A Girl's Gotta Eat!

Recently, I needed an item for a bake sale at work. I was tired of making the same old thing: cookies, brownies, etc. I wanted something out of the norm, something delicious … something with bacon. I've seen recipes similar to this one before, but always talked myself out of making them. It seemed t o o complicated, too  precise,  too  sticky. This time, however, I made the mistake of mentioning to co-workers that I was thinking about trying something new. Once I told them what it was (Bacon Bourbon Popcorn), it was all over. I was committed. Honestly, this was not as tricky as I thought it might be. I popped my corn using the stovetop method. (HINT: scoop out as many of the  unpopped  kernels as possible once the popcorn has cooled off. It's so much easier that after they're swimming in caramel sauce.) Also, I opted to cook the bacon in the oven. I've been cooking it this way for a while, and it's the best way to cook large amounts at a time and drain ...

Today was a triple threat in the Nash house: a Boston game was on TV, Titans are playing tonight, and Mike had his annual Fantasy Football draft. Even better, baseball started at 3pm, and Titans are playing a night game. (There was a brief disagreement about what to watch live and what to record when we thought they both played night games.) Anyway, after a very tasty breakfast of bacon and eggs, we decided to rock snacks/appetizers for dinner tonight. We had homemade salsa, homemade black bean hummus, and needed one more thing to round out the "meal." Once again, Food Network Magazine and one of their "50 things" booklets came through for us. Horseradish Kielbasa bites sounded perfect! The recipe is so easy, I'm not even going to list it all formally at the bottom like I usually do. Make a sauce with the following: 1/4 cup sour cream, 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard, and 2 teaspoons horseradish. I didn't meas...

It’s that time of year again when the farmers’ market is brimming with tasty treats, and our CSA is full of goodies fresh from the farm. As it was last year, our first couple boxes have been mostly various types of leafy greens and lettuces. The lettuce is always the easiest to fix…nothing beats a super-fresh salad with some grilled chicken or steamed shrimp. Some of the other greens take a bit more imagination. Luckily, Delvin Farms always sends out recipes with their emails of what to expect in the coming week. Last year, Mike and I both had kale for the first time. We tried a couple recipes, but the kale chips were our favorite, and very easy to fix. This year we wanted to try something different, something that preferably didn’t require us to turn on the oven when our A/C was already working overtime to keep up with the 95-degree heat outside (in May!!). We opted for kale bruschetta, and made the crostini in the toaster oven. The recipe was easy to put together. I do thin...

Mike first introduced me to the delightful treat known as fried pickles several years ago at Toot's; it was love at first bite. Unfortunately, the closest Toot's to our house is about 30 minutes away. I knew I needed to figure out how to make these at home. I've made the following recipe several times now, including twice for the Fourth of July while we had friends over. Needless to say, there aren't ever any leftovers. We had the turkey fryer going anyway, so that's how we fried these. We've also used our fry baby, but it does take longer since you can't fry as many at one time. Find the recipe we use at: Fried Dill Pickles. I buy a large jar of kosher dill pickles and slice them myself so I can make them as thin or as thick as we'd like. For the full dining experience, serve with ranch dressing. As a side note, for those live in or near the Mt. Juliet area, if you're in the mood for fried pickles but don't feel like frying your own, I...

I don’t know about your family, but Thanksgiving with my family is an all-day affair filled with preparing pies, turkey, and trimmings, watching some football, and getting everything ready for that moment when we all sit down at the table and eat until our pants begin to feel perhaps a little uncomfortable. All that prep work makes us hungry long before that button thingy on the turkey pops (even if all we’re doing is watching someone else)! And so, usually I bring some sort of appetizer to tide us over until the big event. This year, not knowing when exactly we were eating, I opted to try 2 new recipes: Greek Layered Dip and Beer Cheese Spread. And here I will toot my own horn (Toot, toot!) because I think they were both quite delicious. The layered dip was like your traditional Mexican 7-layer dip that has guacamole, beans, cheese, what have you, but instead has hummus, tzatziki sauce, ground lamb, feta and some tasty veggies. The Beer Cheese Spread was easy to whip up, made plenty...

I've been wanting to try this one for a while, and when I had bananas turning brown as Mike and I were packing for a weekend camping trip, I decided it was time to put said fruit to good use. Into the freezer the ailing bananas went, and out came the recipe for Anne's Breakfast Banana Bars . The recipe was easy to stir together and smelled divine while baking. I'm holding off trying them until breakfast tomorrow, but I really don't see how they could be bad, and it seemed a slightly more nutritious option than making Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (which still sound tasty, but I'm trying to exert a little self control here, and they wouldn't help with the banana situation anyway). I used blueberry Craisins for the dried cranberries and almonds instead of walnuts or pecans. Also, I lined my baking pan with foil, then coated with nonstick spray so the bars would be really easy to remove from the pan. UPDATE: Very tasty indeed. If you cut the entire pan into 12 equal p...