It’s can be hard to find the perfect gift for the one who “has it all” or at least has what they need and would like to select their own “wants.”
My husband is turning 40! (a great looking, awesome 40 year old), I want him to know I put serious thought into his gift. So I’m making chocolate covered bacon.
Bacon!!
It’s a rare person that doesn’t love bacon 🥓. Crispy, melt in your mouth bacon, makes every dish better.
Which reminds me have you heard Jim Gaffagen’s bacon jokes, 👉 while you eat chocolate covered bacon.
If you’ve worked with chocolate you know it can be tricky if heated and cooled too quickly you can get “bloom” where the chocolate butter separates and white spots appear on top.
Or its melted at too high of a temperature and it seizes up, losing its milky smooth texture and becomes a chocky solid.
This is how you do it right.
Bake the bacon till crispy, but not burnt 😊 and let it cool completely.
If you have a double boiler use it. ☺️ You will beat water in the lower bowl until very warm, but not boiling. It will melt your chocolate and keep it liquid with less risk of messing up your chocolate’s composition.
If you have a microwave melt on medium to low heat for 20 second increments mixing between each time. I added about 1 1/2 Tbs butter to 8 oz of dark chocolate. The butter is to increase its spreadability (which in not sure is a word) 😂
Heart until just melted, be careful not to overcook add it will burn and ruin your chocolate. Then use a pastry brush to brush the chocolate into your slices of bacon.
After I was done spreading chocolate I placed them in a warm (not burning oven) to even out the chocolate).
Sprinkle with course salt to balance out the sweetness of the chocolate and enhance the bacon flavor.
Then package with string and a card and you’ve got an awesome guy gift – or the perfect gift for anyone with refined taste buds. 😉
Happy creating! Comment with other ideas you have for the men in your life and /or those who already have it all.
Grilled cheese is an amazing food. Definitely in the top 10 of my favorite foods. The best part, they never have to get boring.
The classic combination of grilled cheese and tomatoe soup – is perfect, never gets old. Grilled cheese buzzfeed sites pump the internet full of ideas to make sure you have seen every single style known to man.
But the internet hasn’t seen anything like this… Yet! and it’s amazing. These grilled cheese sandwich recipes are to die for.
Double Grilled Cheese and Ranch
Sprinkle cheese and dry ranch mix (about a 1/4 tsp) on top.
Here is another shot with the same idea I just used regular bread and Greek Yogurt Dips Ranch Mix. The thick slices of cheese will give you more of a cheesy sandwich. The shredded cheese will melt up faster.
To get the double grilled cheese you can either put the cheese right on top while cooking, let it melt a bit then flip it.
Oorrr, put the cheese right on the grill and flip your sandwich onto the cheese immediately. Let it grill until the cheese inside is melted and the cheese outside is perfectly crisp.
Voila! You’ve got double grilled cheese and ranch perfection. The cheese outside hits your tongue immediately and adds an extra layer of crisp right before the soft cheesy center.
The dry ranch mix gives a subtle flavor upgrade that the 5 year old to 40 year old equally loved.
I’m counting this as a home run!
Gourmet Grilled Cheese Add-Ons
When it comes to comfort foods, grilled cheese is right up there. Here are a few more gourmet ideas to make your taste buds happy. If you are looking to change things up a bit, try this selection of creative grilled cheese recipes.
Grilled Cheese and Avocado
Avocados are an amazing super food. A great source of healthy fat and full of vitamins.
Avocadosare packed with vitamins C, E, K, and B-6, as well as riboflavin, niacin, folate, pantothenic acid, magnesium, and potassium. They also provide the fats you need such as lutein, beta-carotene, and omega-3 fatty acids. Not only that, avocadosare full ofhealthy, beneficialfats that help keepyoufull and satiated.
That must be why I love avocados so much – it makes me feel satisfied after eating and stops craving. When you give your body what it needs the cravings subside.
Grilled Cheese with Bacon
Bacon is the ultimate food right? Is there anything bacon can’t do? There is bacon ice cream, bacon sprinkled on donuts, chocolate covered bacon – check out my easy recipe, trust me you’ll love it.
And while you’re at it, you might as well try grilled cheese with bacon and avocado together. These two were meant to be…in a sandwich together. 😊
Grilled Cheese with Apricot Jam
I know what you are thinking, ‘she’s crazy!’ I thought it was too when I first heard about it. If you like to try new things, then you have to try this, it like nothing you’ve had before – unless you’ve had this exact sandwich before. Then I’ve got nothing new for ya.
Many years ago, my amazing big brother married into a family that all ate cheese sandwiches with apricot jam in the middle. I resisted for years, until one day I thought, “Here’s this whole group of people who think it taste good, there’s got to be something to it.”
…. It was good!
Apricot Jam cheese sandwiches taste nothing like grilled cheese, it’s a whole new experience. Go in with that mind set and you’ll like it.
Grill the sandwich first, then open it up and put some jam in the middle.
Which Cheeses are the Best for Grilled Cheese?
These were Google‘s top pick when asked, cheeses for the best grilled cheese sandwich. So if you’re wanting to up it a notch for a fancy grilled cheese sandwich style, you may want to try one of these. Feta, goat cheese, havarti, Swiss, Cheddar, Muenster, Provolone and American – all this according to Thrillest.com.
I was a bit surprised to find that my favorite cheese upgrade was not listed – Pepper Jack. If you like a bit of spice you will love this cheese grilled with a few slices of crispy bacon.
I usually just go with plain old Cheddar, because you can’t go wrong there. If I’m not cooking for kids and I have Pepper Jack, it’s the go to. Which isn’t often because my super power, among other things, is to raise little humans into adults and they always need to eat…and they like Cheddar.
I hope you enjoy these grilled cheese sandwich twists, especially grilled cheese and ranch – I think you’ll love it.
Let me know how it goes. Please comment and subscribe for more awesome how – to.
A few years ago I created a Bouquet Dinner for my family on Valentine’s. It was an immediate hit. Our kids now look forward to it as soon as they see the Valentine’s decorations go up in the stores (which is like right after Christmas 😅).
The thing I love about Valentine’s Day is we don’t have to spend huge amounts of money to show others how important they are to us.
Of course businesses are often trying to convince us that a diamond bracelet or luxury cruise is the only way to show your love. We all know better. 😊 While those things are nice, real love is expressed in less complex ways.
When I feel truly loved it is because someone remembered me. My husband gives me a music mix of the very best songs from the previous year. I love it because whenever I listen to it I think of him. The CD also introduces me to the latest hits which I have to admit is needed. I quickly get behind on what’s up and coming.
Children are natural Valentine masters. They are so incredibly loving and forgiving and their cards and presents are truly from the heart.
A few of the homemade Valentine’s I’ve gotten over the years. ❤️
Last year my son was struggling with keeping his cool. His teacher used a little post it note to track expected and unexpected behavior and send it to me at the end of the day. This is probably the most beautiful way he could show his love for me at the time. All smiles and no frowns ❤️❤️.
It seemed only natural for me to make a fun, creative dinner to show my affection for my family. I make notes and everything, but this way I can feed their bellies and souls. They also never forget this tradition, their eyes light up when they see Valentine’s Dinner.
It’s exciting to “pick” what you want to eat. With such a unique way of serving dinner the whole room is jumping with excitement.
A few needed items
Flower vases to hold your bouquets
Cooking skewers
Your choice of meat, fruit /Vegitables and bread
Our Bouquet Versions
Each year we try something a little different. One year we had meatballs, smokies and bacon alternating on a skewer. Another year I tried my hand at bacon roses which I thought would be an especially tasty way to my husband’s heart.
Chocolate Covered Bacon
You could also try chocolate covered bacon – which is actually amazing. Here is the recipe and how-to here. Or make bacon roses and then dip in chocolate! I will likely be trying that this year.
Inside-out Chocolate Strawberries
If you look closely, you’ll see these chocolate strawberries have the chocolate on the inside. I found that chocolate covered strawberries were a little messy to eat. The chocolate shell would break and fall off before you could eat it with the strawberry. You’re using two hands, one to eat and one to catch the chocolate falling off.
This version you simply pour the chocolate inside the strawberry. There is often a hole inside so it makes it easy. It’s perfect to eat for little ones and I actually like it better with a chocolate core.
Pigs-in-a-Blanket
Pigs-in-a-blanket are easy to do on a stick as well. To mix it up a little, try one of these versions Cheesy Ranch or a puff pastry crust.
I also just discovered this completely easy to make Soft Pretzel recipe, which I’ll probably do this year for the Bouquet as well.
I was surprised that the Oreo’s on a stick were not a hit. I think the kids had already had so much sugar from school Valentine’s that they were ready for real food by dinner.
My amazing Valentine. He makes it easy to want to make Valentine’s Day special.
There are endless ideas to create a Bouquet meal. What would you put in an edible bouquet?
P. S.
You may be wondering if we get alone time – for an actual romantic dinner? The answer is yes, we will be going out just the two of us on the weekend.😊
Happy baking, until next time – which will likely be a home DIY!
Natalie
About Me
Hi, I’m Natalie. I’m a mother of four, an artist, and a DIYer that loves to reuse, recycle, and refurbish. I like power tools and teaching others how to save money while improving their home.
Recent Comments