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

Linking up with:

A Stroll Through Life - Inspire Me Tuesday

Hope in Every Season












Missional Women Faith Filled Friday

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

Hospitality Dare #1 Lunch Sacks and Manna Bags

I got the first dare in my inbox yesterday. 

Day #1 Dare:   Make an extra lunch and put it in a bag.  Throughout the day, look for someone to bless.  It could be a homeless person, a child who forgot their lunch at school, a co-worker who has no time to eat, etc. {If you are a praying person, pray over the lunch and who to give it to}.   

I modified this dare a little. I do pack a lunch for my husband. It consists of leftovers and since I only had one hamburger patty I didn't have any extra to send as far as lunch goes. So I decided to make a pan of brownies for him to take to the employees in his office. 

He was happy since I don't usually make brownies just for us and he said the guys at work would eat them up.

Brownies made from a box mix. Can't get much easier than that! My
husband said they were gone by 8am!

The challenge option is to make Manna Bags. You can read all the details on Kirsten's post. She even has some neat printable.  Basically a Manna Bag is  a gallon size Ziploc bag that you fill with things such as individual servings of canned foods like beanie weenies and packages of crackers and a few hygiene items like a toothbrush and toothpaste. Keep these bags in your car and pass out to people in need. I did this project with my women's circle a while back and it's a really neat way to handle people who are on street corner asking for help.


(Manna - when the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness they cried out for food and God generously rained down manna for them to eat. Exodus 16 The bible says that manna tasted like wafers made with honey. God gives only the best!)

Instead of making the bags I went to Sam's Club and purchased a case of Beanie Weenies, small fruit cups and peanut butter crackers to donate to our church's mini food pantry.  There's a small homeless population who live in the woods by our church and these bags are given out to those who come looking for help.


I didn't do this exactly as I was dared to but it did  spur me do something and that's what counts:-)


Hospitality is about seeing the needs around you and doing what you can to meet those needs.  

Have you reached out to meet a need today?

I dare you!

http://meaninginaminute.com/hospitality/

Hospitality Dare Introduction

Hospitality Dare

When you were a kid did anyone ever dare you to do something? 

Like jumping from the high dive into the pool or asking out that cute boy in science class? 

What ever the dare it was usually a little scary and  took us out of our comfort zone. There was a bit of danger and the knowledge we were crossing into the unknown. 

Sometimes when we accept a dare it might lead to a less than happy outcome. Like the time in 10th grade when my friend Kathy dared me to skip school and go to the beach. Let's just say when my dad found out it wasn't a happy day!

But today I've accepted a dare that might take me out of my comfort zone. A dare that might cross over into unknown territory but one I'm pretty sure won't be dangerous and will have a happy ending.

I've accepted  the Hospitality Dare!

Krista from Meaning in a Minute and Kristin Schell have partnered together to issue this dare. 

Go to Meaning in a Minute and sign up for the dare. Each day for 7 days they'll send an email that contains a short video that explains the daily dare. 

I've accepted the dare and will be posting about my experience.

 Can you handle the challenge?

I dare you!

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

Don’t start with a big program. Start personally and start in your home. I dare you. I dare you in the name of Jesus Christ. Do what I am going to suggest. Begin by opening your home for community. . . All you have to do is open your home and begin.

Francis Schaeffer

Simply Showing You Care-Cook Someone's Favorite Food

When I was little I remember coming in all upset over something I'm sure one of my brothers did to me. My mother consoled my tears by fixing me a little bowl of rice and butter. I sat at the table and ate that rice while she finished in the kitchen.

I'm sure my mother was busy getting dinner ready before my dad got home and the last thing she needed was a sobbing child in her way.

Even now many years later I can't eat rice without thinking about that simple act of loving kindness. 

Growing up each of my children had a favorite dish. 

Meatloaf and mashed potatoes for my oldest.

Chicken and dumplings for my middle boy.

 Sweet potato casserole for the youngest.

When my oldest son came home on leave from deployment in Afghanistan he requested not only his favorite meal of meat loaf,  but also homemade lasagna, my special hot wings and pizza from a local pizzeria.

The middle boy begged me to teach his wife how to make chicken and dumplings. Which I didn't do because I certainly didn't want to alienate my new daughter-in-law. One day she came to me asked me for my recipe and if I'd teach her how to make the dumplings. She wanted to surprise my son for his birthday. I gladly shared with her. 

My youngest son was upset one year because I didn't make his favorite sweet potatoes for our Christmas dinner. So I made them just for him for New Year's day.

Food has a powerful hold on us. Sometimes that hold can be bad but sometimes it can bring back sweet memories of home and love.

That's why I was thrilled when my oldest son's wife asked if I'd teach her to make her favorite thing. 

My Cheesy Biscuits.

So we got in the kitchen together and I showed her how to whip up my simple biscuits. Which we all enjoyed hot out of the oven. 

Food has a way of connecting us and bringing us together. 

It is a simple way to show someone you care. 

Simple Cheesy Drop Biscuits

I have never been able to make what I consider real biscuits. You know the fluffy kind with lots of pull a part layers. But these are good. Kind of crunchy on the outside and tender inside. Good hot out of the oven with lots of butter.

Cheesy Drop Biscuits
Makes about  8 good sized biscuits. Recipe can easily be doubled.

2 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F
Mix the dry ingredients together. Toss in the cheese.
Make a well in the center and add the oil and milk.
Mix with a spoon or your hands.
Don't roll or cut just drop pieces of dough on a greased cooking sheet.
These biscuits don't have to be pretty:-)
Bake for 12 minutes. Flip the biscuits over and bake another 5 minutes until nicely browned.

Slather with butter and enjoy hot out of the oven!

Be Kind to Someone Today!

Patti

Hello Friends It's Been a While

I'm sorry to have been gone so long and I thank those of you who have inquired about my whereabouts. I'm ready to get back to blogging about hospitality and entertaining. I hope maybe there's a few people out there who are still interested in reading. Thank you if you are!!!

I haven't been completely away from blog land. I've been working on my other blog with a friend of mine. After a little health scare she and I started a project that ended up taking a lot of my free time. But I've learned a lot about blogging and posting that have made things easier for me so I'm ready to get back to my first blog love-hospitality and entertaining.

If you're interested you can check out my other blog A Year Of Healthy Habits. I've actually lost 15 pounds (a few more to go)  and lowered my blood pressure all by trading a few bad habits for some good ones. I feel better and have more energy now and I'm ready to party!

Thanks for sticking around!

Patti