Ah, there are days like that. Steve in Baltimore

Haven't tried this one but it sounds interesting: Frozen Peanut Butter Pie with Candied Bacon Serves8 Active time:30 min Start to finish:6 1/2 hr (includes freezing) Candied bacon might seem like the ultimate example of gilding the lily, but it adds a sweet, smoky edge to this already luscious pie. Elvis would be proud. 7 bacon slices (about 6 ounces) 3/4 cup sugar, divided 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon About 35 chocolate wafers, finely ground in a blender or food processor (about 2 cups crumbs) 3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted 1 cup milk 1 cup creamy peanut butter (not natural) 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 1/4 cups chilled heavy cream 1/3 cup salted roasted peanuts, finely chopped Equipment:a 10-inch pie plate (6-cup capacity) Cook bacon (in 2 batches if necessary) in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, turning once, until lightly browned on edges but still flexible, 5 to 6 minutes total per batch. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Pour off fat from skillet and arrange bacon in skillet in 1 layer. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon over bacon and cook over low heat, turning occasionally with tongs, until sugar has dissolved and then caramelized (sugar melts very slowly and burns easily; reduce heat if necessary after sugar begins to caramelize) and coats bacon, 8 to 10 minutes. (Bacon will be dark and look lacquered.) Transfer bacon with tongs to a cutting board to cool. When bacon is cool, finely chop 5 slices, leaving remaining 2 slices whole. Stir together wafer crumbs and butter, then press onto bottom and up side of pie plate. Chill pie shell. Heat remaining 1/2 cup sugar and milk in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and whisk in peanut butter and vanilla until combined well, then transfer to a bowl and cool completely in an ice bath, stirring occasionally. Beat cream with an electric mixer until it just holds stiff peaks, then fold into peanut butter mixture with peanuts and chopped bacon gently but thoroughly. Transfer filling to pie shell, smoothing top. Cut remaining 2 bacon slices into 2-inch-long pieces and arrange in a decorative starburst shape in center of pie. Freeze pie, uncovered, until frozen hard, about 5 hours. Let pie soften slightly in refrigerator before serving, about 30 minutes. Cooks note: Pie can be frozen, covered after 5 hours with plastic wrap and foil, up to 2 days. Here is a link that might be useful: Gourmet

I don't eat much bacon, but I like Turkey bacon too. And I wouldn't live without a box of VELVEETA in my pantry or refrigerator. Oh and just for the record. I like spam too. But I don't eat much beef. It makes my stomach ache for days after if I do. Yep, I am opinionated and quirky, but you just might learn to love me anyway. LOL Oh and for the record, I really am trying to eat a healthier diet and I don't eat a lot of velveeta nor do I eat much spam anymore. But when you got to have a fried spam fix or a mac n cheese fix. Oh you just got to do it now and then. Gourmet I say, positively gourmet! Helen

Texas_Gem, great QOTW! Kudos for teaching your kids to cook, clean, do laundry, etc. My parents also did that with us and I did it with my two boys and girl. About a decade ago, I was in the market for a new tool kit and Sears had a basic one on a great sale. I ended up buying one for my son too, who was about 22, and added in some things it didn't have, such as a hammer, duct tape, picture hangers, etc. I sorta swelled with pride, when Joe told me about a year later that it was one of the best presents he'd ever gotten and that he used it on a very regular basis. OTOH, neither he nor my daughter ever mastered my clean as you go cooking technique. When I cook, by the time dinner is served, the counters are clean and cooking dishes at a minimum are rinsed and stacked neatly in the sink. When they cook, it looks like a category 5 hurricane has swept through the kitchen, lol! :-) Depending upon your definition of "cooking," I cook almost every day. It was just myself for the past few years, but now my daughter (age 30) lives with me. I do really enjoy cooking and puttering around in the kitchen, but it's hard to cook for one, and even two is not as ideal as cooking for a larger family. So I categorize a lot of what I do as "heating up" or "assembling" a meal. Breakfast is cold cereal, juice, and coffee most days, and something like eggs and hash browns and toast about once a week. Joy and I both work mostly from home. I'd say we heat up or assemble lunch 3-4 days a week--sandwiches or canned soup, a simple salad, maybe some tortilla chips and salsa. Another 2-3 days we eat breakfast really late and skip lunch, or we skip breakfast and do brunch. The other day or two we eat lunch out while running errands. We cook dinner, on average, six nights a week. Sorry Texas_Gem, but Hamburger and Tuna Helper do count as entrees, but only once a week. Mainly due to time and budget constraints we cook simple meals. Once a week or so we do something in the crock pot like chili, a chicken, soup, etc. We probably do tacos once a week. One or two meals are more elaborate, such as eggplant Parmesan, lasagne, spaghetti with either home cooked marinara or Alfredo sauce, babooti, etc. One to two nights are leftovers, and one day is either take out or a "lazy day," which means a frozen pizza or frozen dinners, lol. We steam veggies every day with dinner and rice when the entree isn't pasta. We make salads every day with dinner too. Fruit lives in the fruit bowl or fridge, and is our go-to for snacks. Now that I've bought the house, we are going to have a veggie garden! We're very excited about that! Although our cooking isn't gourmet, a well designed kitchen would be really, really helpful. It's not so much the design, as it follows the ice, water, rock, fire flow, it's simply the lack of counter space, because everything is packed in so tight in this small eat-in kitchen! I don't need a "chef's kitchen," just some basic, hard working appliances and a decent amount of prep space. Ample storage and pantry space would be icing on the cake! I think I've got it figured out, but it will be a couple of years before the kitchen remodel, so lots of time to change and learn! Great question! I enjoyed reading everyone's answers! Have a great day! :-)