This is for a bacon loving granddaughter - the others are getting their favs (peppermint bark for one and chocolate peanut butter crackers for the other) but this one is a bacon loving gal and I thought I'd bring something bacony on my visit this coming weekend.

GLAZED BACON

1/2 lb. bacon, sliced
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
2 Tbs. red wine

Place the bacon in a large baking pan and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until slightly crisp. Drain the fat off. Mix the remaining ingredients together thoroughly, then pour over the bacon. Bake at 350 degrees until it bubbles, making sure bacon glaze is covering both sides, approx. 10 minutes.

Remove the bacon from the pan and place on wax paper or aluminum foil. Cut the bacon slices in half, if desired. Do not refrigerate or cover, but let sit at room temperature until ready to serve. It should be dry to the touch, not sticky. If it is limp or sticky, bake a bit longer, about 2 minutes.

At a party last year, someone made those classic slice and bake cheddar cheese coins but used bacon grease for part of the butter in the recipe and added the crumbled bacon along with the cheese to the dough. Mmmmmmm!

Preheat oven to 350°. soften the cream cheese in a mixing bowl. Add the mayo, cheese & green onion; mix well. Transfer mixture to a baking dish. Top w/bacon & crushed crackers. Bake 15-20 minutes or until bubbly. Serve w/toast points or crackers.~~Food for Thought

STUFFED CHERRY TOMATOES (serves 12)
12 oz bacon
1 cup mayonnaise
1 green onion top, finely chopped
Pepper to taste
2 pints cherry tomatoes
Fresh chives, cut into 1" strips
1 pint alfalfa sprouts (for the serving platter)

Fry the bacon in a skillet until crisp; drain. Crumble the bacon. Combine the bacon, mayo, green onion & pepper in a bowl & mix well. Chill, covered for 1 hour. Cut the top from each tomato & discard. Remove the seeds & pulp carefully, leaving a shell. Invert the tomato shells on a paper towel to drain. Arrange the tomatoes cut side up in a dish. Gill with the bacon mixture. Place the chive strips decoratively in the tomatoes. Spread the sprouts on a serving platter; arrange the stuffed tomatoes over the sprouts.~~TX Ties

Diane's Home Cookin Chapter: Heirlooms , Traditional & Ethnic

Gram Lynch's Hot Bacon Dressing
===============================
5 pieces of bacon and drippings
1-1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons vinegar
5 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon mustard
lots of black pepper
. Fry the bacon and remove from the pan. Pour out about half of the
drippings. Mix the water, flour, vinegar, sugar, mustard and black
pepper together in a bowl. Add the mix to the remaining bacon drippings
in the pan and cook over medium heat until thick. You may need to
adjust the sugar to taste the dressing should be sweet enough to
counter the bitterness of the greens your using(dip a leaf in the
dressing to test the taste). Pour the dressing over the greens while
still hot. Crumble the bacon on top.

( Gram always used this dressing on dandelion greens & then garnished
with chopped hard boiled egg).

Spinach, Artichoke, and Bacon Dip BH&G

2 10-oz. packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
12 slices bacon
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 6-oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped. (I prefer non-marinated hearts)
1 8-oz. carton light sour cream
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Squeeze spinach to remove as much liquid as possible.

Cook bacon until crisp; drain and crumble; set aside - reserve 1 T. bacon drippings in skillet.

Add shallots to skillet, cook until golden. Add garlic and cook for a minute or so. Stir in artichoke hearts and spinach. Add sour cream, mayonnaise, and pepper. Cook and stir over medium heat just until heated through. Stir in bacon.

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.

I have also done these with a shrimp "paste" that was very well received. I just mashed up cooked shrimp with some seafood sauce and proceeded as described.

Mash a tin of sardines packed in tomato sauce, or any other of the sauces they are packed in that float your boat... just not plain sardines,

Cut bacon slices in half, spread with the paste, roll up and skewer with a toothpick.

Bake in a hot oven ( 425 ish) until almost done.

Drain on paper towels.

When ready to serve throw under the broiler, turning once, until they are nice and crisp.

hmmmmm. may have to do a few retro treats this holiday season.......maybe add in a cheese ball and cheese cubes stuck with toothpicks on a pineapple! ! LOL

BACON CHEESE FINGERS
10 slices whole wheat bread cut into thirds
1 cup grated Cheddar
8 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled
3-4 TBL mayo
1 TBL onion, grated
1/2 tsp celery salt

Mix together the last 5 ingredients. spread on bread slices & bake in a preheated 325° oven for 10 minutes.~~Pass the Plate

These have been quite popular whenever I have made them.

Shelley S.

I've saved all of the recipes in my files, yummo.