Friday Food Craft: Bacon Wrapped Dates

The husband and I didn't go out for New Years, we stayed home. Mostly because I had to work at 2am the next day, but we aren't much for going out to fancy parties either. We like chilling out at home and making delicious treats. Queue these delicious bacon wrapped dates. They are super easy with only 3 ingredients (although stuffing the dates is a little fussier than I typically get) and yummy! You can use whatever kind of cheese you like (or leave it out if you wish), add almond slivers or anything else your heart desires.

To make these beauties you will need:

Bacon strips, cut in half* (a full strip will be far too much for one date, so cut in half or ever in thirds if you think that would be sufficient)
Pitted dates
Cheese of choice**


*I went with thick sliced bacon, if you use something thinner you will be able to cut down on the cook time a little

**I used Blue Cheese, and while delicious, it was kind of a hassle to stuff the dates. I think a Manchego would have been lovely, you would just have to cut it into small "sticks" that fit into the date.

Start by partially cooking your bacon. My trick to cooking bacon is placing it on a wire cooling rack, on a cookie sheet (jelly roll pan, actually--make sure your pan has sides so the grease doesn't drip into your oven) in the oven and baking it at about 375 degrees for 30 minutes. To partially cook the bacon so I could wrap it around the dates, I only baked it for 10 minutes. I think the thicker bacon could have used more like 15, as I ended up cooking round 2 of these little guys a bit longer to crisp them up more.

Once your bacon has cooked for 10-15 minutes, take it out of the oven and let it cool so you don't burn yourself wrapping the dates.

While your bacon is cooking, stuff your dates with cheese. You can use any cheese you really like, and add almonds if you wish as well for a nice crunch.

Once your dates are stuffed and your bacon is cool enough to touch, wrap each date in a slice of bacon and stick a toothpick through it to secure it during the second baking step. Place these back on your cooling rack/cookie sheet setup and return to the oven for another 10-15 minutes until the desired amount of crispness is reached on your bacon.

Remove from oven and serve warm. These are a great appetizer or party food, especially since they already come on a toothpick right out of the oven. Enjoy!

Friday Food Craft: Cheesecake

I know some of you may be running to hide at the mere mention of cheesecake. It is something that I myself always considered too difficult to tackle. When you see recipes on tv and in books it usually involves spring form pans, water baths and more. Let's face it, I'm not always down for the theatrics. This recipe came from my friend Melissa whom got it right off of a cream cheese box years ago. I can't figure out why they stopped printing this recipe on the box, it's amazing. Better still? There are 4 ingredients in the actual cheesecake portion of this cheesecake. Best? It's probably the creamiest, most delicious cheesecake I have ever had!

So how do you make this amazing cheesecake? For starters you will need:

2 8oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 whole eggs

You also need a graham cracker crust. Here's fantastic Holiday news: feel free to go out and buy one pre-made. If that doesn't suit you, you can use the graham cracker crust recipe listed on my Mounds Bars recipe.

Heat your oven to 325 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, or stand mixer, beat together cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until well combined. Add in your eggs, one at a time, beating until fully incorporated after each. You should end up with a very smooth creamy "batter".

Pour your batter onto your graham cracker crust and smooth. Bake in 325 degree oven for 40 minutes, until center is ALMOST set (it will continue to bake slightly while cooling, do not worry if it looks a little runny to you, I thought the same but it came out perfect). Place on cooling rack and allow to cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. I refrigerated mine overnight (with visions of cheesecake dancing in my head).

That's it! You will have a perfectly moist and creamy cheesecake with no hassle :)

Serve plain or with fruit topping (you could also get really awesome and make a caramel or chocolate sauce!).

Friday Food Craft: Individual No Bake Cheesecakes!

I told you the mason jars would be making an appearance! This is a great way to make individualized desserts to take to a picnic, pot luck, or pack in a lunch. Even more no fuss: a no bake dessert! The glass jars certainly may go in an oven to bake (and I've seen many clever recipes online for pies, etc.) but I decided a no bake dessert was the way to go this time.



You will need:

1 sleeve graham crackers (about 5 ounces)
4 Tablespoons butter (melted)
2 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 cup heavy whipping cream
16 ounces cream cheese (softened)
1/2-3/4 cup sugar (depending how sweet you like your desserts)
zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon

To make the crust you will need to smash up your graham crackers (other crackers or cookies may be substituted if you have something else on hand). I used my trusty old rolling pin and placed my crackers in a sealed bag and smacked/rolled them to smithereens. If you prefer, you may use a food processor. Once I have my crumbs, I mix in 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar to evenly distribute it. Then, mix in your melted butter with a fork (or pulse it in with your food processor).

Once you have your crust, spoon it into your containers. While I used tiny mason jars (4oz. jars) you could also use a pie plate or any other container you like for your cheesecake. Gently pat your crust into the bottom of your container.

To make the filling, start by whipping 1 cup of heavy cream into whipped cream (like you would top a sundae with). You could try substituting an already whipped topping, but I like the results better with real whipped cream. Once you have your whipped cream, add in your cream cheese and sugar. Last, but certainly not least, add in the zest and juice of one lemon. I found an exceptionally large lemon, so I used all of the zest but only about 3/4 of the juice. Again, you may add this to suit your taste. If you prefer, lime juice would also be lovely in this.

Spoon your filling over your crust and smooth out with a spoon or spatula. Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight (the jars come in handy here as each one has it's own built in, air tight, cover). Serve as is, or with your favorite fruit topping (okay, okay or chocolate/caramel, etc.). Enjoy!