Bacon Apple Pie

We were pretty sure this one would be good -- and indeed, we were mightily pleased. My friend ewondergirl was visiting for the weekend, and cheerfully joined in on our reindeer games.

The pie crust was provided by ewondergirl, who uses this recipe. She uses all butter (9 Tbsp = approx 125g), and adds 1/2 to 1 tbsp of sugar if making a sweet pie. A covered pie required a double batch of crust, though we also had some left over to make disturbingly delicious fudge tarts with.

Why did we have fudge on hand? Because we couldn't find any maple sugar at the grocery store. Originally we were going to use half regular sugar and half maple sugar, but improvisation is delectable:

BACON APPLE PIE

6-8 apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
Unbaked pie crust
1/3-1/2 C sugar (if not adding fudge, 1/2-3/4 C sugar)
3 small squares maple fudge, crumbled (optional)
6-8 slices bacon (fried, patted dry, broken into mid-sized pieces)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1 small block sharp cheddar



Fry bacon. Preheat oven to 400. Slice apples. Place bottom crust in pie plate. Add apples, bacon and fudge crumbles (we used two layers). Add sugar, cinnamon and allspice, then place top crust on pie. Make sure to cut vents in the top crust. Bake 30 mins, until crust is browned and pie is bubbling.





Serve each piece of warm pie with a slice of sharp cheddar cheese.

Verdict: delicious.

They're coming...

The recipes for bacon chocolate cupcakes, bacon brie in phyllo... and of course a magnificent bacon-laced pork roast.

And yeah... Happy birthday, Dr. X!

I had nothing to do on this hot afternoon

seven daze is a weak explanation....

Cold, eh?

Sadly, every day cannot be bacon day (although we should have two new experiments for you this weekend). Cinnilla and I were joking about what we'd put on this blog on days when we didn't have bacon recipes... we figured that since we live in Canada, and it's winter, we could just complain about the cold.

Day 1: It's really cold here.

Day 4: Still cold.

Day 8: I can no longer feel my left pinky toe. Also: cold.

It actually hasn't been that bad here... we don't have snow right now, which at this time of year is practically a miracle. It's cold, but not slam-your-nostrils-shut cold -- not yet, anyway.

So what can we fill this blog with? Well, let me tell you:

It's dry.

It is soooo dry. The air is changing. My hair is going staticky. The sick amount of money I spent on skin care products earlier this month is about to prove strictly necessary.

Now, I come from central Canada, where it is wet. When the freeze comes, it comes in a heavy, icy blanket that oozes right through your sweater and soaks into your bones. So here in the prairies, where it is -- have I mentioned? -- not wet, mostly we can cheer ourselves with, "Well, at least it's a dry cold."

Except today. I sucked back a glass and a half of water an hour ago, and I am still dying of thirst.

Also, I think my sinuses are bleeding.

Send help. And lip balm.

HEART ATTACK IN A PAN

Could some one find this recipe (T) for this????

This year's buzzword

So Stephen Harper and Jim Flaherty have both gone on record as saying that Canada may enter a "technical recession" next year.

That's a relief -- I'd hate for there to be a real recession that we actually had to worry about. More aptly, as Layton B from Moncton notes in the comments section for the CTV column, "I'm sure this technical recession will lead to some more technical foreclosures."

It's not really the government's use of propaganda that offends me... it's the use of transparent propaganda. I can't help but feel that someone out there isn't even trying.

I'm sure there's a paper in here somewhere

CHICAGO – With the economy in crisis, President-elect Barack Obama urged the new Congress to pass a quick economic stimulus bill, pledged help for the troubled auto industry and blessed the Bush administration's bailout of the financial industry.

I like Obama just fine -- but seriously, is he the Pope now?

"Barack Obama and the Second Coming: Messianic Elements in 2008 Media Coverage." Discuss.

Apropos of nothing

I just turned on my television, and Stephen Colbert is french kissing a bear.

I'm not sure life gets better than this.

Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies

We are putting this blog up as a recipe archive; still, copyright can be a tricky thing. The current rule of thumb is that if we corrupt someone else's recipe with bacon, we'll post our version and give credit to the source. However, in the case of these cookies, I followed Muffin's recipe (at neverbashfulwithbutter.com) so closely that I'll just give you the link. I made a half batch, omitting the hazelnut flavouring and adding 1/4 C chopped walnuts.



Verdict: Delicious (but a bit sugary; my teeth felt icky after a few and I had to have an apple for lunch).

Bacon Caramel Popcorn

This was a Hallowe'en experiment; we were watching a bad horror movie and needed some snacks. The original caramel corn recipe was from Julie Van Rosendaal's Grazing cookbook (which I love); however, we were lacking in some ingredients, so we ended up with a couple of emergency substitutions and 'oh that can't be important' omissions. And we were hungry, so we skipped a whole step at the end. Please do not blame Ms. Van Rosendaal for our errors.

BACON CARAMEL POPCORN

1 package microwave popcorn, popped (ours was 'light butter')
1 C raw sugar (the recipe called for brown; we didn't have any)
1/2 C honey (we only had blueberry honey, which added a bit of an odd aftertaste)
2 T butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C fried bacon, chopped into bits

The recipe also called for baking soda, which we didn't have either. Oops.

Anyway: combine the sugar, honey and butter in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil until sugar is melted, then remove from stove and add vanilla. Pour over popcorn. Add bacon bits. Toss.

It wasn't bad, but it could have been better. Like, say, if we'd bothered to have the proper ingredients, or follow all of the instructions.

We resolved to try this one again at a later date... but the really freaky thing is that apparently Julie was also making bacon caramel popcorn on Hallowe'en. We had no idea she'd done this. Her recipe is posted here, and I have confidence that it is much tastier than ours.

Verdict: Not bad; needs work.

Bacon Risotto

Our resident history professor started off with this recipe, then modified it to suit his own nefarious purposes. Essentially: double the wine, leave out the saffron, and use bacon instead of sausage. Also, you can try adding some chopped garlic when frying up the bacon and onions.



BACON RISOTTO

1/2 stick butter
1/2 package bacon
1 small onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 C short-grain white rice
1 C white wine (we used Painted Turtle)
3 C chicken broth
1/3 C grated parmesan
1/3 C chopped parsley (optional)
1 T chopped garlic (optional)
Salt, pepper

Melt butter in pan. Add bacon (sliced into medium-sized pieces) and garlic. Cook bacon. When bacon is cooked but not yet crispy, add onions. Cook onions. Add rice. Add wine and boil until wine is evaporated. Add chicken broth and bay leaves, bring to boil, then simmer about half an hour until risotto is cooked and creamy. Mix in cheese and parsley. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Verdict: Delicious.

Breakfast Bacon Cupcakes

My mother was horrified by the very thought of this recipe, and I was also engaged in debate as to whether these are "cupcakes" or "muffins with icing." My position is that cupcakes are basically muffins with icing. So: for bacon corn muffins, leave out the icing. For bacon cupcakes, glaze away.



The idea came from this web site. The basic corn muffin recipe came via my friend Red. These muffins are even low fat (er... until you add bacon).

BACON CORN MUFFINS

1 C whole wheat flour
1 C cornmeal
1/4 C sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C applesauce (one of those little 'snack cups' is fine)
1 C milk
1 egg
~1/2 C fried bacon, chopped

Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl. Beat the egg lightly into the milk. Add the applesauce and milk mixture to the dry mixture and stir to moisten evenly. Pour into muffin cups and bake at 350-375 for 20 minutes.

BACON CUPCAKES

Make as above, then add icing:

1 C icing sugar
1 small tub cream cheese
1/4-1/3 C maple syrup
1-2 T butter
Few slices fried bacon (for garnish)

Cream together everything but the bacon; adjust icing sugar to taste. I left it a bit tart.

Ice your cupcakes and add a bit of bacon to the top of each one. This not only looks nice, it also serves as a warning to unwary munchers.

Verdict: Delicious (we were surprised too).

Bacon Pancakes

This one was very easy; I used the basic pancake recipe from my grandmother's old copy of "The New Purity Cookbook," which is probably my most treasured cooking possession. It's been republished in many iterations over the years.

BACON PANCAKES

1 1/2 C flour
1-2 T sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1 3/4 C milk
2 T vegetable oil
Approx. 1/2 package bacon

Fry up the bacon until it begins to get crispy. Remove from pan, pat dry with paper towel. Chop up into bacon bits. (If you like, fry up the other half of the package and serve your bacon pancakes with a side of bacon. Which, um, might be what we did.)

Combine ingredients for pancake batter. Add your newly-created bacon bits. Pour batter into preheated pan and cook as usual (flip over when bubbles appear on top of pancakes).

Serve with butter, maple syrup (real maple syrup -- we're Canadian, here!) and whatever optional toppings or sides you like.

Verdict: Delicious.

Why we perpetrate crimes against nature

OK, so, here's the thing. We are a bunch of college instructors who, during the school year, are continuously swamped with student assignments. Without some sort of marking-free outlet, we would go mad. We generally set aside Saturday mornings as an assignment-free zone -- and, in the fall and the spring, we can spend these Saturday mornings wandering around the local farmer's market and eating things. (Cut us some slack -- this is a very small town. Also, it's quite a nice market.) Alas, however, our breakfast bratwurst-and-mocha tradition is thwarted when the market closes for the winter.

This year, we were particularly lamenting the loss of the mouth-watering bacon bread sold by a local German baker. As we held forth on our withdrawl symptoms (at some length), a tolerant colleague chipped in, "You know, my father used to put bacon in pancakes."

"Saturday," I said immediately. "My place, 10am."

They were delicious. And... what else, we wondered, could we combine with bacon? (How else, we wondered, could we avoid those stacks of looming assignments?)

Bacon Saturdays has been born. Think of it as an iron chef winter.

We are not the first people to combine strange things with bacon. We're certain we will not be the last. But we're having fun, and we'll let you know all the things we try out -- including the disasters. Because we're pretty sure there will be some spectacular disasters.

Enjoy! Or, you know, cringe. Whichever.