Saturday, October 16, 2010

8 Great Bacon Recipes



Recipes that prove bacon makes everything — chicken, cheese, pasta, and more — taste better! Here are 8 great Epicurious Dot Com recipes from Yahoo! Shine:

Grilled Cheddar, Tomato, and Bacon Sandwiches
Ingredients
• 8 thick-cut bacon slices
• 8 slices country-style sourdough bread or batard (cut on deep diagonal into 5x3x1/2-inch slices)
• 2 cups (packed) grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese (about 8 ounces)
• 8 tomato slices, seeds removed, slices drained on paper towels
• 4 tablespoons mayonnaise

Preparation
Cook bacon in heavy large skillet over medium heat until brown and crisp, turning occasionally, about 6 minutes. Transfer bacon to paper towels and drain. Wash and dry skillet.

Place 4 bread slices on work surface. Press 1/4 cup grated cheese onto each slice. Top each with 2 tomato slices. Sprinkle with pepper. Place 2 bacon slices atop each, breaking into pieces if necessary to fit. Press 1/4 cup grated cheese over bacon on each. Top sandwiches with remaining bread slices, then spread 1/2 tablespoon mayonnaise over top of each sandwich. Heat 2 heavy large skillets over medium heat. Add 2 sandwiches, mayonnaise side down, to each skillet. Place plate atop both sandwiches to weigh down. Cook sandwiches until bottom is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Spread top of each sandwich with 1/2 tablespoon mayonnaise. Turn sandwiches over, mayonnaise side down. Top with plates and cook until golden brown on bottom, about 2 minutes. Transfer sandwiches to work surface. Cut sandwiches crosswise in half and serve.


Sweet and Spicy Bacon

Ingredients
• 1 1/2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• Rounded 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• Rounded 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 lb thick-cut bacon (12 slices)

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°F.


Stir together brown sugar, cayenne, and black pepper in a small bowl.

Arrange bacon slices in l layer on a large broiler pan and bake in middle of oven (or upper third of oven if baking with eggs) 20 minutes. Turn slices over and sprinkle evenly with spiced sugar. Continue baking until bacon is crisp and brown, 15 to 20 minutes more, then transfer to paper towels to drain.

Note: This one I tried, and although I did it in a nonstick frying pan rather than in the oven, it turned out very well. I love it!


Onion, Cheese, and Bacon Tart

Ingredients
Crust
• 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons (or more) ice water

Filling
• 3 thick-cut bacon slices, chopped
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• Pinch of sugar
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• Generous pinch of salt
• Generous pinch of ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup (packed) coarsely grated Gruyère cheese

Preparation
For crust:
Blend flour and salt in processor. Add butter and shortening; using on/off turns, cut in until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 2 tablespoons ice water and process until moist clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured work surface to 11-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Press dough onto bottom and up sides of pan. Pierce crust all over with fork. Freeze 10 minutes. Line crust with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake crust 10 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake until crust is set and partially cooked through, about 15 minutes longer. Cool crust while making filling. Maintain oven temperature.

For filling:
Sauté bacon in medium skillet over medium heat until crisp, about 4 minutes. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain. Add onion and pinch of sugar to drippings in skillet and sauté until onion is deep golden brown, about 20 minutes. Whisk cream, egg, egg yolk, pepper, salt, and nutmeg in small bowl to blend. Spread onion over bottom of baked crust; sprinkle bacon over, then cheese. Pour cream mixture over.

Bake until tart is puffed and filling is set, about 25 minutes. Cool tart on rack 10 minutes. Remove pan sides. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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A Martian Sunrise


Another must-see enlarged!

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Meow


Thanks Tammy!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Thank You


Image Source

I just wanted to send out a big thank you to a bunch of you who have helped me out a long the way. It's been about 14 months now, and although my site is still in its infancy, I have enjoyed seeing such great progress. I view this progress in terms of several different things.

It is you, the reader, who takes the necessary 5 seconds to forward one of my links, or twitter it, or stumble it, or the like. I appreciate each and every one of you, and urge you to come back often - because I do my best to find only the best of stuff to post.

It is also due to a handful of large, well-respected, and highly ranked sites linking to one of the things I've posted. I want to personally thank the following:

• Joanne Casey over at I Have Seen The Whole Of The Internet

• Charlie @ Interesting Pile

• The entire team over at Look At This...

• John Walkenbach @ The J-Walk Blog

• Jonco @ Bits and Pieces

• Gerard @ The Presurfer

• The guys at I Love Charts and Chart Porn

• Last but certainly not least, Ernie over at Ernie's House of Whoopass has truly pushed it into another dimension today.

And of course, I have probably forgotten a few of you who have graciously found something from my site or linked to it, and I thank you as well. It's each and every little post that makes any good site what it is, and I thank you too!

Lightning-Struck Lady Liberty Captured



This is the moment the Statue of Liberty was hit by lightning - and caught on camera by a photographer who waited two hours in a storm-hit New York City.

New Yorker Jay Fine apparently waited more than 40 years for the shot before braving the storm last month in Manhattan's Battery Park City.

The 58-year-old photographer caught the incredible snap - but it was a rather arduous process capturing the perfect picture.

More here..

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Lawn Helper


Source

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Pregnancy Simulation


A couple just started their Lamaze class and they were given an activity requiring the husband to wear a bag of sand - to give him an idea of what it feels like to be pregnant.

The husband stood up and shrugged saying, "This doesn't feel so bad."

The instructor then dropped a pen and asked the husband to pick it up.

Image Source

"You want me to pick up the pen as if I were pregnant, the way my wife would do it?" the husband asked.

"Exactly," replied the instructor.

To the delight of the other husbands, he turned to his wife and said, "Honey, pick up that pen for me."

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The War In Iraq


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Incredible Aurora Prelude


A must-see enlarged!

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