Monday, February 22, 2010

Bacon and Eggs Over Asparagus

I was flipping through my Good Housekeeping magazine the other day when I came across the recipe for this:



Doesn't that look divine?  As soon as I saw the recipe, I tore it out and added it the week's menu. I did have to make a few changes due to circumstances beyond my control. First, the grocery store didn't have any fresh thyme, so I used dried. Second, I used Turkey bacon instead of regular. This would be because I mistakenly bought maple bacon which is--let's face it--nasty, nasty stuff. The turkey bacon worked well but since it doesn't give off as much grease as regular bacon, I ignored the " Drain and discard excess bacon fat in pan" step of the recipe.


Oh, and any time my brain reads the word "chopped" in a list of directions, it automatically replaces it with "cut". So, yea I used those magical kitchen shears to cut my parsley and dill. Oh, and I don't measure things half the time either. I knew they were supposed to be in a 3:1 ratio, so I just eyeballed it. I didn't actually end up using all of this either which worked out well since my bunny was quite happy to gobble up all of the leftovers.

I served my masterpiece with toast because eggs and toast are like peanut butter and jelly--you really just need to have them together. Also, my oven overcooked the eggs as they were supposed to be runny, but weren't. Other than that, I was quite pleased with the results.

So since Bacon and Eggs Over Asparagus passed the test, it goes into my favorite recipe book. This book is really a 4x6 photo album, so I need to format the recipe to fit into those parameters. Now, if I were super techy, I'd type every recipe up into a pre-designed template, resize and drag the photo on the page and then print it out. But I'm not at all techy. Plus, I'm lazy. So I have my own method that works with my limitations. First, I gather my materials: recipe, index card, scissors, pen and packing tape--the tear by hand variety is a must for those like myself who frequently veer toward the inert state. 

 Next, cut the recipe to fit on the card--this may require some creative arranging and/or extra cards. This particular recipe was printed on the front and back of the page, so I had to sacrifice the title to get all of the directions. No worries, I just hand wrote in that information. I always try to fit the picture on there somehow--that way I know what my end product is supposed to look like. But here's a piece of advice: never, ever show that magazine photo to husbands or children as they will surely point out all the ways your creation does not match the original.

On the directions side of the card, I added notes that were particular to my situation. This will remind me that my oven likes to overcook things and turkey bacon isn't down with a lot of grease. Now, pull off a length of packing tape that is slightly longer than the card and stick 'er down. It takes me two strips per side to cover the card--I leave big overlapping margins to help seal the card in the tape--the better to protect it from spills and the small grubby fingers of children trying to help.You could use contact paper for this step, but I find the packing tape easier to work with, easier to store, and if you buy it on sale with a coupon, it's a lot cheaper too.


Finally, trim off the extra tape and you're all done.


 

Here's a link to the recipe if you're interested in adding it to your repertoire. Bacon and Eggs Over Asparagus

Also be sure to check out Try and Tell over at  Mom Tried It for more great tips and tricks from some very talented Mamas.

6 comments:

  1. Yvonne8:04 PM

    Yum!!! I'm slowing becoming a fan of asparagus and this looks heavenly!

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  2. Yvonne8:06 PM

    Oops...I meant I'm slowly becoming a fan.

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  3. More power to you! I never got the cooking gene in me os my poor children are stuck with chicken nuggets and mac n cheese most nights (maybe exaggerating a little...!). The pictures are fabulous and I love your recipe collection. How do you make the time??!

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  4. Yvonne--roasted asparagus is much tastier than steamed, well at least that's my opinion. You should give this recipe a try. I would cut it down a bit if it's just you because I'm not sure how appetizing the leftovers would be. Don't want to eat soggy asparagus--ew!

    Mary--this recipe was actually quite simple. The roughest part was watching the clock to be sure that I took things out of the oven at the correct time: my oven timer stops until the oven re-reaches it's set temperature after opening the door. I burnt a lot of things before I figured that little nugget out.

    I typically make one new or more involved recipe a week usually on a day when the kids have been at school. If there's a lot of prep work, I will sometimes do that earlier in the day to make the assembly smoother at crunch time. But the rest of the week it's stuff like sloppy joes, pasta and crock pot dinners, so I can't take any super mom awards for this one. lol

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  5. Wow, you made asparagus look down right appetizing! I craved it when I was pregnant with my son, but never was that into it. It has always been okay, but this looks great! Any time you can add bacon to something, it has to make it exponentially better. :-)
    Thank you so much for linking up to Try and Tell.

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  6. So going to do this, any way I can sneak veggies in is helpful!

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