day 3 of bacon week.. take my word for it wednesday.. you can't have to much bacon... bacon, bluecheese apple canapes and savory bacon bread pudding..

i've been so behind in posting the recipes for the bacon week.. augh.. it's busy at work and then trying to get everything done at the house.. so please accept my apologies..

so far for bacon week i've posted how to make homemade bacon and bacon wrapped pork tenderloin filets with mustard~garlic butter.. the following recipes rounded out the appetizer portion of the dinner as well as the side dish.. we also had bacon wrapped stuffed jalapenos for another appetizer and a beer, bacon, chocolate pecan tart for dessert..

the fun little tasty apps were inspired by this recipe here.. pete and i were watching some cooking show and we saw them and he suggested i make them for christmas eve one year i think 2010.. i didn't like the way they had assembled the original recipe so i changed mine up a bit and the result is a yummy little treat..

i served spicy bloody marys with spicy bacon and used bacon vodka {that recipe coming soon}

 the weekend before my bacon themed dinner party i had had a new years eve bbq.. {your thinking bbq on new years eve what the heck?? well in vegas the weather was so great we could in fact have an outdoor bbq where i wore a tank top, capris and sandals..how crazy is that} any way i had a few bags of hamburger buns and hot dogs buns i wanted to use up so i opted for a savory bacon bread pudding for the bacon party.. and my oh my was it delicious.. i had never made a savory bread pudding and this one was great..  

candied bacon, blue cheese and apple canapés

prep time: 15-20 minutes
cooking time: 7-10 minutes
servings: 40 bite size pieces

ingredients:

1 box pilsbury pie crusts, room temperature
1 egg
1 tblsp. water
sea salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
6 slices of bacon
1-2 granny smith apple, diced {depending on size}
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup crumbled blue cheese

directions:

heat oven to 400 degrees {f}.. line a baking sheet with foil.. unroll pie crusts and using a 2 1/4 inch round cookie cutter, cut 20 rounds from each crust, rerolling dough if necessary.. place on cookie sheet; prick each round twice with fork.. in a small bowl, whisk egg and 1 tblsp. water.. brush each round with egg mixture.. sprinkle with a little sea salt on each.. bake 7-10 minutes or until golden brown and slightly crisp.. remove from oven and allow to cool... line another baking sheet with  foil.. in a small bowl combine brown sugar and cayenne.. place bacon on baking sheet and sprinkle each side the brown sugar mixture {i did this same thing when making the spicy bacon for the blood mary just omitted the brown sugar} put in oven for 10-15 minutes or until sugar is hot and bubbly and bacon slightly crisp.. remove from oven and allow to cool.. once cool crumble/chop up.. divide crumbled bacon in 1/2.. in a medium bowl mix softened cream cheese, diced apples, blue cheese and 1/2 of the crumbled bacon.. spoon mixture on each round/cracker and sprinkle with remaining crumbled bacon.. they are so yummy and the sweet and spicy bacon with the crisp tart apple and blue cheese just is lovely with the creamy cream cheese.. great little appetizer..

savory mushroom and bacon bread pudding {recipe inspired here}

prep time: 15 minutes
cooking time: {approx.} 1 hour 30 minutes
servings: 6

ingredients:

2 tblsp. butter
1 pound bacon, diced in lardons
1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth
1.4 lbs. sliced mushrooms
2 shallots, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
salt and pepper
3 cups half and half
5 large eggs
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
8 cups day old bread, torn into chunks

directions:

preheat oven to 350 degrees {f}.. grease an 8 inch square baking dish with 1 tblsp. of butter and set aside...in a large sauté pan over medium high heat cook bacon until crisp.. remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate.. in same pan add 1 tblsp. of butter and melt then add mushrooms, garlic and shallots... sauté for 15 minutes or until the mushrooms are tender and browned.. to the same pan over medium high heat add the wine/chicken broth to deglaze the pan getting up all those brown bits as you stir.. remove from heat and add bacon (reserving a small handful for garnish}.. season with salt and pepper.. in a large mixing bowl whisk eggs, half and half and a 3/4 cup of cheese, salt and pepper.. add bread cubes and toss to coat.. let mixture stand from 30 minutes... add mushroom mixture and transfer to prepared baking dish and sprinkle with remaining cheese and bacon.. {you can at this point cover and keep in the fridge until ready to cook up to 24 hours} once ready to bake cook for 40-60 minutes until bubbly and brown and the center has puffed up.. remove from oven and serve warm.. {the recipe called for drizzling with warm sage butter.. i don't care for the taste of sage.. my dad, when i was growing up was a hunter, thankfully he outgrew that hobby, he he, anyway he would make venison steaks, sausage, etc... and as a child i had to at least try everything that was made, i didn't have to like it or keep eating it, but brownies bites, as my mom called them where required. Anyway one steak or sausage no clue which, came from a deer from northern nevada where they graze on sage brush... now i know sage brush is not the actual sage herb but they taste and smell alike.. anyway i hated what i was eating and since then every time i smell sage i think of that meat.. blah yuck.. icky poo ha ha so no sage in our house} a drizzle of another type of butter might have been just equally good but i didn't think of it.. ha either way you should try this recipe it's yummy..

enjoy and get cook'n!!