Grilled Bacon Wrapped Onion Rings

A couple of weeks ago in the Parade magazine in the Sunday paper this recipe appeared.  I saved it because it looked like something we might want to try.  So Memorial Day we had the grill going cooking a pork shoulder so it was the perfect time to try it.  I have a feeling we will be making this recipe again.  It was really easy to make and you might have the ingredients on hand.

And yes they do taste as good as they look.  The bacon is nice and crisp, the onion soft.  They are perfect.

 We are partial to Dreamland sauce and seasoning but you can use whatever kind you like.  The bacon needs to be thin cut, to make sure it cooks through.

 Slice you onion into thick slices.

 Separate the rings.

 I sprinkled some of the seasoning on the onions.

 Then I started wrapping the bacon around the onion.  I cut some toothpicks in half and used them to secure the piece of bacon.

 We had these grill mats that we used for this.  The recipe calls for putting them on the hot grill for about a minute on each side to sear them.  We left them a little longer because of the mat.  Without the mat I think the flames would have come up and burned the bacon. If you do not have the mats you might try some heavy duty foil. Spray it so they don't stick.

 Looking good.  We put the leftover pieces of onion on there just to see what it would do.

 Turn them on the other side to sear.  After they are seared move them to indirect heat.  We turned that side of the grill off and left the other side on low.

 Leave them on for an hour or so to cook.  It is hard to leave them that long.

 We took the onions up and they were good.  More on that later.

 Looking good.

 After they are done, add some bbq sauce on them and let them cook for about 15 minutes.  It is getting hard to wait.

Then take them up and enjoy.  Be careful of the toothpicks.  I think you will enjoy these. They won't last long.

Grilled Bacon Wrapped Onion Rings Recipe

1 large sweet onion
1 lb or so thin cut bacon
dry rub seasoning
bbq sauce

Copycat Disney Dole Whip

If you have been to one of the Disney parks I know you have tried the Dole Whip.  It is like soft serve  pineapple ice cream.  Well you can make it at home without a ice cream freezer.  It is very easy to make and doesn't take long to make, just a little muscle power. You need to try this at home soon to have a little taste of Disney at home.

Put your dishes in the fridge or freezer while you are making this so that they will be cold and it will help keep the whip from melting faster.

 You can use unsweetened almond milk or regular milk.  Next time I will try it with my regular 2% milk.

 I used 1/2 cup of the almond milk. Put this in the bottom of the blender.

 This is a 20 oz can of pineapple chunks that I removed from the juice and froze.  You can also buy frozen pineapple at the store.  I am going to do that next.

 I added about a Tablespoon of honey.  It could have used a little more.  Okay this is where some trial and error to blend it.  I started in the blender.  Now unless you have a high powered blender it will really struggle.

 So I took some of the chunks out and used my hand blender.  It really worked well.

 I kept trying with the blender but when it made a really bad noise I stopped.

 So I put all of it in a glass container and continued to mix with the hand blender.  It takes a little while. The more you blend the more air is fluffed into the whip.

 It is all chopped up and well blended.

Time to serve.  If you have time and want to you can put in a pastry bag and pipe a pretty swirl into the bowl.  It will make it melt faster with all that handling.   Close your eyes and you can almost imagine you are at Disney.

Copycat Disney Dole Whip Recipe

1/2 cup almond milk or milk of your choice
20 oz can drained can of pineapple chunks frozen
1 Tablespoon honey

Orange Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

I made this recipe a little bit ago and it didn't turn out exactly like I wanted it to.  Now if you will follow my directions and not do one thing that I did it will work out for you.  There was nothing wrong with the recipe I just thought I could do one thing differently.  I couldn't.  I didn't work.  So do as I say and not as I do and they will turn out perfect for you. 

Here is my mistake.  I was taking these muffins somewhere so I thought I would put them in liners.  That was the mistake.  They stuck to the paper liners.  So don't use them.

One thing about this recipe it smells really good with all this citrus fruit.

Start with 1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

Melt 1 stick of butter.

Let it cool a little bit

3 Tablespoons poppy seeds

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt

zest 2 lemons

zest 1 orange

Then juice the 2 lemons and 1 orange

Look at all that juice

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour.  Mix everything up well.

Instead of the paper liners spray the pan with non stick spray.  Fill the tin.

Then sprinkle some sugar on top.  place in a preheated 425 oven.  Bake at 425 for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 and bake for 10-13 minutes.

Turn them out and let them cool.

Orange Lemon Poppyseed Muffins Recipe

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 Tablespoons poppy seeds
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
juice and zest from 2 lemons
juice and zest of 1 orange
2 eggs
1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla
sugar for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 425  bake for 5 minutes
reduce heat to 375 and bake for 10-13 minutes.

Snickers Bites Holiday Cookies

I made these cookies a long time ago and somehow the pictures got "lost".  But it is never too late to bake cookies.  These were easy to make so look for the Snickers baking bites in the store.  I don't think they are just for the holidays.  I always spend some time looking at all the different things on the baking isle.  You can find some really interesting things to try there. 

They are not the prettiest cookies but they sure do taste good.

The only thing you probably don't have in your pantry already is the Snickers baking bites.

Start with 2 sticks softened butter, add 2/3 cup brown sugar.

2/3 cup sugar

Beat that well until creamy and then add one egg.

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix well.

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups plain flour.

After you have mixed that well add the bag of Snickers baking bites.  I might should have chopped them a little bit into smaller pieces.

Scoop up onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  Place into a 350 preheated oven.  Bake for 8-10 minutes for chewy cookies and 12-14 minutes for crispy cookies.

And you have to try one while they are hot.

Snickers Bites Holiday Cookies Recipe

1 cup softened butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 bag Snickers baking bites

Preheat oven to 350.  Bake 8-10 minutes for chewy cookies and 12-14 minutes for crispy cookies.