarts.

I found the original recipe here, however I didn't want to work so hard as to make my own tart and everything.

Also, I wanted only "mini" appetizers, so I bought the pre-made mini phyllo shells to use as the tart base.

Goat Cheese Filling 

5 ounces goat cheese, softened
1/3 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1/4 cup honey

In a small bowl, stir together the goat cheese, sour cream, egg, and honey until absolutely smooth. Pour mixture into large tart shell or divide evenly between individual tart shells. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until filling is puffed and golden. Allow tarts to cool completely.

Topping
12 ounces fresh blackberries
2-3 tablespoons honey, warmed
Fresh basil leaves, shredded

Once tarts are cooled, top with blackberries and drizzle with warm honey. Garnish with shredded basil leaves, if desired. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

So quick and simple, there's really no reason not to try them.  As an added bonus, the sour cream helps alleviate the "goat" flavor that some don't like. 

Chewy Chocolate Chip Oat Bars

 Happy Leap Day to All!!

I was on the hunt for an easy to make break fast bar that I could just grab and go throughout the week...  Nothing too...flax-y or granola-y.  I'm not that kind of girl and I'm not going to spend a gazillion dollars on ingredients that are going to be eaten within 3-5 minutes when I'm in my morning daze.

 So, long story short, here's the recipe I found.  So simple.  Took about 7 minutes to prepare (including opening the packages), and then about 30 minutes to an hour to cool.  I sealed it up and have been cutting off bars all week for breakfast.  (Sorry, I was too lazy to cut and store them, I just used my Pyrex cover and stored them on the counter.)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups quick cooking oats {I used instant rolled, even though the recipe said not to)
1 cup crispy rice cereal
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips (I used more and they were full sized. Shoot me.)


Melt, mix and set. Read the full recipe if you need more directions or better pictures.

I was more than a little sad to reach the end of the container. However, I can't wait to use my leftover supplies to make more!!

Fancy Schmancy!

 

My mom and I co-hosted a Pampered Chef party while I was home last week. My mom LOVES throwing parties, and any one who has been to one of her parties knows you're going to have a good time, or at least some great food to eat.  Needless to say, the pressure was on to make some great PC food, in addition to some other recipes that she had been wanting to try.

Today, I want to share with you an appetizer that didn't take too long to make, but it impressed the socks off of everyone: Honey Apple Brie Bites.  At first, when I read through the recipe, I was a bit worried about the Phyllo cups.  As you may well remember, phyllo and I DO NOT get along!  I think I just don't have the patience, or maybe my hands aren't dainty enough, but either way, I did not want to repeat that ordeal again...especially in a high stress challenging situtation like one of my mother's parties...

Luckily, this recipe calls for pre-made phyllo cups, and I didn't even have to work that hard to hunt them down.  They were waiting for me right in the dessert section of the grocery store.

The recipe is easy to follow, and they were quick to make, although 30 mini phyllo cups don't really hold all the stuffing I made.  I could probably have cut everything in half and still been okay.  There may be bigger cups that weren't at my grocery store, but the mini ones really don't hold a lot.  Luckily, everyone LOVED them, and 10 people when through about 22 cups in the blink of an eye.  On the plus side, everyone wanted the recipe, and they were also super impressed with how easy they were to make.

I'll make these again, and maybe I'll find bigger cups to use.  Regardless, they ROCKED, and deserve a second feeding - maybe I'll even make some for my husband!

Yeah, I can't really do fancy, but I certainly can try!!

As an added bonus, my best friend also hosted a small party while I was in town.  We did a far less challenging menu, and made it more of a playdate for her mommy friends.  Works for me, a show is a show!

However, she made the most amazingly simple munchy that I had to share...

I couldn't believe this - it was so tasty!  All she did was take a Ziploc, Gallon Size, bag and add 1 bag of oyster crackers, drizzled about 2 T of oil, and added one packet of  Kraft Ranch Salad Dressing, and then she shook the whole thing to mix well.  She said you can add about 1/2 cup of oil and let it sit so it melts in your mouth when you eat it, but who needs all those calories?!  It was delicious as is.

See?  The Pampered Jes can take you to either side of the appetizer spectrum...  we've got something for everyone, so tell you friends to stop by - and eat up, because there's more to come!