Bacon Wrapped Crackers - Cocktail Party Heaven

Hi guys! The holidays are still upon us, which means (hopefully) some more fun parties to attend. With those parties usually comes some delicious cocktail party food!

My husband and I hosted our annual Christmas cocktail party a few weeks ago. Not a gathering goes by where our friends and family don't request Greg's bacon wrapped crackers! They are SO easy and a huge crowd pleaser. Check out what you'll need and step by step below. And if you need any more convincing than BACON WRAPPED CRACKERS, see photos below.

I know. Just ridiculously good looking, right?

What You'll Need:
(Makes about 25, depending on how many pieces of bacon in 1 pound)

• Club crackers
• 1 pound of bacon (preferably regular cut, not thick)
• Brown sugar
• Baking sheet with wire wrack 
• Measuring spoons

How To:

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees
2. Cut each piece of bacon in half
3. Put a teaspoon of brown sugar onto each cracker. Friendly tip - if you use a measuring spoon that's longer in shape, it allows for more even distribution on the cracker vs. a rounder shape teaspoon.
4. Wrap one slice of bacon around the sugar-covered cracker. Start at one end of the cracker, hold end of bacon tightly onto cracker, and wrap diagonally until cracker is wrapped snugly. The bacon should cover most of the cracker as shown in the photos.
5. Place on a wire rack on top of a baking sheet to avoid sogginess (seen below). 
6. Bake for 2 hours.
7. Can be served hot or at room temperature. 
8. Snag one while you can, there will be none left! 

Apple Roses!

Hi everyone! Hope you guys had a great Thanksgiving! We made these neat Apple Roses as a surprise Thanksgiving dessert treat and were really happy with the results. We did a trial run at home before the holiday, just to make sure they came out OK. They are really fun to make and not too difficult. They look really impressive, and are a great treat to take to someone's home as a host/hostess gift! The original recipe (see below) makes 6 roses, so we doubled it. They are the perfect light dessert after everyone eats too much and just wants a taste or something sweet. Highly recommend trying them!

click here for original recipe. 

Thanks for reading!

How To Make...Tropical Tacos!

Hi friends! This has become one of my husband and I's favorite weekday meals. It's so flavorful and most of all - pretty quick to make. Tropical tacos,  as we know call them, kinda happened by accident. We bought this sauce to try with pork, but realized after we got home that it's supposed to be for chicken. Don't worry - you won't be sorry. The flavor combination works just as well on pork tenderloin! Read on for the how to.

You'll Need:

• Pork tenderloin
• Gold's Dip n' Joy Sweet and Sour Saucy Chicken Sauce
• Shredded cheese
• Hot sauce
• Hard taco shells

1. Marinate a pork tenderloin overnight in Gold's Dip n' Joy Sweet and Sour Saucy Chicken Sauce.
2. Put in grill pan to get some color on the outside of the meat
3. Cut into cubes, then put back in the pan to cook through with more of the Gold's sauce and some hot sauce, if desired.
4. Serve in hard or soft taco shells with shredded Mexican 4 cheese blend.
5. Top with a little more hot sauce if you like things spicy!

The sweet and spicy sauce combined with the pork and crunch of the hard taco shell (and of course, cheese) is really kick ass. Enjoy!

Here's what the sauce looks like. Definitely a keeper!

Insomnia Cookies = Getting Cookies Delivered Straight to Your Face

Are you a late night snack lover? Do you live in New York or Philly? Do you love cookies? Do you love getting cookies delivered right to your FACE with little to no effort? Look no further – Insomnia Cookies has your back.

Probably the most ingenious service to ever grace earth, Insomnia Cookies delivers deliciousness directly to your door, and are open late. Like really late (3am!) Founded in a college dorm room (are you really surprised?) the company now has 70 locations and are still expanding. Late night study session? Cookies. Watching the game, hungry but can’t miss a beat? Cookies. Drunk Saturdays for no reason? Cookies. Think you get the idea.

Another thing I love – everything can be done online. Choosing the cookies (get a variety or all the same), pay and track your order all from their website. No cash, no phone calls. Just complete, unadulterated laziness and cookie consumption. And if you think they overlook important details, think again – they also serve cold milk.

Shane Confectionary - A Must See Vintage Gem!

I made a trip out to Philly last weekend, and knew one of my stops had to be the historic Shane Confectionary on Market Street. I read about the owners remarkable story (and of course, their candy) in Food Network magazine and was dying to check it out. A quick history: The brothers (Eric and Ryan Berley) bought Shane, which was the oldest continuously operated candy store in AMERICA since the late 1800’s. After a laborious restoration process, they re-opened it in 2011 to it’s beautiful, original glory. The vintage cabinets, the original floors, the beautiful old fashioned candy jars, even the employees are dressed for the time period. It really is a site to see. And I didn’t even get to the candy yet!

The shelves are chock full of hundreds of favorites and vintage classics, some of which are even made upstairs in what they call a “candy loft.” The shop launches you into nostalgia, even though I was clearly not alive in the late 1800’s. Our group had a really tough time choosing what we wanted to try – it seemed like the possibilities were ENDLESS. We decided on a small box of assorted chocolates of our choice (photo below). My favorite was the peanut butter sticks – think Reece’s peanut butter cup but 10 times better and crunchy. Check out below for some pretty photos of Shane Confectionary! I would highly recommend making the stop if you are ever in Philly. They also have a really neat blog - http://shanecandies.com/blog.

 

Does this look like a sight for sore eyes or what!

Chocolate on chocolate on chocolate

 
The back of the shop. They even serve fresh hot chocolate!

Back of the shop

One of the many beautiful handmade creations

Love the vibrant colors

They even got into the Halloween spirit with chocolate bats and candy pumpkin pops!

They even got into the Halloween spirit with chocolate bats and candy pumpkin pops! 

 So.much.candy.

 Cash register that they actually still use!

Our riches. The long ones are my favorite peanut butter sticks!!

One more item off my bucket list! Hope you guys enjoyed!

The Park Steakhouse - Park Ridge, NJ

Hi all! My husband and I just celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary (can’t believe it!) We wanted to find a local restaurant that wasn’t a chain. We live near a bunch of malls, and most of them contain chain restaurants. After some searching and reading great reviews, we decided on The Park Steakhouse. It was a bit of a drive from us – maybe 30 minutes – but was well worth it once we got there!

The restaurant is described as an “old-fashioned chophouse with a refined feel turning out dry-aged meat, seafood dishes and drinks.” We went on a Friday night, and thankfully we made a reservation – almost every seat was filled by the end of our meal! The place is on the smaller side which makes it nice and intimate. I believe there is also a room downstairs to have bigger parties of people.

Now onto the food. It was great! I had the lamb special and my husband had the suckling pig. Both were delicious. We also ordered a side of the Famous Lumpy mashed potatoes – loved them. Mashed is my favorite, and I love a good hearty thick mashed. We both ordered specialty drinks to start and got a glass of wine with dinner. We got a few scoops of sorbet as dessert (we were honestly stuffed) and a Sambuca. We were really impressed with how tasty the food was, and loved the atmosphere. Great place to talk, have a few drinks and eat some good food. Will definitely come back with our parents for a birthday or another special occasion!

Pepperoni Pizza Dip - Guy Fieri Recipe

Football season is back! What better way to celebrate than make fun football food? This pepperoni pizza dip will definitely satisfy your craving for pizza and a nice crunch. 

Look at all that cheesy goodness!

Major yum!

We used Guy Fieri's recipe with a few slight tweaks. We didn't add the mushrooms or the shallots. Once you prep everything, pop it in the oven for onl 20 minutes for the most satisfying game day dip! Original recipe here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/guy-fieri/pepperoni-pizza-dip-recipe.html