Bakin’ With Bacon For Mom’s Day!

It’s Mother’s Day Tomorrow – want something SPECIAL to give her for breakfast???

Well of course you do…………and this might be it…………..I’m giving you the recipe NOW so you can go shopping and get the stuff you need – this really is delicious and I know she will feel EXTRA SPECIAL with a bouquet of flowers and this on the breakfast table!

I saw this one online and I HAD to share.    Gosh – this is quite a fabulous treat and it’s definitely extra good with the French bread since it’s crusty and thick and delicious.   Can you make it with any other kind of bread?  Of course but the French Bread loaf is a great size vs. a bagette.    Here’s the scoop:

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp cinnamon- divided
• 1-2 dashes of nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 4 slices of bacon- cooked and crumbled
• 4 oz cream cheese- at room temp
• 1 1/2- 2 Tbs maple syrup
• 8 slices french bread

Instructions

1. Cook bacon til crispy, then crumble or chop into small pieces.
2. Beat the cream cheese til smooth, then beat in the maple syrup. Test the flavor, add more syrup if desired. Fold in the crumbled bacon with a rubber spatula. Set aside.
3. Preheat griddle to 325 degrees, or on the stove at medium heat. Cut 8 slices of French bread about 1 inch thick. In a pie pan, or 8×8 baking dish, crack the eggs and add 1/2 of the cinnamon. Mix carefully with a fork. When cinnamon is mixed in add the vanilla and nutmeg and stir again. Add the milk and stir.
4. Grease griddle with shortening. Dip two pieces of bread at a time into the egg dredge. Let them sit for 10-15 seconds before turning them over to repeat on the other side. Place the soaked bread onto the hot griddle. Repeat with two more slices of bread. Add the remaining cinnamon to the egg mixture and repeat process with last four slices of bread. Cook for 2-3 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Adjust heat if necessary.    NOTE:  I used a regular skillet as I don’t have a griddle and it worked JUST FINE!
5. Spread about 1/4 cup of the cream cheese mixture between two slices of the French toast. Top with powdered sugar, jam, or syrup. Eat while still warm.

 

WHAT DID I TELL YOU?   Is this not a dreamy recipe?   Oh yeah…………………….and the reason the cinnamon is divided up is so that the first four bread slices don’t “suck up all the cinnamon” in the egg mixture – bread will absorb all the yumminess and if you have another batch of cinnamon half way through the process to add then the egg mixture stays nice and cinnamon-ey !     Note that this is a recipe for FOUR people…….but then again, maybe YOU could eat two of these “French toast sandwiches” yourself?    Maybe – maybe not – it’s very delicious but if you can always have some bacon on the side you know.    Can’t have too much bacon.

Happy Mother’s Day to Moms everywhere…………

Me and Mom playing when I first came to live with her and Dad…..

A Mom’s arms are the bestest spot to be!

It’s good to be King !

A “bittersweet” P.S. from Mom……………eight years ago yesterday I started One Spoiled Cat with my precious boy Sammy.   I had no idea that we’d get so many followers and friends but we did and I am grateful.    I still miss Sammy every single moment of the day but Teddy certainly has made things FUN around here too.    He’s just as special as Sammy was in his own ways.   Thanks to all of you who noticed it was our blogaversary yesterday !!   We’ll be here as long as my fingers work on the keyboard and Teddy and I have things to say………thank you for your friendship.   

Love, Pam

Bakin’ with Bacon and King Teddy

Greetings Bacon Fans!   Your King awaits you in the castle kitchen!

I’ve got an incredible and imminently edible bacon omelette recipe for you but it’s NOT just bacon – there are so many good things in this you won’t be able to resist trying it.    Honest!

We can all make a “regular” bacon omelette but when you get creative and add bunches of interesting OTHER things in addition to bacon you wind up with an EXPERIENCE – not just an OMLETTE.   Why this is called a RIVER OMELETTE I’m not sure but who cares.   It’s really good!

RIVER OMELETTE

INGREDIENTS:

Ten Eggs (important ingredient in an omelette!)

• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 dashes hot pepper sauce, or to taste
• 1/2 pound bacon – cooked, and chopped into bite-size pieces

 

• 1 (4 ounce) can black olives, drained
• 2 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 cup green onions, chopped
• 1/3 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 3/4 cup Colby-Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Coat an 8 inch square baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, combine eggs and milk. With an electric mixer, beat until frothy. Blend in salt and hot pepper sauce. Stir in bacon, olives, tomatoes, green onions, mushrooms and cheese. Pour into prepared pan, and cover with lid or aluminum foil.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until eggs are set in the center.

 

See?  Not that complicated – oh and if you want more spice – add more hot sauce………….yep that’s what I said – in fact, you know this recipe isn’t different from most of the ones I pass on to you in that you can and should adjust it to your own taste.   Some people don’t want olive in it – don’t put them in………some prefer cheddar so use it instead of Colby-Monterey jack……just go for it – after all, we fans of bacon know THAT’s the most important ingredient anyway!

Now – maybe you should give this a whirl for tomorrow’s Sunday breakfast?   If you want to try it – you’d better go to the grocery NOW and get those ingredients!

You better believe it baby!

Your Bacon King and Chef

 

Greetings from the Easterized Castle in Baconia!   

It’s not easy baking with eggs on top of your head but I’m giving it a try this morning JUST so I can bring you a cute idea for Easter breakfast.   Mostly this is for those of you who have little kids or grandkids or neighbor kids or SOMEBODY’S kids coming over and you want something CUTE for them to have for Easter morning.    They are good PERIOD – for all ages – but kids come to mind with this one and I think you’ll agree!!

Bacon, Egg and Cheese Easter Baskets

Ingredients

• • 1can (8 oz) Pillsbury™ refrigerated crescent rolls
  • 6 eggs
  • 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) shredded Cheddar cheese (2 oz)
  • 8 slices bacon

Directions

• 1  Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 8 muffin cups with cooking spray.
• 2  Unroll 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury™ refrigerated crescent dinner rolls; separate dough into 8 triangles. Place 1 triangle in muffin cup; press in cup to cover bottom and around side. Use scissors to cut off excess dough; use to fill in any spaces to create a seamless muffin cup. Repeat with remaining triangles.
• 3  In small bowl, beat 6 eggs with whisk. Add salt and pepper to taste. In large skillet, scramble eggs over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until fluffy and just under done. Eggs should be shiny but not wet (they’ll finish cooking in the oven).
• 4  Divide eggs evenly among dough-lined muffin cups. Top each with 1 tablespoon shredded Cheddar cheese.
• 5  Bake about 10 minutes or until cups are golden brown and cheese is melted.
• 6  Meanwhile, in another large skillet, cook 8 slices bacon over medium heat just until done but not crisp. Drain well on paper towels. While bacon is hot, fold it over like handle of basket. (Once bacon cools, it will become fragile and will not bend. It needs to cool in the rounded shape.)
• 7  Remove baskets from oven, cool in pan a few minutes. Remove from pan to serving platter. Place bacon “handles” on baskets, pressing ends of bacon into edges of baskets so they stand up. Serve immediately.

CUTE!!!!!   But not just cute – delicious too!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone………………..and remember – BACON LOVES YOU AS MUCH AS YOU LOVE IT!!!!!

Bakin’ with Bacon in the Castle

Greetings and Salutations from the Castle !  

Ready for a recipe that you will think is TOO complicated to try but the more you read the ingredients you MUST try???     Well, this has every sinful snack in the universe in it and SO WHAT – once in a while we need to go crazy and just eat something incredible right?    Right.   I’m sure that’s why these are called:

MAGIC BARS !

Ingredients

• 12 strips bacon
• 5 ounces pretzels about 4 cups
• 4 ounces butter melted
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar
• 6 ounces dark chocolate chips 1 cup
• 5.5 ounces peanut butter chips 1 cup
• 3.75 ounces crushed ruffled potato chips 1 cup (rom about 2 cups uncrushed)
• 14 ounces salted caramel sauce (store-bought or homemade) about 1 1/4 cup

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350* F. Line a 9×9-inch pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray.
• Fry the bacon until it is crisp, turning often so it cooks evenly. Once crispy, remove the bacon from the pan and place it on a paper towel-lined plate to cool. Once cool, chop into small pieces.
• Put the pretzels in a food processor and process them until they are fine crumbs. Combine the pretzel crumbs, melted butter, and sugar in a bowl and toss until the pretzels are moistening and the mixture has the texture of wet sand. Press it onto the bottom of the foil-lined pan in an even layer.
• Sprinkle the chopped bacon on top of the pretzels in an even layer, then add the chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and crushed potato chips. Pour the salted caramel sauce evenly over the entire pan.
• Bake the bars at 350 for 20 minutes, until golden brown and bubbling on the sides. Let them cool on a wire rack until they’re room temperature. To serve, lift the bars from the pan using the foil as handles, and cut into small squares. (They are easiest to cut when they are cold, but they taste best at room temperature.) If desired, sprinkle with a pinch of crushed potato chips just before serving.

I know…………….I can hear you moaning and groaning already – there are probably a bazillion calories in every bite of these.   But here’s my thinking:    Don’t we DESERVE to have something sinful once in a while?   I think the answer is a resounding:

YESIRRREEEEEE!!!

Even if you think this is something you will need to work yourself up to trying, save the recipe.   Trust me.  One of these days you’ll think “I need something incredibly sinful to eat” – you can make a batch of MAGIC!

YES!

See you in the kitchen again next week when I will try to lead you astray again with something baconized!!

 

 

Bakin’ With Bacon and King Teddy

Hello From Castle Baconia’s Kitchen!

Greetings visitors to my kitchen…………..I’ve given the Castle Chef the day off again just so I can spend time with you passing on some of my favorite baconized recipes.    I’m continuing the trend of EASY PEASY RECIPES today with one that’s almost TOO easy.    However, don’t let the fact it’s easy lead you to believe it’s not good.   Because it’s kind of like CANDY and who doesn’t like that?!

Bacon Wrapped Crackers – a fab snack!

INGREDIENTS:

1 pkg. bacon – thick cut or regular cut – doesn’t matter.

Crackers of your choice – Keebler or Ritz – any buttery cracker will do.    Usually this recipe makes one whole “sleeve” of crackers AT LEAST.

Parmesan cheese (package of shredded parmesan is way better than using the shakeable parmesan in a can)

Brown sugar – depends on how much you put on each cracker but you don’t want to OVERLOAD them!

 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 250F.   Put sheet of aluminum foil on your baking sheet and if you have a “cooling rack” put that on top of the foil so the crackers sit “up” a bit.
2. Cut strips of bacon in half, then lay the crackers in rows
3. Place a teaspoon of parmesan cheese and brown sugar on each cracker, then carefully wrap each one in a strip of bacon. (If you’re using thicker bacon strips, use a toothpick to secure it)
4. Put the crackers on the rack (on top of the baking sheet), and bake them for 2 hours at 250°F.

See what I mean?   Easy?  It’s actually beyond easy.    Now let me say this – I tried this recipe both ways………brown sugar on TOP of the whole thing assembled and brown sugar UNDER the bacon and both are delicious.   I preferred the brown sugar on top myself.    Also, some people think parmesan cheese isn’t necessary in this recipe and I agree.    But it IS tasty with the sweetness of the sugar and the saltiness of the bacon.    You can experiment yourself!!!

 

Two Thumbs Up!

 

See?    Rave reviews………..you can’t ignore RAVE REVIEWS can you?

Enjoy!   Happy Caturday, King Teddy

Bakin’ With The King on Saturday

WELCOME TO THE CASTLE KITCHEN!!!   Time to get cookin’ with bacon!

For years now The Royal Mom has seen recipes for “bacon jam” and thought “ICK” – you’ve got to be kidding.    Well, she USED to think that, but no longer does.    She finally let me make some for her and now – well – it’s her favorite burger topping!     So I thought I’d share the recipe with you – it’s definitely worth the trouble to make (which really isn’t much trouble!) and it’s EVER SO YUMMY.

BACON JAM

Ingredients

• 1 pound thick sliced bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces (see Recipe Note)
• 1 large yellow onion, diced small
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar, packed

Method

1 Cook the bacon: In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon in two batches so as not to crowd the pan. (If your pan is large enough, it’s fine to cook all the bacon at once.)

Stir occasionally, until the fat is rendered and the bacon is browned, but not burned or overly crispy. Scoop out the first batch of cooked bacon with a slotted spoon, and drain it on a paper towel-lined plate. Cook the remaining batch.

This should take about 25 to 30 minutes total for both batches.

2 Cook the onions and garlic: Drain all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the pan. You can eyeball it. Add all the bacon back to the skillet.

Add the onion and garlic to the skillet and cook until the onions are translucent, about 6 minutes.

 Reduce the jam: Add the vinegar and brown sugar to the skillet, and bring to a boil. Cook stirring and scraping up browned bits from the skillet for 2 minutes

Reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the liquid turns syrupy and almost completely evaporates—this should take about 30 minutes.

4 Store and reheat if needed: Use immediately, or spoon it into an airtight jar and refrigerate for up to four weeks. Serve warm.

To reheat, zap it in the microwave for about 45 seconds or warm it in a small saucepan on the stove over medium heat, stirring occasionally until heated through, about 10 minutes.

 

Yep – that’s what The Royal Mom said when she tried some……….good on crackers, ESPECIALLY good on burgers, good with all sorts of things and it might sound like a pain in the neck to make but really – isn’t just about EVERYTHING a pain in the neck unless you are excited to make it?    If you love bacon – GO FOR IT.

Yep – and plenty of it!

Not in our castle……leftover bacon simply does not exist!

Give this a try – I promise you will love it.   If my ROYAL MUM can be happy with it, well – anyone can!

Happy Caturday – may your own castle have the aroma of bacon cooking!!   

Hugs From King Teddy

Bakin’ with Bacon With King Teddy

Greetings loyal subjects of the land of Baconia – where BACON RULES (and so do I!)

I’ve got another ridiculously easy recipe for you this week………….probably too easy in some ways.    I think some of you like a challenge – lots of ingredients and steps and this has neither.    It’s just a very tasty bacon/apple muffin that is GREAT for breakfast.   Breakfast is the most important meal of the day you know so it needs to be GOOD.     THESE ARE GOOD.

Apple-Bacon Muffins

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces (1/2 cup) butter, softened
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 2/3 cup milk
• 3/4 cup finely chopped apple  (doesn’t matter what kind of apple)
• 1/2 cup diced bacon

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat the oven to 375 F.

2. Spray muffin cups with nonstick baking spray or cooking spray.

3. In a large mixing bowl with electric mixer, cream butter and brown sugar until light. Beat in the eggs until well blended.

4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; stir or whisk to blend thoroughly.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating with the milk. Stir just until blended. Fold in the apple and bacon until blended.

6. Immediately spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling the cups about three-quarters full.

7. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until lightly browned.

8. Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Makes 12 to 15 muffins.

See?   Easy Peasy……..and before you ask me – of course you can put more bacon in and for that matter more apple if you want.    More apple will make your muffins a little more moist but so what.   

Bacon does make everything better – that’s why we are all so glad to live in the land of Baconia where bacon is abundant and Moms are hypnotized into making things WITH bacon so there’s more of a chance WE can have some!   

See you next Saturday for another baconized recipe!   

Teddy, KING OF BACONIA

Bakin’ with Bacon and King Teddy

Hello Bacon Fans!   Happy “almost St. Pat’s Day” and welcome to the Castle kitchen!

Today’s recipe isn’t GREEN but it has some green in it – if you choose to use it.  There is fresh thyme in the recipe – that counts right???!!!!     I’ll tell you right now before you see what I’m making for you today that this might sound like a very unusual recipe and maybe it is………but it’s an option for you if you are tired of the “same old/same old” appetizers or you have some special friends you want to make a little something different for.     These are – well – yummy in the tummy as we say around here!

Bacon-Peach Pizzas

 

INGREDIENTS:    (recipe makes FOUR appetizers)

1 ready-made pizza dough

4 slices bacon – thick cut or regular (as usual you can add more or less)

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

1 cup olive oil

1/2 cup ricotta

2 teaspoons chopped thyme (optional but adds a nice flavor)

Ground black pepper to tasste

20 slices of fresh peach (fresh are BEST – canned are too “wet” !!)

1/2 cup grated parmesan

4 tablespoons olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C). Line baking sheet with foil.
2. After bacon is fried, break up into small bits..
3. Place 1 dough quarter on a work surface and lightly dust with flour; roll into a 1/8-inch-thick shaped crust (round or square or something irregular – doesn’t matter!). Stretch dough with your hands to an even thickness; let rest on the work surface for 5 minutes. Repeat with remaining other three pieces of dough.
4. Heat about 1 cup olive oil, reaching about 1/2-inch depth, in a heavy cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Fry each piece of dough until browned and cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. The first side will be lighter than the second side. Drain the crusts on paper towels.
5. Transfer pizza crusts, lighter-side up, to prepared baking sheets. Spread about 2 tablespoons ricotta cheese onto each crust using the back of a spoon. Sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme over ricotta layer. Sprinkle bacon bits over the ricotta-thyme layer; season with black pepper. Nestle about 5 peach slices onto each mini-pizza and sprinkle 1 tablespoon Parmesan over each pizza. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on top.
6. Bake in the preheated oven until cheese is melted and peaches are lightly browned and tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool pizzas for 5 to 10 minutes on the baking sheet.

YES I know it sounds a little weird…………..sometimes the yummiest things and strangest combinations make for the very best and most interesting snacks!     You know I’m right!

Have a Green Beer on me!!!!   Happy St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow………..

Hugs from the Castle…….King Teddy

 

Baconia Salutes Dr. Seuss

Today’s the day you silly goose

That we Baconians celebrate Dr. Seuss!

Green eggs and ham would be a good start…..

Here’s what you’d need in your grocery cart!

 

First of all we are hooking up to a bunch of blogs that are celebrating Dr. Seuss Day!    Who knows what kind of fun they’re having – just like we’re having fun in honor of “THE MAN” we all love too.   Dr. Seuss – this blog today is in your honor.   If you click the badge below you’ll be able to see links to everyone pawticipating in the HOP today!

Happy Dr. Seuss Day everyone………………..we’re celebrating today with one of the traditional foodables from the Dr. Seuss books………….. We are using BACON (of course) instead of actual ham but then it all comes from the same place right?

Green Eggs and Ham – a la Seuss!!

 

Ingredients:

•  4 large eggs
•  4 slices of bacon cooked until NOT YET CRISPY – needs to be “bendable” 
•  about 3 tsp of pesto per egg
  

 

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400F.  Grease muffin tins.  Put bacon in each tin forming ring around inside of cup.   Crack egg in – put in all of the yolk and about 1/2 the white for runny yolks or all of the white if you don’t care for runny yolks.
2.  Put 1 tsp pesto on each egg
3. Bake 7-8 minutes until white is set and yolks are runny OR longer if you prefer non-runny yolks.
4.  Add a bit more pesto when you serve!

There are of course all kinds of ways you can change this recipe around and still be honoring Dr. Seuss with some green eggs and ham – some people use spinach in the recipe – pesto is another way to add the green………it’s up to you – remember my “Baconian Chef Philosophy” – recipes are GUIDELINES – you can “wing it” and come out with something even better if you want!

I thought you might like to see what I’m wearing to the Cat Scouts Dr. Seuss party later today – What?  You didn’t know I was a Cat Scout in addition to being King of Baconia?   Oh yes I am.   My brother Angel Sammy was a Scout and I’m following in his pawtracks.   Maybe you’d like to join up?   If you’re a cat, we’d love to have you.   Just go to CATSCOUTS.COM and register!

The Cat In The Hat (or Chefs Hat??!!)

Have a happy Dr. Seuss Day……………and try some green eggs and ham won’t you?

Your King……..!!

 

Bakin’ With Bacon and King Teddy!

It is I – Your King – why in Mexican gear?   Because today’s recipe is HOT HOT HOT !

Yes it might be a little dramatic but it got your attention – Si ??    Today’s recipe is for a SNACK using bacon but another ingredient is CAYENNE!   Spicy stuff that is………but it’s awfully tasty on popcorn especially with the addition of some nice salty bacon!!    This is good for watching a movie on TV or binge-watching a favorite series – or even some sports spectacular.   Ready for this one?

Ole’ !! for Spicy Caramel Bacon Popcorn

 

Ingredients

• 10 slices of bacon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 10 cups of popped popcorn (1 cup kernels)
• 3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Instructions

1. Line bacon side-by-side on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes, until crispy and brown. Remove and place on paper towels to drain. Press the tops with another layer of paper towels. When cool, cut into small pieces.
2. Mix the baking soda and cayenne pepper and set aside.
3. Prepare a large mixing bowl by spraying generously with cooking spray. Also, coat two spatulas with cooking spray. Dump the popcorn in the bowl.
4. Combine sugar, butter, salt, and water in a medium saucepan. Cook without stirring on high heat, until it becomes light golden-yellow caramel. This takes about 10-12 minutes. Remove from heat and add the soda/cayenne mixture. Careful, as the mixture will bubble up! Add the bacon bits.
5. Pour the caramel mixture over the popcorn and toss until coated evenly. Pour the popcorn onto a large baking pan and flatten and break into small pieces. Cool to room temp and serve, or store in an airtight container. The popcorn will keep up to four days in the fridge but I doubt it will survive that long because you will be EATING IT IMMEDIATELY!

I expect this will have you doing the Mexican hat dance all the way to the restroom.   HAHAHA    Sorry about that but hot stuff has that effect on some peeps…………

Make sure and have a nice cold BEVERAGE of your choice handy.

Doesn’t this popcorn sound good?   Give it a try!  

Now for no particular reason at all other than I find this terribly hilarious, here’s a little something for your entertainment after surviving another Bacon Blog from the Kingdom on a Saturday.   ENJOY:

See you next Sunday with another baconized recipe………….Your King