Chocolate Covered Bacon & A Bittersweet Goodbye

Hello Food Bloggie Friends,
i know ive been MIA for the past couple weeks, ive been busy with work and some personal issues, and blogging seems to be the last thing on my mind lately.
This will be my last post ; a goodbye post,
tagged along with an interesting sweet-treat
(i mean c`mon this IS still a food blog, right? haha).

But this isnt permanent, who knows when ill be back!
maybe ill get over this bump in the road and come back as soon as next week!, so this isnt fare-well yet.
im sorry ive missed out on all of your delicious food posts, i wish i had the time or the energy to look through the weeks and weeks of amazing food ive been missing out on.. but instead i will leave you with a simple, unique and surprisingly delicious recipe.

Ready to find out what it is?
- Cue the drum-roll maestro! -

.... CHOCOLATE COVERED BACON !

now .. before you throw-up a little,
the pairing of "salty & sweet" is not an alien combination. As food-bloggers you know how often these two flavors can combine into something magical.
if youre curious as to how it tastes... TRY IT !
honestly, its not as bad as you might think, its actually quite interesting and i found it fun to nibble on. i made a bowl-full of these and although my family was a little skeptical to try it out, once they got past the first crunchy, salty, sweet bite, they automatically went for seconds.
& honestly.. who DOESNT love bacon?
or even CHOCOLATE for that matter?!
Heres how i did it :

Chocolate Covered Bacon

Recipe ;

- "Thick Cut" slices of bacon

- Chocolate Candy Melts.

To keep the bacon from curling, place a few strips of bacon
on a large plate, with a few sheets of paper towels.
Place them in the microwave and cook them in 40 second
intervals, being careful to flip them ; so the edges dont curl
inward.
Youre looking for fully cooked, CRISPY bacon slices.
otherwise,
imagine biting into a squishy fatty piece of bacon covered
in chocolate... ew .

Cut the bacon into 1.5 - 2 inch pieces.
*Tip : be sure to press on paper towels to
soak up excess oils

Melt a small bowl of Chocolate Candy melts in the
microwave.
(Careful to not burn the chocolate, i found that it helps to
let it melt in the microwave in 30 second sessions & to stir
and repeat until completely melted.)
 Add 1 tsp of vegetable oil & stir until its completely
incorporated into the chocolate.

Have fun dipping !
( i dipped my bacon pieces about 1/3 of the way,
i think showing a little peek of the bacon underneath
gave it a bit more character)

Lay them out on a cookie sheet to harden.
*Tip ; to prevent them from drying on stuck, cover your
cookie sheet with some plastic wrap & then place the
bacon pieces on top to dry, it'll be much easier to peel
them off 

& Theyre done already !
i used a bit of the extra chocolate i had to dip a
few strawberries as well, yummmm.

SO.. my last message,
My sleepy doggy; Coco & i will miss all of you.
who knows! once in awhile i might just pop in & check out
some of your lovely recipes & ill be sure to leave you guys
encouraging and awe-struck comments.
Dont forget about me! (:
love you all!

Baked Egg Lasagna ? ;

its funny how i find myself turning to my blog & blogger-friends when im having a bad day, it seems whenever im having a not-so-great day, the hours pass by as days, so slow.. and all i want is the day to be over with.
i know i havnt been writing in my blog as much as i use to, but having early morning working shifts at Puma has tired me out,
and besides all the "downer" things going on now, a really good "hobby" i picked up is RUNNING !
i try to run 2 miles every day, or atleast... every other day. & my dog Coco loves the exercise as well~
My goal is to run about 10 miles a week, which isnt too bad,
im planning to just keep it at 2 miles for a while, until i can jog the whole thing without stopping, then ill push it to 3.
sounds reasonable right?


Anyway, to the topic of food,
i just recently found out theres such a thing as Baked Eggs.
i know i know...  its like i live under a rock sometimes, haha.
this dish was inspired by Meg at Cooking in College, check out her blog !
its packed full of healthy & delicious food. & when i saw her recent post of her "Herb Baked Eggs" i knew, i just had to make this. But i added a bit of a different twist of my own.~
i dont know if this dish actually has a name... if it does can someone please tell me?
Because i just combined these ingredients by impulse, no recipe whatsoever, haha.
& it turned out DELICIOUS!
(please excuse the cruddy quality of the photo, it was dinner time & i was just too lazy to grab my camera, so i just snapped a quick shot with my cell phone, i just couldnt wait to try out "baked eggs" for the first time! haha)

Baked Egg Lasagna?
it had the flavor of lasagna, minus the pasta sheets...
twas` delicious! haha

Recipe ;

- 1/2 cup tomato/spaghetti sauce

- 1/4 cup spicy sausage, cooked.

- 3 tbs chopped onions

- 4 slices of thick cut tomato

- 2 large eggs

- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped

- 1 tsp garlic powder

- salt, pepper, parsley flakes, &

basil flakes to taste.

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

Add the tomato sauce into a small baking dish.
(i used a medium sized baking dip-dish).

Layer the tomato slices, onions, & cooked chopped sausage,
on top.  Then, carefully crack the 2 large eggs into the dish,

(dont break the yolks theyre the best part!)

sprinkle the herbs, salt, & pepper for taste,
& bake until the egg whites are cooked completely.

Enjoy the jelly-like yolks with bread sticks or

better yet, garlic bread!

Green-tea Panna cotta ;

it feels like its been forever since my latest blog entry,
ive been so caught up with friends, movies &  work, i guess i either got too tried or lazy to write a blog entry. (im sure you've all gone through a point like that, one time or another.)
Anyway! im glad to be back with a delicious new recipe; Green-tea Panna cotta !
it took me about 2 tries to get it right, the first batch came out too watery / creamy, when it was suppose to have a similar consistency to mousse or like flan .. ? i realized my mistake on that was the lack of gelatin. i was reading a basic recipe for "pannacotta" online, and it said to add 1 1/2 tbs of gelatin, but when it didnt "gel" i looked at my package of gelatin & i guess it just needed more.
On my box package it said 1 packet of gelatin for 1 cup of liquid. *facepalm*. i should of read the box first. 
My mistake; it happens !
Anyway, although i didnt add 1 whole package to the cream, (because i wasnt looking for a Jell-o consistency); i added half for each cup, and it came out wonderfully, so just remember to READ the PACKAGE first before using! haha.


Now before i post the pictures, i want to say... 
i LOVELOVELOVE anything thats GREEN TEA FLAVORED !
whether its just plain tea itself, ice cream, mochi, cakes, cookies, whip cream, custard, green-tea infused drinks; such as boba/tapioca drinks.
(i always get the Passion-fruit Green-tea's in tea stores) yum yum!
i recommend heading over to your nearest asian store RIGHT NOW and buy green tea mochi icecream !
Actually, ive seen them selling these in local American markets as well, theyre getting very popular~
so give that a try the next time youre in the freezer section of your nearest grocery store!
they come in a variety of flavors; vanilla, chocolate (yummy), strawberry, & green-tea (my favorite).


Is anyone else a die-hard fan of certain flavors?
Chocolate-addicts perharps?

Honey Vanilla Panna cotta w/ Green-tea Topping

Recipe ;

Pannacotta

- 3 cups whipping cream

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- pinch of salt

- 1/3 cup Honey

- unflavored gelatin

Topping

- 1/4 cup honey or sugar

- 1/2 cup whipping cream

- 2 tbs green tea powder

- whip cream (optional)

- raspberries (optional)

For the Pannacotta portion; 

Combine the cream, vanilla, salt, & honey in a

large pan, & heat on low heat until warm, then

add gelatin (according to box instructions, i used

1/2 a serving package, others might require a few tbs).

Mix thoroughly until gelatin is completely dissolved. 

pour into individual serving cups or bowl & refrigerate,

until "gelled".

For the Topping ;

In a mixing bowl, combine first 3 ingredients &

whip until fluffy. (the end result should be slightly

bitter from the tea, yet sweet from the cream & honey.)

Add a large spoonful of topping onto each serving cup,

add a dollop of whip cream, & top off with a raspberry.

ENJOY !

A Perfect Single Serving
isnt it pretty?

"American Classic" Breakfast ;

>> Before i begin with my food entry,
i would like to thank Chrysta  for the give away prize !
and Deepa Praveen for The Lovely Blog award !
Thank you both, for these gifts~
---  - - -  -  -     -    -      -        -      -    -
Now, i just started working at Puma, and i guess the morning shifts VS my sleeping schedule is really getting to me,
i normally stay up until 7am ! but work requires me to be AT work by 8:30am.
So, you can imagine how that would be difficult to adjust to, haha, but i noticed that having a big filling breakfast usually perks me up enough to get through the day.
i was in the mood for an "American Classic" breakfast; so thats exactly what i ended up making, with a side of fresh cut mangoes
(since im still craving for them like crazy).
But, unlike most health-cautious people, a protein shake just doesnt cut it for me, i need to feel crunchy, savory, hot, or spicy FOOD between my teeth to feel full & satisfied. its just how i am, anything otherwise sounds depressing .. haha.

A Huge Hearty Breakfast
gotta indulge once in a while right?

- 1 Slice of Toast, halved

- 1 Over-easy Egg Fried

- 2 Strips of Bacon

- 1 Sausage Pattie

- 1 Mango Sliced

Oh, and an update with my baby plants;
The Baby Tomato plant hasnt shown any signs of fruit yet, but it has shot up like a weed! its over a foot tall now, when it was only about 7 inches tall when i first bought it a couple weeks ago.
The Strawberry Plant however, is growing MORE fruit, & what was once green berries are now almost ready for picking, as blushing red berries. i cant wait !

Strawberry Plant

Tomato Plant

Oh, and another hobby i just got back into is Drawing, this time i drew my best friend, Tiffany.
Its an old picture of us, but its one of my favorites, it was right after we ate at Red Robbins a couple years ago, we grabbed a couple of their balloons that they always had floating around their restaurant,
as we left; and continued to walk around the shopping plaza, we were sucking the helium out of the balloons and talking to each other in chip-munk voices, cracking up at the ridiculous high pitched noises that were escaping our throats.

Me & Tiff
Ahh, Tiff, im sorry if this looks terrible,
im just starting to get back into drawing
so bear with me. haha
(atleast this looks better than my previous
drawing of Kevin, (post below.))
haha

& a note to kevin's mom ;
PLEASE, SPANK KEVIN FOR PICKING ON ME !
he keeps telling me to shuuut up  :'(

Vegetable Soup ;

i know ive been a bit laggy with the food updates,
ive been a bit under the weather lately,
which gives an excuse to make soup, right?

Vegetable Soup
its really simple to make

Recipe ;

- 2 large tomatoes peeled & halved

- 1 small onion quartered.

- 1 cup chicken or beef broth

- 1 carrot, sliced into small pieces

- 1 clove garlic

- 1 cucumber peeled & halved

- 1 tbs olive oil

- salt & pepper to taste

(When it comes to recipes like this, you can get

really creative with it, feel free to use any sort of

your favorite vegetables & herbs for this soup.)

Place everything in a large pot, and boil until all

veggies are tender. Carefully, pour into your blender,

& blend until smooth.

Enjoy.

Ah ..
words cant describe how nervous the news makes me. .
i live 15 minutes away from our nearest beach, and the "Redondo Beach" they're referring to is less than an hr drive away from my home.
So besides this earthquake / tsunami warning 
AND the radiation that MIGHT be coming our way;
it seems im in a pickle.
i really hope this is all media bull shit,
& this "ring of fire" pattern stops before it hits California.

SOooo, to get my mind off a few things,
ive decided to pick up drawing again,
but damn, i havnt held a pencil in years.. and ive lost my touch.
oh well... practice makes perfect right?

oh god, i hope he doesnt get

offended when he sees this.

haha

i havnt drawn in 5 years!

haha !
my next attempt will be my best friend Tiffany. ♡

A Plateful of Sunshine ;

With the catastrophe going on in Japan, the world has seemed to have dimmed in color a bit..
parts of California has been affected by the Tsunami as well,
and im hearing about the major issues in Japan's Fukushima Neuclear Power Plants;
There is radiation that has been detected in Japan, and the radiation cloud could drift over here as well.
Sigh..
im in "coward mode" right now, and not looking up any more information on the topic,
i just want some color back into the world, or specifically, MY world.
Here are a few sparkling tid-bits of my life.
1.  ive been craving Mangoes & Strawberries like its nobodies buisness ! Atleast theyre very colorfully pretty & healthy right? Not to mention,  absolutely delicious !

Heart Shaped Pancakes with Mangoes & Strawberries.
check out my Vanilla Pancake Recipe by clicking here .
eating a plate of sunshine to start your day really chases away
the gloom blues.

2. i have contributed a donation into the RED CROSS, to help aid Japan.
3. ive just recently been hired to work at Puma, the Athletic clothing store (with the helping hand of Brandon) and the thing thats so great about it, are my co-workers, theyre such happy, easy-going individuals. and better yet,  Puma  supplies me with FREE clothes & shoes, every.. season i believe? to keep up to date with their latest fashion, AND in addition to that, i also get a 60% discount on all store items! yay.
4. My baby Tomato & Strawberry plants are growing healthy & happily!

The Strawberry Plant
its finally showing fruit !
5 little green berries, can you see them?
i cant wait till they start turing a pretty ruby color  ~

5. & i wanted to specifically thank Kevins mother for a very generous & heart felt offer, & to let her know coco is actually completely useless in warning me with worldly catastrophes.. haha, but he says hello !

My Dog; Coco & His Squished Face
adorable, aint he?