Hospitaltiy Dare #2 Make Someone Feel Special - Recipe for Bacon Cake

I'm participating in a 7 day Hospitality Dare. Each day I'll post about how I responded to the dare. See the end of the post to see how you can take the dare!

Day #2 Dare:  Bring the gift of hospitality to your own family today.  For dinner or dessert, light candles and put something special on each person's plate (a note, chocolate kisses, a favorite poem, etc.)   

For today's challenge I did put a little note in my husband lunch bag. It had to do with a private joke between us about square buns that I'm not going to share:-) He liked it and that's all that matters!

I would like to share with you something I did over the weekend that I think really exemplifies this challenge.

My oldest son had a birthday Saturday and since his wife is out of town we invited him over for a birthday celebration. 

Now this boy does not eat sweets. No candy, cake, cookies, brownies, ice cream...NOTHING! NONE! NADA! My husband and I joke that if he and his brothers didn't look exactly alike we'd swear he had been switched at birth! 

I'm ashamed to admit that during his growing up years we always had birthday cake because that's what you do on a birthday. Right? He'd always take a little piece and pick at it while the rest of us pigged out!

This year I decided to do something different. Something just for him. 

I made a bacon cake. Not the sweet and savory type that is so popular right now but a real savory bacon cake. 

Bacon Birthday Cake! 

I think he liked it!


The cake was a variation of a breakfast casserole that I make. Instead of baking it in a 13 x 9 casserole pan I used a 9 x 9 round cake pan.

The icing is just ranch dip and the chocolate sprinkles is bacon that I 

ground up in my coffee grinder. (Probably not a great idea since it was a 

chore to clean the grease out of the grinder!)

The Recipe

Bacon Cake (or breakfast casserole)
Makes 1 round 9 x 9 or 8 x 8 cake layer

Ingredients
2 pounds of bacon
1 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 stick of butter (to grease the pan)

Method
Fry the bacon till crisp. Drain on paper towels and cut or break into bite size pieces.
In a large mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients and stir together.
Add the eggs and the milk and beat till smooth. Stir in the cheese and bacon.

Melt the butter in the baking pan.
Pour in the bacon cheese mixture.

Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes. Test the cake by inserting a wooded skewer or toothpick near the center. It should come out clean.

• To make this in to a cake I had to cool it completely before I put on the icing. The icing was really just for show. To eat the cake I scraped most of it off and reheated the cake in the microwave. 

• This does make a really good breakfast casserole. Double the flour, milk, eggs, baking powder and salt and bake it in a 13 x 9 pan. You can use sausage in place of the bacon if you want. 

I will have to admit that I really wanted a piece of chocolate cake and ice cream but my son enjoyed his bacon cake.  And that's really what matters.

It's never too late to accept the Hospitality Dare.

Go over to 

Kirstin Schell - Gather 'Round the Table for Food and Faith - 7 Day Hospitality Dare

For all the details.

I dare you!


You can see what I did to meet these dares:
Hospitality Dares and Challenges

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http://christianmommyblogger.com/fellowship-fridays-61/

Lessons Learned From My Parent's Table

I grew up in a home where the six of us sat around a big trestle table. 

My dad sat in a chair at the head, my oldest brother got the other chair at the foot of the table. Benches on each side were perfect - my mom and I shared the bench closest to the kitchen. (I suppose so she could jump up and grab whatever we kids forgot to put on the table.) My sister and youngest brother shared the other bench. 

Perfect arrangement. 

Except it very seldom worked out that way. 

On My Plate - Grilled Salmon

Saturday night my husband and I enjoyed a rare dinner alone. We took the opportunity to prepare one of our favorite dishes. 

Grilled Salmon

It only requires a few ingredients and a very short cooking time. It takes longer to heat the charcoal than to actually cook the fish!

We paired the salmon up with a nice salad and steamed broccoli, red peppers and onions. 

Quick, tasty and good for you. 

A great combination!

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What's your favorite way to cook salmon?

Grilled Salmon Steaks

1 - six - eight ounce salmon steak per person
(Try to find wild salmon not farm raised. It's supposed to be better for you.)

For each salmon steak:
1 Tablespoon lemon juice-fresh is best but bottle will work 
1 teaspoon olive oil 
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

vegetable oil for the grill grate

Rinse the salmon steaks and pat dry with paper towel.
Brush each steak with oil.
Salt and pepper each steak
Oil the grill grate so the fish doesn't stick. 
Place each steak on the grill and sprinkle with 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice.
Grill over hot coals for 6 minutes. 
Flip the salmon, sprinkle the rest of the lemon juice on the fish and cook another 6 minutes. 
Test for doneness. 

Fish should flake easily. 

You can change up this recipe to suit your taste. Use more lemon juice or add a little grated garlic and some butter and dill. The main thing is to buy good, fresh fish and don't overcook!

Enjoy!

Get to Know Your Teen's Friends Around the Family Table

When my son turned 16 and got that long sought after driver's license it seemed he was on the road every chance he got. We didn't see much of him. 

One day I told him that we were going to spend that Saturday together as a family by going to the beach. Picnic lunch, walking the trails, swimming. 

Of course he rolled his eyes. 

I explain the importance of taking time to be together. To reconnect and stay in touch. The importance of family time. 

The eye roll again and deep sigh as only a teenager can do.  

He said,  "Mom, we spend tons more time together as a family than my friends do. We eat dinner together almost every night. None of my friends do that."

It made me so sad to think that something I took for granted wasn't the norm in a lot of households. 

I know that life is busy and many things pull us away from home. Even so I can't image growing up in a home  where the family didn't sit down together at least occasionally for a meal. 

That's one reason I'm happy to set an extra plate or two on the table. What we take for granted is often a special treat for some people. 

An added bonus- If you want to find out what your teenagers are doing when they aren't with you just get to know their friends. I learned all kinds of interesting bits of information while sitting around the table:-) 

Do you have teenagers? Would you invite their friends to dinner?

I hope so!

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