Cold Days, Bacon Nights.

Cold days, bacon nights.

     Recently spent some time making bacon stuff for our junior high students.  We had some chicken wrapped bacon, bacon, and the ever popular chicken bacon weave.  Everything is easy to make in the oven. 

Too. Much. Bacon.

Serve the chicken wrapped bacon with some syrup....you won't be dissapionted!

The weave post oven looked like this.  Slice this bad boy into thin strips for everyone to enjoy!

Happy Plates, yall. 

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

     Every once in a while we experience moments in life that will leave an everlasting impression and memories we are not soon to forget.  These moments are everywhere; patiently waiting for us to notice them.

      I was at Sam's Club two weeks ago shopping for matches of all things when I noticed a "RETURNS" section of ridiculously marked down electronics.  On the table was my Christmas present, a Nikon D60.  It was marked down $250 so I decided to buy it- if I liked it, I finally had the DSLR camera I had been waiting for, or I could easily sell it on ebay.  Anyways, I liked it.  I've created a facebook album with some of the pictures if you're interested in checking them out.

     Cooking has been put on the back burner recently with the business of the Holiday Season. 

     
     Advent is a time for waiting; a time to refocus our lens and take some new pictures on what matters most.  
   
     I'm looking forward to Christmas- and cooking up some good grub. 

 
   
     A neighborhood park in Katy stocks rainbow trout every winter.  With fishing rods in hand, we (my brother, sister-in-law, and sister, Clare) set out on our adventure.  Without too many of the details, the fish weren't biting our lures and bait.  Fortunately for us, they were biting though.  One of the older gentlemen around us was kind enough to give us the fish he caught.  He said he wasn't interested in keeping them and would be glad to give them to someone who would "cook them up right." 

     Pan Friend Rainbow Trout

soaking in milk, hot sauce, and some tony's

pan fried in an electric skillet at 375 degrees

served with corn and green beans

the table's busy...it is Christmas after all!

Thank you for reading my blog.  Now, go outside and try something fun.  You never know what awaits just around the corner....

Happy Plates!!

Deal Breaker

     Looking for something that's easy to make and quite delicious?  Look no further than breakfast tacos with eggs and sausage.  First brown the sausage in a dutch oven.  I used 3 packaging of Jimmy Dean.  I thought all three were "Original"; However, one turned out to be Maple flavored.  The syrup smell woke us up and screamed breakfast!  Next add a ton of eggs.  We used about 60 for this pot.  Put the lid on, heat to medium low, and let the eggs cook.  It should take about 15-20 minutes for all the eggs to cook.

     A Dutch oven is an essential cookware to every kitchen.  After cooking, the lid can be flipped over on the burner and used as a skillet to warm up the tortillas.  This dish was perfect for an early tailgate and just as easy to prepare!

     Next we fired up the grill to finish cooking our pork shoulders.    I woke up at 6:30am to put 29 lbs of pork into the oven.  They rest there at a temperature of 250 degrees for 3.5 hours.  Pulled Pork is easy to prepare with a dry rub (let marinate for at least 3 hours before cooking).  Just be sure to be patient and give yourself plenty of time to cook.  Slow and low is the trick; usually about 7-8 hours.

It fell off the bone and everyone was extremely satisfied.  I'll be cooking another one or two this Wednesday for our weekly youth group gathering: JAM.









     I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for not blogging as much as I had envisioned.  I've been somewhat busy with work (understatement) and even though I have been cooking, I haven't taken the time to take pictures.  I'M SORRY!  Here are some more photos from my recent trip to Baton Rouge for LSU's Homecoming Game against Western Kentucky.  It was Nicki Rivers' first LSU game!  Geaux Tigers!

She made it in!!

oh yeah, and Happy Plates!