Bacon Spinach Cheese Ball

BACON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok just had to get that out.

Today I'm participating in the Surprise Recipe Swap, and I was assigned to Heather's blog, Sugar Dish Me. 

I really had a hard time choosing a recipe. I narrowed it down to like 10 recipes and seriously wanted to make them all! So I decided to go with a recipe that I already had one of the ingredients for.... bacon.

I love the idea of her adorable Bite-Size Bacon Spinach Cheese Balls for little appetizers to serve at a party. So cute! I decided to just make one big cheese ball though out of laziness. And I was a little hesitant about the nuts so I left those out. A part of me was wondering how pine nuts would taste instead of pecans or walnuts, but I didn't do it. Bacon, spinach, cheese, and onions were stellar enough components.

Bacon Spinach Cheese Ball
slightly adapted from Sugar Dish Me

• 6 slices bacon
• 6 ounces fresh spinach
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup onion, finely minced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 (8 ounce) block of cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar jack cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper     

In a large skillet cook the bacon until crisp. Set aside to cool and drain on paper towels. Chop when cool.

Drain all but 1 tablespoon bacon grease from the skillet. Add the spinach and cook over medium heat until wilted and cooked through. Sprinkle the spinach with salt and set aside on a cutting board to cool. Chop finely when cooled.

Add the onion to the skillet and cook until it's translucent and a tiny bit golden at the edges. Add the garlic to the skillet and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Place the cream cheese in a large bowl. Add cheese, onions, garlic, half of the chopped bacon, chopped spinach, and cayenne pepper and stir well.

Roll the cream cheese mixture into a large ball and then roll in the remaining chopped bacon. Wrap tightly and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Printable Recipe




































This was so good, we ate half of it in one sitting. Maybe next time I'll be brave and try it with some nuts!

Click on the logo below to join yourself!  

 






Linking up here.  



Peace, and bacon grease!

Endive, Avocado, and Bacon Salad with Chipotle Ranch Dressing

Time for another one of the many challenges I participate in... the Eating the Alphabet Recipe Challenge, hosted by the lovely Brenda at Meal Planning Magic!

This month the letters were E or F, and remember you have to choose a vegetable, fruit, bean or grain. I chose endive because I had never eaten it before.

 






















Did you know there are different kinds of endive? I didn't, until I got to the store and saw just plain endive, which looked like lettuce kinda, and Belgian endive, which looked like tiny little white corn on the cob husks, and are hollow when peeled off the head. I went with the endive lettuce. When I got home I saw that the original recipe called for California endive. Good God, could endive be anymore confusing?  :)

Oh well, it was still delicious. I mean, how can you go wrong with all those ingredients in a salad? Avocado, bacon, homemade dressing with chipotles! And I added some diced onions, just because. And let's be honest here, the endive was just there to soak up all that dressing. What, isn't that the purpose of lettuce in a salad? :) I kid, I kid. Kinda.

Endive, Avocado, and Bacon Salad with Chipotle Ranch Dressing
adapted from All Day I Dream About Food

*Yields: 2 small side salads

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons mayo
• 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 gloves garlic, minced
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon adobo sauce
• 3/4 teaspoon dried dill weed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Salad:

• 1 head of endive lettuce, chopped
• 1 avocado, chopped
• 1/2 a roma tomato, diced
• 2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1-2 tablespoons red onion, chopped
• 1-2 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese

For the dressing, combine all ingredients in a sealable glass jar and shake vigorously.

For the salad, divide chopped endive lettuce among two salad plates. Sprinkle with avocado, tomatoes, bacon, onion, and cheese. Drizzle with dressing. Remaining dressing can be stored in fridge.
  

Printable Recipe

























Be sure to check out my past Eating the Alphabet Recipe Challenge entries. You're bound to find some keepers.

   
Linking up here.  


Peace, and bacon grease!

Restaurant Review: Firehouse Subs

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you already saw me post a collage from the Firehouse Subs blogger event I was invited to, but I HAD to blog about it also to give you the full scoop! 

Right off I noticed their cute dalmation themed tables. Oh and looky, aren't we special :)



















There's a cute fire hydrant container for their datil pepper hot sauce. Adorbs! (sorry, co-founder in the background).

The co-founder, Robin Sorensen, came to share his story and the story of Firehouse Subs with us. Firehouse Subs is all about 3 things: hearty and flavorful food, heartfelt service, and public safety. I found him to be really relateable and funny. PJ and I both liked him alot. His father was a firefighter and that is how the name and design of the restaurant came about. He explained how Firehouse Subs originated in Jacksonville, FL but has expanded to over 600 locations across the nation. He seems like he really cares about quality food, even if it means paying more for the good stuff. He also seemed very genuine, that he really cared about customer service and giving back to the community. He told a story of how a rude customer went off on him once for not having honey mustard, and he wanted to tell her to leave but instead went and got her a honey mustard from Honey Baked Ham nearby and brought that back for her and said here's one for your sandwich now and I promise to have that in my restaurant next time you come. Sounds like he would go the distance to make a customer happy and keep him/her coming back for more.

To further demonstrate their desire to give back, he explained how they went to areas affected by Hurricane Katrina and Sandy, as well as to Haiti, to serve people after natural disasters. That's my kinda place.

First, can I say that I love their warm buns. They are different from Jimmy John's because they serve hot subs on warm buns. And they're killin Subway. Subway isn't even on the same level.

The first sub we got to try was the Hook and Ladder, with smoked turkey breast, Virginia honey ham, and melted Monterey Jack, served Fully Involved meaning with mayo, lettuce, tomato, onion, and mustard. This was PJ's fave, and I was surprised because it had honey ham on it and he usually doesn't like ham. But you can't deny this goodness. I loved it too!

Next up, the New York Steamer, with corned beef brisket, pastrami, melted provolone, mustard, mayo, and Italian dressing. PJ's was a little drowning in the Italian dressing, but mine was perfect. I loved this sub as well, the meat was sooooo tender. They get this tender from steaming the meat. I wish my grocery store deli would take note!

Next we were served the Italian Sub, with Genoa salami, pepperoni, ham, melted provolone, Italian dressing, and seasonings, served Fully Involved as well. This was my least favorite of all of them because it was just a basic Italian Sub and there were just others that stood out more. Still good, just not my fave.

And the finale.... the Smokehouse Beef & Cheddar Brisket, with USDA Choice beef brisket smoked over hickory for 16+ hours, then smothered in melted cheddar and Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce and mayo. Again, the meat was oh so tender. PJ didn't like this one, that man I tell you, he's crazy. He said he doesn't like bbq sauce and cheese together really. I loved it. And Sweet Baby Ray's is what I use at home so loved that they used this brand as well. I ordered this again when we went back the next day :)

 
We also got a treat at the end, a fresh made lemon cookie.

 
They even gave us some more goodies in addition to the yummy food! A bucket with a shirt, a USB, and some more info on Firehouse Subs. Oh, and some gift cards to keep us coming back for more. Yes please!

I had to get a shot of all their hot sauces. Now that's a hot sauce stash if I ever did see one!

I felt right at home with my fellow bloggers. This was like the only time I didn't feel awkward busting out the camera to take pics of cute tabletops, decor, and half-bitten sandwiches. So glad someone understands me :)

We liked it so much that we went back the next day to the Blue Ash location. As we expected, the service wasn't as good... no one greeting us at the door as we entered. I'm sure that happened at the blogger event because the co-founder was there so they were on their best behavior. Unfortunately, the employees behind the counter weren't the friendliest either. So they missed the mark a bit on the "heartfelt service" they boast of. It also could have been cleaner... there was spilled pop on the pop station, and when we went to sit at a table there was crap on it and it needed to be clean. So this location didn't score big in those areas, but the food was still just as good! I decided to try their Cherry Limeade that they make there, and it didn't have any lime flavor at all to me, just kinda a watered down cherry flavor. So I was a little disappointed there because I love cherry limeade and it's their own signature drink.

Aside from those things, we'll be back for the food! Please, pretty please, open one up on the westside of Cincinnati! We'll be regulars for sure :)

(On a side note, what is up with blogger's spacing issues?!? It is driving me nuts!). 


Peace, and bacon grease!

Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark

Challenge time!

For this month's Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge (hosted by Sheryl at Lady Behind the Curtain) we had to make something with CARAMEL and PRETZELS!

So many options. I LOVE caramel. Tons of sweet and salty recipes were calling my name. A salted caramel pretzel bark that I've seen floating around pinterest won me over though.

It reminded me a lot of my Saltine Toffee cuz of the saltiness but using pretzels instead of saltine crackers, and also like my Chocolate Almond Pretzel Toffee minus the nuts. 

So obviously, it was just as delicious as those! 

I used a large rectangle baking sheet, so it took a lot of mini rounded pretzel twists to cover the whole thing. I ended up doubling the caramel mixture because it just wasn't enough to cover all the pretzels, plus let's be honest here, too much caramel? Is that even a thing?
  

Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark
adapted from Mama Say What?!

• mini round pretzel twists
• 4 sticks butter *remember that I doubled the caramel sauce to fully cover my large pan lined with pretzels
• 2 cups brown sugar  *remember that I doubled the caramel sauce to fully cover my large pan lined with pretzels
• 1-2 cups chocolate chips
• sea salt 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil and lay a single layer of pretzels covering the whole pan. 

In a large saucepan, melt the butter and the brown sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Let it boil gently just until it starts to form a nice smooth caramel, letting it bubble a little to get thick. 

Remove from heat and pour evenly over the layer of pretzels. Put in oven at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. 

Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with the chocolate chips. The hot caramel sauce will melt the chocolate, then spread evenly with an offset spatula. Sprinkle generously with sea salt.

Let cool on the counter top for a bit and then put in the freezer for at least two to three hours. Break into pieces to serve. 

Printable Recipe

Love challenges as much as I do? Well hop on over and sign up for next month's challenge where we'll be using Coconut and Lime!

Linking up here. 

Peace, and bacon grease!

 

Grilled Corn with Chipotle Butter and Lime Salt

I just shared an amazing and simple recipe for Chipotle Butter with you, and now I'm here to tell you one of the many things to use that glorious butter on.

Grilled corn!

Oh how I love spring and summer and busting out the grill so I can indulge in some grilled corn on the cob. There's almost nothing better. And grilled corn tastes delicious with some regular melted butter of course, but why not amp that goodness up a bit? Ok, a lot!

 
Grilled corn on the cob + Chipotle Butter + Lime Salt.

Grilled Corn with Chipotle Butter and Lime Salt
ever-so-slightly adapted from Carlyklock

• 2 ears corn on the cob, shucked
• Chipotle Butter, melted (however much you want but the recipe yields 1 stick)
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• zest of 1 lime

Add kosher salt and lime zest to a small bowl and stir to combine.  Set aside. 

Grill corn directly over medium-high heat, turning occasionally until browned and slightly charred on all sides. 

Melt chipotle butter and pour over grilled corn. Top with lime salt. (I had some lime salt leftover but let's be serious, that isn't a problem at all!)

Printable Recipe

I hope it's starting to feel like spring over in your neck of the woods.

Today it's 79 degrees and sunny here in Cincinnati and I'm loving every minute of it!

Linking up here. 

Peace, and bacon grease!

Chipotle Butter

Mmmm.... butter.

Not just any butter though. Butter loaded with tons of flavor. We've got Irish butter which is all fancy, some chives or green onions, and the star of the show... chipotle peppers! It really gives it a nice heat.

No that there below is not an ear of corn. But it was about to be melted and poured atop some of that corn in the background (I'll write up a separate post for that). And in the future, really anything that I can get my hands on that requires butter. Or is better with butter. Which is pretty much everything. Ok, I guess you can't use this butter in baked goods, that would be a bit odd. But pretty much any kind of savory dish that calls for butter mmk?


 
Chipotle Butter

• 1 stick salted butter (we used Irish butter)
• 1-2 chipotle pepper(s) in Adobo sauce, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons chives or green onions, finely chopped

Set butter out at room temperature to soften. In a bowl, add butter, chopped chipotles, and chopped chives/green onions. Mix well. Put in fridge to harden, and melt when ready to serve.


Printable Recipe

It's so easy too. Just chop up some chipotle peppers... you can even do that in your food processor! Slice some chives or green onions... you can just snip away using scissors. And voila, you're good to go and you've got delicious butter to last you a few meals... hopefully it can last that long :)

Linking up here.


Peace, and bacon grease!