Maybe I should've taken a photo of the cooked product. Next time I'll wear my thinking cap and my apron, sorry. Also, that graphic screams Adobe Photoshop circa 2000. I'm very visual and am drawn to bright whites, obviously.
First and foremost - full credit for this recipe goes to super stellar Kelly. Hopefully it doesn't count as plagiarism now that I gave her credit.
Way back a million years ago one time I ate at a fine dining establishment by the name of Bennigan's. Have you heard of it? Don't ask why I was eating there with my peers in high school -- probably for the same reason I thought wearing hot pink sparkly heart shaped shades from the little girls section of Walgreens was acceptable behavior. Anyway, I ordered the Monte Cristo sandwich which was a deep friend ham and cheese sandwhich served with jelly and powdered sugar (have I mentioned my health nut phase? no?) and my undying love and devotion to all things sweet and salty (or savory if we're getting fancy up in here) was birthed.
I strongly dislike/hate dates all by their lonesome but dates with cream cheese and bacon? Strongly love.
Ingredients:
6 dates
3 strips of bacon
6 toothpicks
6 globs of cream cheese
(Serves one Grace Patton)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
If the dates are pitted (mine were ... lazies unite) then just go ahead and put the glob of cream cheese inside the date six times. If the dates are not pitted -- good luck with that situation. Cut the strips of bacon into thirds (not lengthwise -- I did that the first time and it took a full week to wrap all six dates) and wrap the stuffs with the bacon and secure it with a toothpick. Bake for 16-18 minutes at 400 degrees.
When Simon was on nights I made this almost every night for pre-dinner before we tried to meet him in the cafeteria for real dinner. I Googled 'benefits of eating dates' and let the multiple lists of reasons why eating dates are a good idea make me feel better about myself and my dirty habit.
Another fun way to eat dates if you're running short on steam and time is to stuff cream cheese and peanut butter into a raw date ... (another hat tip to Kelly) so very good.
And now I'm off to look and see if anyone in the greater St. Louis area is in need of a food photographer/food photography class teacher because .............. obviously.
your funny :), really funny :). I love that last pic!!
ReplyDeleteBacon, that's the magic word here. Well and cream cheese too. As for the dates, well I'd have to reserve judgement...
ReplyDeleteNow, Mrs. New Mexico Gal, try the exact same thing but with jalapenos instead of dates. And your food photogs are at least good enough to make me hungry. winkywink
ReplyDeleteI think I could eat just about anything stuffed with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon.
ReplyDeleteAnd you can even make recipe posts funny!
I LOVE your sarcasm, emm I mean writing. It’s the funniest.
ReplyDeletefancy shmancy!!!
ReplyDeleteSalivating. Of course, I have all these ingredients on hand. Going to try to hold out until Saturday when I can show up at a friends house and be dinner guest superstar. Glad you're sharing this goodness with the world at large.
ReplyDeleteWe had these on our wedding day! They were delicious and I too thought they sounded disgusting because- EW dates. Now I have a recipe to try our own! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHave.to.try.this.now.
ReplyDelete6 date, 1/4 cup pecans, dash of vanilla. Blender. You're welcome.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying these bacon dates VERY soon-- they look fabo!
In a timely post, one of my other favorite mom-bloggers wrote a post about fod today too! Grace, meet Amy. http://www.amalah.com/amalah/2013/04/salad-days.html#.UV3mQaJ4xn8. I thought you might appreciate her sense of humor and experience with feeding little ones :)
ReplyDeletewho knew I could laugh so hard at a post about dates??
ReplyDeleteOooo, we had these at a bridal shower I co-hosted last month, only with blue cheese. Also delicious, if one is a blue cheese fan, of course. :)
ReplyDeleteYummy!! Bacon makes everything good. At least, that's the philosophy in my bacon-eating, meat-loving, man-world around here. There is a restaurant that we love in ATL called The Iberian Pig - they make bacon wrapped dates also and they are de-lish!!
ReplyDeleteI like neither dates nor Brie, but I love a chunk of Brie stuffed into a date. YUM! Easy appetizer and I always get compliments on it.
ReplyDeleteFunny, as always. While I love bacon, I can't imagine that I will like this. Perhaps for a party, so I can test it out on others. That last picture cracks me up. It looks like Simon is turning away from you, really wanting to flip you the bird but is too polite so uses the bacon-wrapped, cream cheese-filled date to make the statement for him.
ReplyDeleteYummo! Monte cristos are sooo good... I'm not a big sweet/salty fan normally but my sister made them recently and I was hooked.
ReplyDeleteLove it! I normally would not dare to eat a date... but this makes me reconsider. I <3 cream cheese. And bacon.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recipe and laughs! And your story reminded me of how classy my husband and I are--we celebrated our engagement by hitting up the local Bennigans. I remembered he ordered the Monte Cristco that night! 11 years later, I'll be surprising him with this tasty combination!
ReplyDeleteYou are so convincing that this will be good...have I mentioned I have a fear of dates? ;)
ReplyDeleteThose look dangerous... ;-)
ReplyDeleteMonte Cristo? Why have I never eaten one of these...?
ReplyDeletewhat the heck. i love these, i had them at a shower once and kept inconspicuously going back up to the food table when everyone else was bust watching the bride open all of her blenders and bras. they look so simple to make!
ReplyDeleteThe Monte Cristo at Benniganssssssss! I loved that sandwich more than I love my mom I think. :) Sadly the only Bennigan's in this area shut down years ago. I think about the Monte Cristo all the time!
ReplyDeleteha! I don't know how many time I've created a new dish and took a ton of precooked pics and completely blew it on the final product. Looks delish!
ReplyDeleteDude, we ate bacon wrapped dates this week! We love them! Except I've never done cream cheese, just bacon and dates.
ReplyDeletePer your suggestion, I made them for my husband tonight (it is Easter Friday, let's live it up). I have a dairy issue, so when I cheat, I use goat milk products instead. Chevre works nicely instead of the cream cheese.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion!
YUM!!! I'm all about dates at the moment!!! I also do a similar "wrap" with figs, goat cheese and prosciutto ;-)
ReplyDeleteoh mama those look GOOD!
ReplyDelete