Monthly Archives: August 2009

On Saturday my family celebrated a long-standing tradition.  It is a little-known, and not a widely celebrated one, but it is near and dear to our hearts.  Moms, Dads, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins gather to eat too much bacon.  And of course to catch up on each others’ lives, play bean-bag toss, and generally have a great time together.  But yes, it is centered around bacon.  It began years and years ago up north where we would gather at our aunt and uncle’s cabin, some of us stay overnight or camp near by, and have a big breakfast.  But really, everyone just wanted bacon, so the eggs, cereal, and other breakfast-related goods fell by the wayside.  Now it is down to (very crisp) bacon and “helter-skelter,” which are caramel sticky buns (I don’t think anyone really knows where the name came from).  I was asked to contribute cake pops to this year’s festivities, and we came up with the most fitting thing possible.

Oink if You Love Bacon!

While I enjoy my fair share of time in the kitchen, I really really really like it when Justin cooks.  I know that he is taking some chances and stepping into an area where he doesn’t feel the most comfortable (yet), and that means a lot to me.  Plus, he really is a great cook.  On Friday he chose a new recipe to try out of a recent Cooking Light issue, for a sweet and spicy pineapple salsa over grilled Tuna steaks.  We picked up some fresh red onions and hot banana peppers from the farmer’s market (have I mentioned how much I love the fact that we will be living mere steps from the market in the not-too-distant future?!) and he picked up the rest of the needed ingredients while I visited with some friends.  That evening he diced and chopped and simmered the salsa and sauce, and then grilled the tuna steaks and some beautiful plump scallops.  He asked me to make some lemon butter orzo to go on the side, and the meal was really a fantastic one, especially eaten outside on the deck.  

Then on Saturday, to use up some of the leftover ingredients (peppers, onions, pineapple, etc), he found another recipe in the same magazine for Sweet and Sour Pork (substituting chicken instead of pork).  I got put in charge of the side again – this time it amounted to measuring rice and water and coconut into the rice cooker), while he assembled all the components for the stir-fry.  It came together beautifully, and definitely rivaled any take-out we’ve tried.  (The picture is missing the toasted almonds – we both started eating before we remembered to put them on!)

Justin is out golfing with his dad this evening.
I made do and ate some pickles for dinner.