Bacon Brownies?!?

 I have been procrastinating...not on purpose or anything...I did not have these pictures on my camera but on my phone.  It was a matter of figuring out how to email them from my phone to my email account and then saving them in a form that I can upload.  So here is the skinny!  Pictured with me in these six pictures is my friend Nick.  Nick is the bus driver for skydive.  Our friendship came about this past winter when his bus needed a jump start every day!  We bonded in those 15 minutes that the jumper cables were attached to the battery and that is when we discovered our mutual love for BACON!!!

I am talking bacon as in breakfast food...made from pork!   Anything bacon related on Facebook, I share with him and vice versa.  I decided to start experimenting!  I decided to make bacon brownies.  We were toying around with different ideas of what we can make that includes bacon.  That is where bacon brownies came from.  I did not want to use just any kind of bacon and I remembered watching Kelsey's Essentials on the Cooking Channel.  She made candied bacon to put on top of deviled eggs so I got on the website and found the recipe (which now you can find here).

I did not have time to make the brownies from scratch so I used a box mix that came with a package of frosting.  Now I am a no frosting on my brownie kind of girl but I made an exception for this.  I chopped up half of the bacon and sprinkled it onto the brownie mix once I put it in the pan.  I diced up the rest and mixed it into the frosting.

 Before even trying these brownies I decided that next time I am using bacon not as thick (even though the recipe calls for thick-cut) and let it cook a little longer to get a little more crispy.  I am going to dice up the bacon into a lot smaller pieces and possibly mix it into the batter and I will buy a thing of frosting because I ran out.  These pictures are the first pictures taken of the bacon brownie experience.

The first picture is us toasting away our bacon brownie virginity!  The second picture is our first bite.  The third picture is us contemplating the greatness of the bacon and the brownie.  The fourth picture is us falling in love with the marriage of the bacon brownie.  The fifth picture is a missed attempt at a high five...and that is where the sixth and final picture comes from!

Day 27: Post Your Favorite Recipe

I cannot pick between three recipes so here is all three!

Asparagus "Fries"
Ingredients:
Asparagus bunch
Cooking Spray (veggie/canola/olive oil...which ever you want)
Sea Salt
(Any spices that you want but I use the following)
Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
Cayenne Pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375*.  Cut or snap off the bottoms of the asparagus (it is just about inedible).  Place asparagus into a gallon size Ziploc bag.  Lightly spray with the oil...just barely to coat.  Add as much or as little of the spices that you want to use.  I start with a generous portion of black pepper and garlic powder.  Using the bag unzipped, coat the asparagus as evenly as you can.  Then I add just enough cayenne pepper to  add the amount of heat that I like.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  Lay the asparagus out in a single layer and sprinkle with sea salt!  Bake in the oven until the asparagus tips are at your desired crispness.  Enjoy hot out of the oven!

Caramel Apple Salad
Ingredients:
Granny Smith Apples
Snickers Bars
Cool Whip
(Note:  There are not any measurements.  You should figure one apple per person and one King sized Snickers bar for every two apples and as much Cool Whip as you want.)

Directions:
Put Snickers bars in the freezer until almost frozen.  Place thawed out Cool Whip into serving bowl.  Leave the peel on the apples and cut into bite-sized pieces. Quickly toss apples into water with a little bit of lemon juice just to avoid them turning brown, drain and add to Cool Whip.  Once apples are cut up, take Snickers out of the freezer and place in a Ziploc bag.  Using a mallet or hammer, crush the Snickers into smaller bite-size pieces.  Add to the apples and Cool Whip and mix together.  Keep refrigerated until ready to serve or serve immediately!

I also like to take and drizzle caramel sauce over the top just for a little something extra!

Oven-Fried Pork Chops (Better Homes and Garden cook book)
Ingredients:
4 Pork Loin chops (about 3/4" thick)
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
2 Tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup Herb-Seasoned stuffing mix, finely crushed
(I use a little more butter because it does not coat the bottom of the pan.  I use a food processor to finely crush the stuffing mix and sometimes I will use Pork flavored instead of the Herb.)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425*.  Trim the fat from the pork chops.  Pour butter into a 13x9x2 baking pan, tilting the pan to coat the bottom.  In a shallow dish combine egg, milk, and pepper.  Place stuffing mix in another shallow dish.  Dip the pork chops into the egg mixture.  Coat both sides with stuffing mix and place in the prepared pan.  (This is where I add a little cayenne pepper to mine because I like the heat.)  Bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes.  Turn the pork chops over and bake for another 10 - 15 minutes until the internal temperature is 160* and the juices run clear.

I make my yummy mashed potatoes and maybe a salad and a roll!

Enjoy!

Until next time!