Instead, as I lounge on the couch in my ridiculously cute leopard-and-pink-rose print pajamas (with ruffles on the sleeve and pant cuffs, no less), we'll be enjoying delicious dino-chow snacks.
On our menu:
Applegate Farms Organic Beef Hot Dogs – sliced into coins and served on fancy toothpicks with jalapenos and banana peppers
Cucumber, jicama, snap peas, and celery – served with homemade onion dip (homemade mayo + shallot salt + chives + paprika)
Smoky Pear Bites – This recipe sounds crazy, but I'm telling you: It's CRAZY-GOOD! Can be made with or without the bacon. Made up of contrasts – sweet & salty, cool & hot, crisp & chewy – these little tidbits make flavor explosions!
Smoky Pear Bites
Ingredients:Directions:
1 just-ripe pear (We used Bosc.)
a few slices of high-quality, no-garbage bacon, cooked to desired crispness
paprika
cinnamon
salt
1. Cook the bacon your preferred way. I like the oven: 400 degrees on a foil-covered pan for 12-15 minutes. Drain on paper towel and cut into 1-inch pieces.
2. Cut the pear into 1-inch pieces.
3. Lay the pear pieces out on a board and sprinkle VERY lightly with sea salt, then with your fingers, sprinkle with cinnamon and paprika.
4. Top each piece of pear with a piece of bacon; spear with a toothpick.
NOTE: I eat bacon only on special occasions, but the pear+salt+cinnamon+paprika is 100% approved for anytime eating, and it is amazingly good. Try it! For real.
I eat bacon almost daily so it's a holiday at my house everyday! ;)
ReplyDeleteMmmmm mmmm! Those smoky pear bites look tasty. I love eating food with contrasting textures, temps, and tastes. The fact that they're bite-sized makes them even better!
These sound incredibly awesome! I love how you are able to make fun, "snack" food for special occasions - I really enjoyed that around the holidays also! A bunch of birthdays are coming up in my life; I'm looking at some of these fun but not totally off-plan things to make! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteEmily --> You're welcome! I've been really trying hard to find snacks for special occasions that aren't those "borderline" things built around almond flour, etc. I'm glad to know they're helping you, too. I definitely believe there's a place in my life for "real treats," but I'm trying to make sure they're very few and far between -- 'cause, frankly, there are just too many "regular" days when I want to celebrate :-)
ReplyDeleteThose look amazing! I probably should cut back on my bacon consumption, but I keep finding cool recipes! What's a girl to do?!
ReplyDeleteAmy --> Do we need to have a bacon intervention?!
ReplyDeleteThe pears with salt, cinnamon, and paprika are SO good. I totally recommend the pears without the bacon, too.
Probably! I actually made the Bacon Bourbon Brownies last week, and nearly died of happiness. I will try the pears with just the spices, though - I'm intrigued by that flavor combo!
ReplyDeleteOMG. I only made those brownies once, but the delicious memories linger.
ReplyDeleteI'm doing Whole 30 and most bacon I've found has sugar in the ingredients. But, I finally just bit the bullet and bought some of the all natural stuff from trader joe's. There is sugar in the ingredients but the final product has 0g of sugar. I hope this is considered ok...because it was amazing!
ReplyDeleteSnazzyGina --> I think technically even trace sugar isn't allowed during the Whole30, but I wouldn't think you need to start over on Day 1 for that... unless you're being a 1000% purist. Post-Whole30, trace sugar is one of those things you just have to determine a philosophy for. I don't worry about the sugar in my Penzeys pizza seasoning, for example, but I don't eat any other added sugar on a daily basis. Glad you like the bacon+pear combo.
ReplyDelete