Sugared Bacon

Is it good for you? No. Is it tastey... absolutely!

I heard from a wife a church that this was one of her husband's favorites. So of course we had to give it a go. It is really delicious.

Sugared Bacon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a cookie sheet with sides, place a sheet of foil. Trust me, this will make clean up a snap. Lay each piece of bacon out on the cookie sheet, then sprinkle brown sugar over the top. Once you have done it a time or two, you will get a feel for how much brown sugar to put on the bacon. Here are a few pictures below of mine.





Place cookie sheet in the oven for approximately 30-45 minutes. Check a couple of times at the end until bacon is to your desired doneness. We like ours a little crispy.

This is cooked perfectly. It might look burnt, but that is just the brown sugar goodness carmelized on your bacon.


Remove bacon and put on a plate with a paper towel or on a brown paper bag so that the grease can drain off. Then try it... mmmmmm. You will thank me forever (even though no one ever comments, I know you are out there enjoying all the wonderful recipes on this blog and deep in your hearts is appreciation of the sincerest kind).

Pickles, Cream Cheese & Ham Appetizer

Even though these are very simple sounding, they are yummy! In fact my daughter decided to take some to school today because she liked them so much. Plus it is something you can get your kids to help with.

Pickles, Cream Cheese & Ham Appetizer

Small whole dill pickles
1 package of cream cheese
Ham slices

Measure the pickle on the ham slice and fold in edge of ham until the same length of pickle.Take a ham slice and spread a thin layer of cream cheese over it. Place pickle at one end of the ham and roll up. Cut pickle into 1/2 inch slices and put a toothpick in the top.

Okay, I stole this image from another website because I think it helps to understand how to assemble the whole thing. You can also do this with pickled asparagus instead of a regular pickle.

Dip in a Bread Bowl (very rich)

This was another appetizer that I made. It also got a thumbs up from my nephew, so it must be good. My mother found this recipe and was so kind to share and make us all plump.

Dip in a Bread Bowl

1 1/2 cup sour cream
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese
1 tsp. worcestershire sauce
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded (I used the prepackage mexian cheese)
1 small can green chilies, diced
1/2 cup green onion, chopped
1 cup ham, choppped
1 round loaf of bread

Cream sour cream, cream cheese with worcestershire sauce. Mix in cheese, green chilies, green onions and ham. Cut top off of bread, scoop out and spoon ingredients into the bread bowl. Replace top and wrap with two layers of foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes. Serve with crackers and left over bread taken out of middle of bread round.

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

We had the "Thomas" family progressive dinner and I was in charge of appetizers. So I will share a few of the ones I did that seemed pretty popular. I didnt' get pictures because I had just spilled some juice off the cookie sheet with the mushrooms and was trying to wipe it up as people started arriving. I know we will make most of these again and will get pictures then :) These pretty easy to make and everyone kept saying how good they were. I usually like a crap stuffing in my mushrooms, but my husband is allergic. It was kind of embarassing when they were asking for the ingredients and there were only 4. Sausage Stuff Mushrooms (Jana Norton) 25-30 medium sized mushrooms 1 (12 oz) package of Jimmy Dean Sausage (she uses light I used natural) 1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (I used grated) Brown sausage, drain and cool. Add cream cheese and mix well. Add shredded parmesan cheese. Mix well again. Clean mushrooms and remove steps. Place mushroosm cap side down and fill with filling. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes (I think mine took a little longer to cook). Also put these on a cookie sheet lined with foil and one that had sides as the mushrooms give off a little juice. Then when you take them out the juice runs on the floor and you are cleaning it up as the guests arrive.

Rainbow Jello

So I discovered that this is something that I usually make for Thanksgiving. It was a good thing I was reminded, because I didn't know that. And actually, 80% of the people had made it though the line before I remembered to take it out of the fridge. I will say, kids really think it is cool when they see it. I even did this in individual clear plastic cups for one of my sons birthday treats at school.

This recipe is really pretty easy. Just a little time consuming. But if you are hanging around the house anyway, it is no biggie to just keep adding the next layer. They set up pretty quick. Give it a try... your kids/grandkids will think you are wonderful.



Rainbow Jello

6 small packages of Jello (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple)
16 oz. container of sour cream

I do this in a 9 X 13 pan which has a very light coating of cooking spray in it.
Add one packet of Jello to 1 cup of boiling water. Stir 2 to 3 minutes to dissolve completely. Pour 2/3 cup of the Jello into the prepared pan, and chill for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, add enough Sour Cream to the remaining Jello to make 2/3 cup. Stir until combined. When first layer has set for 15 minutes, carefully pour Jello/sour cream mixture over it, and chill for 15 minutes. Repeat with remaining colors. Once all layers have been poured, allow to chill for at least 2 hours. Unmold onto a serving platter, if desired, or cut into squares and serve.

Note: as soon as I pour (do it gently so as not to break up the previous layer)the sour cream/jello layer on, I mix the next color of jello up so it is cooled enough to pour when the sour cream/jello layer is set.

You can also use cool whip or evaporated milk instead of sour cream. Just follow the same measurements as above. I thought the cool whip was a pain to incorporate into the jello though.

You can also do this with whatever colors of jello you want for whatever special occasion. You can also do this in a bundt pan and unmold for a special affect.