A Memory Quilted with Bacon ...

Good Morning ... This is a picture of LeAnna on her way to school this morning ... she was up WAY before the alarm went off ... Ugh! Especially since I went to bed so late - it was very hard for me to get up! We are leaving for Pigeon Forge this afternoon and will be gone until Saturday, so I was doing laundry, picking up here and there ... you know the routine ... I get "MORE" done after everyone else goes to bed!

Thanks to my husband I found $1.37 in the laundry - - Woo Hoo! Only $397.63 to go! (Paula Deen weekend at Opryland Hotel here I come!)

While we're on the subject - thought I'd share a memory ...

As a little girl, I remember my Aunt making an appetizer that really wasn't the best thing I've ever eaten, but it was "unique" and I like unique... so ... I guess because it was different it stuck out in my mind and of course I associated this "unique appetizer" with her. She was one of my favorite aunts and she passed away about a month after Nathan and I were married. We were very close and had a lot in common - mainly because we were both Diabetics. So through the years since then I've thought about her and also about this "unique appetizer" that I could actually in my mind see, smell and taste - but couldn't remember what it was called or how to make it. Then ... one day ... wouldn't you know ... I ran across it in a Paula Deen recipe book! Imagine that! =) I was so excited to finally be able to "quilt" this memory together with the missing info. I actually made it and served it as an appetizer at my annual Cookie Exchange party in December. I don't recall anyone actually saying "WOW - these are Great!" Can I have the recipe?! However, in the back of my mind - I got satisfaction in knowing that I was having a "moment" all by myself that evening that no one else even knew about! So ... here's the recipe ...

Bacon Crisps

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 pound sliced bacon, cut in half

1 sleeve Waverly Wafers or other buttery rectangular cracker

1. Preheat over to 250 degrees

2. Place 1 tsp of the cheese on each cracker and wrap tightly with a strip of bacon (no toothpick required!). Place the wrapped crackers on a broiler rack on a baking sheet and put the baking sheet on the oven rack; bake for 2 hours, or until the bacon is done. Do not turn. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Makes 3 dozen

(Paula Deen Note - we were a little impatient during our testing and baked these at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes, with good results) They can be frozen after they're cooked. Place the frozen crisps on a baking sheet and reheat them for 5 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Like I said, they aren't the best appetizer I've sunk my chops into --- but when I eat them, it does take me back a bit ... to a different time ... a different place ... and for a moment "it's as if I'm there".

Happy Thursday ... and always remember ... what you do today, could possibly be the "memory you recall" years from now! Make it a good one!

Tammy