Candied Bacon Pretzel Mac & Cheese

Our friend Jason held his birthday at Infusion Brewing in Trinity last week. The brewery was hosting a mac & cheese competition that day so of course we had to participate!

The contest was judged on cheesiness, texture, seasoning, overall taste, and creativity. We spent time on Pinterest trying to find a unique recipe and came across a couple that incorporated pretzels for crunchy texture, which was perfect since they also pair great with beer! As an added bonus, we also topped ours with candied bacon, one of Lance’s mom’s recipes.

There were nine different kinds (one was disqualified since it was made by one of the brewers). There was a pretty good variety, but I’m of course biased and loved ours the best! Our second favorite was actually the disqualified one which incorporated Infusion Brewing’s “Pep in Yo Step” Double IPA, brewed with jalapeño and serrano peppers.

Unfortunately, we weren’t the winners this time – honestly I think it wasn’t as much based on taste/creativity as it was on who had the largest group of people with them to vote. Ours was completely devoured by the time we left, so in my books that means we won. And now we have a really awesome go-to mac and cheese recipe if we really want to splurge!

We doubled the recipe below which ended up making even more than would fit in our large crockpot. Unless you’ve got a huge group, a single version of the recipe will feed plenty of people

Candied Bacon Pretzel Mac & Cheese (adapted from Food to Love)

Ingredients:

• 8 pieces candied bacon (recipe here), broken into bite-sized pieces  
• 1 pound cavatappi pasta (you can use whatever kind you like, but the spiral shape held the cheese pretty well)
• 16 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 T Dijon mustard
• 4 cups milk (we used 2%)
• 1¼ cups heavy cream
• 2 cups sharp cheddar
• 2 cups pepperjack cheese
• 1 cup mozzarella  
• 5 T butter
• 1 cup pretzels, chopped into pieces
• ½ cup panko breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. Cook the candied bacon according to the recipe (this can be done a day ahead of time since it takes two hours to cook).

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

3. Cook pasta for 2 minutes less than the cooking time in the instructions.

4. Shred the cheddar, mozzarella and pepperjack cheeses.

5. Drain and dump the cooked pasta into a large greased baking dish (we used a disposable one since we didn’t have one large enough).

6. Process cream cheese, salt, and mustard until smooth. Add half the milk, process until smooth. Pour over the pasta mixture. Stir in the remaining milk, cream, half of the candied bacon, and 4 cups of the shredded cheese mixture.  

7. Top the pasta with the remaining 1 cup of shredded cheese, remaining candied bacon, and the panko breadcrumbs

8. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

9. Take out of oven and top with pretzel pieces.

Note: We had to transfer this all to a crockpot to keep it warm at the competition, so we waited to add the candied bacon and pretzel topping until we moved the pasta to the new dish.

Valentine's Day Garlic Shrimp Alfredo Dinner for Two

I love Buzzfeed Tasty’s video recipes.  They always make the meal look so simple. Luckily, this one was actually as easy as it looked.

When we were trying to decide what to cook for Valentine’s Day, I stumbled upon this menu for two with bruschetta, garlic shrimp alfredo pasta, and chocolate mousse for dessert. 

While it says “for two,” it really should have said “for two for a week” because we could have fed ten.  Which was fine because the meal was delicious and we wanted leftovers. 

We didn’t follow the mousse recipe from Buzzfeed.  I actually had found a recipe that used coconut cream instead of whipping cream, but it didn’t work at all. No matter how long I whipped the coconut cream, it just wouldn’t fluff up.  We ended up adding normal cream and saving the dessert (I would still include the coconut cream because I liked the slight coconut taste it added). 

We enjoyed the meal with wine from one of our new favorite restaurants, Cooper’s Hawk.  Their Barbera is an amazing deep red wine that we received with our Cooper’s Hawk “Wine of the Month” club. We aren’t connoisseurs of wine by any means (we are happy with our “Two Buck Chuck” Shiraz from Trader Joe’s), but this wine is really fantastic.  My friend James gave us a wine aerator that attaches to the bottle so there's no need for a separate decanter to enhance the wine's flavor.  

The wine of the month club costs $18.99 to sign up, and they give you and your significant other $15 gift cards the month of your birthday. Since Lance and I both have January birthdays, we received a bottle of wine plus a $30 Cooper’s Hawk gift card for only $18.99 (you can cancel the card anytime…)  

Below is the full dinner recipe if you’d like to recreate this dinner!

Tomato Basil Bruschetta  (adapted from Buzzfeed Tasty)

Ingredients:

·        1 6-inch baguette

·        ¼ cup olive oil

·        3 medium tomatoes, diced

·        1 clove garlic, minced

·        1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

·        1 tablespoon basil, chopped

·        ½ teaspoon salt

·        ½ teaspoon pepper

·        1 clove garlic, whole

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450°F
2. Slice the baguette into ½-inch rounds and place on a baking sheet.
3. Brush both sides of the baguette slices with olive oil.

4. Bake for 6 minutes until slightly crispy.
5. In a medium bowl, combine the tomatoes, minced garlic, balsamic vinegar, basil, salt, and pepper.

6. Rub the garlic into one side of the baguette slices, then spoon the tomato mixture evenly across the slices.

Garlic Bacon Shrimp Alfredo  (adapted from Buzzfeed Tasty)

Ingredients:

·        6 slices bacon, chopped

·        1 pound shrimp, deveined and peeled

·        1 teaspoon salt

·        ½ teaspoon black pepper

·        ½ onion, diced

·        1 medium tomato, diced

·        3 cloves garlic, minced

·        2 cups heavy cream

·        1 pound fettuccine, cooked

·        1 cup parmesan cheese, grated

·        ½ parsley, chopped

Directions:

1. Cook the bacon in a large pot until crispy.

2. Add the shrimp, salt, and pepper, cooking until the shrimp is pink throughout.

3. Remove the shrimp and bacon.
4. Add the onions, tomatoes, and garlic, cooking until the garlic is slightly starting to brown.

5. Add the cream and bring to a boil.

6. Toss in the fettuccine with the shrimp, bacon, parmesan cheese, and parsley, stirring until the cheese has completely melted and the sauce coats the shrimp and pasta nicely.

Chocolate Coconut Mousse  (adapted from Cafe Delites)

Ingredients:

·        1 can full fat coconut cream

·        1 cup heavy whipping cream (not shown below, but the coconut cream did not fluff as expected...) 

·        2 T confectioners’ sugar

·        3 T unsweetened cocoa powder

·        2 squares dark chocolate, shaved

·        Strawberries, raspberries and/or mint to garnish

Directions:

1. Place sealed can of coconut cream in the refrigerator overnight.  Without shaking the can, open and scoop out the thick cream sitting on top of the water.  Discard the liquid.

2. Add the heavy whipping cream and confectioners’ sugar, then beat on high with either a hand mixer or stand mixer (I used my KitchenAid).  When thick and creamy, reserve 4 T of the plain whipped cream to the side to use as a topping.

3. Fold in the cocoa powder and beat until smooth. 

4. Serve the chocolate mousse in a glass topped with the plain whipped cream.  Garnish with the fruit, mint, and shaved dark chocolate.  

Acorn Squash Salad, Pumpkin Rigatoni and Spiked Cider

Lance went to Pittsburgh for a guys' weekend to see a Steelers game (they won!) So while he was out, I had a girls' pumpkin carving/decorating night.  

Most of us ended up painting our pumpkins rather than carving (in Florida, it's way too humid for a carved pumpkin to last the whole month...) Everyone came up with really creative designs - I think it's the best group of pumpkins I've ever seen.  You can scroll to the bottom to see the individual pumpkins, but here we are with our creations: 

I tried to get a pumpkin from the Hyde Park pumpkin patch, but it was insanely packed!  There was a huge line, so I ended up getting mine from the grocery store instead.  It wasn't the prettiest of pumpkins, but since it was painted anyways, it didn't matter.  Thao got hers from Hyde Park and it was the most stereotypical perfect pumpkin.  

For dinner, I tried out a few new Pinterest recipes and they all turned out amazing!  I love all fall ingredients - squash, pumpkin, figs, pears, pomegranates, apples, etc.  I go crazy buying everything at Trader Joe's this time of year since it's all pumpkin flavored.  

Hillary also brought over this amazing popcorn coated in marshmallows and drizzled with chocolate (it had candy corn for decoration which I'm not a fan of, but I just ate around them...)  It was seriously addicting - like Rice Krispie treats made of popcorn.  If I get the recipe I'll post it on here too.  

I would definitely make any of these recipes again: 

Acorn Squash Salad (adapted from How Sweet Eats)

Salad Ingredients:

• 2 T coconut oil (I was out so I used olive oil)
• 1 acorn squash, sliced in 1/2" rounds and seeds removed
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t pepper
• 2 t brown sugar
• 1/2 c Trader Joe's sweet & spicy pecans
• 6 c spinach (or arugula) 
• 1 avocado, sliced 
• 1 pomegranate, arils removed (if you need instructions, check out this post)  
• 1 cucumber, sliced

Dressing Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup pomegranate juice
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 t freshly grated ginger
• 1 garlic clove, freshly grated
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t pepper
• 1/3 cup olive oil 

Directions:

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the oil.  Cover the squash slices with salt, pepper, and brown sugar and add to the skillet.  Cook until slightly caramelized, about 10 minutes on each side.  

2. Add spinach/arugula to a large bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Add the avocado, pomegranate arils, cucumber, pecans, and squash pieces.  

3. Combine all the dressing ingredients and toss with the salad. 

Pumpkin Rigatoni Pasta with Sage (adapted from Joanne Eats Well With Others)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb rigatoni
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 T butter
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1 t red pepper flakes
• 1 T minced sage
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1-1/2 cups Silk Unsweetened Cashew Milk (I completely forgot to add this since I was too busy chatting with friends - it turned out fine without it, but may be a bit creamier with it) 
• 1 bunch kale leaves, coarsely chopped
• 2 cups ricotta
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 8 oz mozzarella, grated 
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. 

2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta until al dente. 

3. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted.  Add the onion, sage red pepper flakes, and pinch of salt.  Saute for 3-4 minutes, or until onions become translucent.  

4. Stir in the pumpkin and saute for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Add in the cashew milk and bring to a simmer.  Stir in th ekale and simmer for 4-5 more minutes or until slightly thickened.  Stir in the ricotta and season to taste with salt & pepper.  

5. Grease a 9x13 baking pan.  Toss the pasta with the pumpkin mixture and spread half of it in the pan.  Sprinkle half the cheese, top with the other half of the pasta, then sprinkle with more cheese.  Top with bread crumbs. 

6. Bake for 25 minutes or until cheese begins to brown and sauce is bubbling.  Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.   

Spiked Cider (a combination of several cider recipes)

Ingredients:

• 1 jug Trader Joe's spiced cider 
• 2 T lemon juice
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 4-5 whole star anise seeds
• 2 liters ginger ale
• 6-10 oz vodka, depending on how strong you want it

Directions:

1. Combine the cider, lemon juice, cinnamon, and anise and let them sit for a few hours so the spices soak in. 

2. When you are ready to serve, add in the ginger ale and vodka.  Stir to blend it together.  

I'm sure this drink would be great warm if it was cold outside (you could try it with rum as well).  

I had such a great time with this group of girls - check out the closeups of all the amazing pumpkins: