For the love of bacon

After 22 years of vegetarianism for me and 16 years for my husband, we started eating meat again. Our son refused to eat a vegetarian diet and we had grown bored of the diet. We started with fish, what I like to call the gateway meat, and after a year we gave in to the rest. Now that I'm eating meat again I'm finding a whole new world of culinary fun. Bacon has been one of my favorite things to cook with and eat. If fish is the gateway meat, then Bacon in the hook that keeps you. 

I recently join the Pinterest world. While searching around for cool ideas to fix for my family for Valentines brunch I found instructions for bacon roses at http://www.instructables.com/id/Bacon-Roses/?ALLSTEPS  I thought Genius!!!! What a perfect gift for a man who returns everything I buy him. I had to give it a try.

What you will need:

--mini muffin pan 

--cookie sheet

--cook rack

--awl

--bacon

--silk roses

Before you start, you will need to poke holes in the bottom of the muffin pan. I know this seems wasteful, but it was a great excuse for me to replace my old pan that only holds 12 with one that holds 24. You can still use it again just use mini muffin liners. The hole allows the grease to drip out onto a liner pan.

Lay the bacon flat. Decide which side you want to be the base and which side you what to be the petals.  Roll the bacon keeping it tighter at the base and looser at the top. 

Place bacon base down in muffin cups. To give the bacon a bit more detail I flared the top by running my finger along the top edge causing it to flare out. 

Place the muffin tin on the cookie sheet and rack to catch the grease. That is a mess no one wants to clean up. Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes. Allow to cool on a paper towel.

While bacon is cooking remove the entire flower-heads off the stem be sure to save the green bud part at the bottom. I saved the peddles  for later also. I'm sure they will come in handy sometime. Replace the green bud part. When bacon roses are cool enough to touch slide them on the stems about 1 inch and rest them on the green. 

I doubt I do this very often, but this was a fun little surprise for my husband. I had them sitting on the table when he woke up. He had to take a second look. I totally impressed him and he was flattered at the effort I put in making these for him. Score one for mommy.  Definitely worth trying.