No, I'm Not Over Bacon Yet

There's been some talk in recent years about how America's passion for pork belly (since this is 'Murica and extra fatty is how we like it) has waned and is on its way out. Well, maybe that's true for some... but I've always loved bacon and will continue to do so until I die (ideally, from complications brought on by an all-bacon diet... actually, that sounds terrible... I'd at least want some pancakes to accompany that delicious meaty goodness). But anyway, the point of all this is that I still enjoy eating bacon and like finding new ways to do so. This latest recipe, our 20th published this year, was sent to me by my mom, comes from ohbiteit.com, is found here. It's similar to another post, but different enough that I think it's worth posting. I didn't take any pictures (as I was too busy both making and eating it to do so) but the pictures in the link above are nice and give a good feel for what to expect (you should expect deliciousness). I'm not a huge fan of the name - I think calling things "crack" is a little overdone (maybe not unlike using bacon in everything?), so I think something more like Bacon Candy or Bacon Brittle (it's not at all like traditional brittle, but it does resemble it a bit) would be more appropriate. But hey, it's not my recipe.

The Recipe

Bacon Crack

1 Container Crescent Dough

1 Pound Bacon

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup Maple Sugar

1 Pinch Cayenne (Optional)

Start off by crisping your bacon, either on the stove or in the microwave. Once it's semi-crisp, drain it and crumble it. Next, spread your dough on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and then poke shallow holes in it with a fork. Brush on a layer of maple syrup and then evenly distribute the bacon over that. Now put another thin layer of syrup over the bacon, then cover all that with the brown sugar. Bake at 325 for about 25 minutes or until the dough is evenly golden and the sugar has mostly melted. Let it cool for about 15 minutes and then cut it into pieces, plate, and serve.

The Results

Oh so good. We served this for some friends and it was a big hit. I did make a few tweaks, but nothing major. The recipe says you can add a bit of cayenne to the brown sugar, but I skipped that since not everyone likes that. I did, however, add some black pepper to the bacon while I crisped it up (which I do by slicing the bacon before I put it on the stove so it cooks quickly). This gives it just a little different, more spiced flavor that I rather like. I also added a bit of bourbon to the maple syrup for a bit more added flavor. Not much, mind you (and could probably do more next time), but just a bit. Obviously this is optional, but I think it's fun. I also cut it up with a pizza cutter, which I think was probably the best way to cut it and is a tip worth sharing.

And I think that's all to say on this one. Hopefully you've enjoyed these food posts throughout the year and we'll be back with more of them and lots more other posts next year! Which is like, two days away...

Happy New Year, errrbody!

Canadian Art, Eh?

December is a time for family gatherings, an abundance of delicious food, presents for all the good little girls and boys (or, in our case, the good little husband and wife and dog and cats), and (for me, at least) working lots of hours. With all these things lumped into one month, we're left with little time to tackle big house projects (which is why we're waiting until January to continue large improvements). But that doesn't mean we aren't doing a few little things. (Seriously little. Very very little.)

We purchased a few cool prints while we were in Canada this past summer and hadn't gotten around to putting them up anywhere yet. After much discussion, lots of me holding pictures against the wall (while Leslie shook her head and scrunched up her nose), and a bit of measuring we got them up. Their new home is the wall opposite our bedroom in the upstairs hall and they look pretty great. The only problem is that now we need to figure out something to put on the other wall in the hall - it's a little off balance since these prints and the photo collage are on the same side now.

And yes, that's actually all for now (like I said, it's December and we're busy - deal with it). So have a great Christmas and we'll see you later!

Christmas Happenings So Far

We're still a few weeks away from Christmas and the holiday activities have already begun. It all started off with my company's Christmas party. This year's celebration was at The Crane Bay event center downtown. It's a very unique space and they had it decorated perfectly, including some cool stainless steel Christmas tree decorations that the company fabricated in our sheet metal shop. Our evenings entertainment was a band featuring two of our company's employees. I didn't even know they played, but was pleasantly surprised by how good they were. In the words of the bass player / vocalist that also serves as one of our IT guys, "We won't suck, it'll be good." He was right. And, while the attendance this year didn't seem to be as high as past events (or at least not among people we're used to hanging out with), it was still a lot of fun and a good chance to see some coworkers that I don't get to see very often.

Yesterday we attended another cool event. A Yelp-related event, even. This was the annual Yelp Bazaar - a "pop-up holiday shopping party" with a bunch of local vendors selling everything from coffee mugs to jams. It was held at the Indianapolis Central Library and was very impressive. We didn't realize the scale of this whole thing until we saw it for ourselves. There were so many people and so many cool vendors. And, while we may not have gotten much Christmas shopping done, we certainly had a good time looking at all the interesting offerings. We'll definitely be checking it out again next year.

And I think that's about it for now. Have a good weekend and we'll be back next week!

Half The Bathroom, All The Fun - Part 4

IT IS FINISHED! We managed to get everything done before Thanksgiving except for one thing. That's pretty good (for us, at least). It took a few evenings and weekends, a bit of cash, and a lot of trips to Lowe's, but now we've got a new bathroom and are very happy with how everything turned out.

We've finished up the half-completed steps we detailed in our last project post (and here are parts one, two, and three, in case you missed out). The sink drain is connected and works. I got everything connected, removed the aerator from the faucet and let it run for a bit to clear out any debris, and checked for leaks in the water lines or drain. One problem - some leakage from the top of the drain pipe. But not a big deal, I just had to recaulk around the popup drain since I had apparently jostled it too much while messing with the p-trap. And that was it! Done!

We were also without a toilet seat for a bit there too. Fortunately, another quick trip to Lowe's sorted that out too. We got a quiet close seat to match the toilet, which is thing now. It's kind of weird - you just sort of move the seat forward like you're going to close it, but then just let it hang there and slowly close itself. So no worries about anyone slamming the lid down too hard, but if you're in a hurry to close the lid (because you're flushing drugs down the drain, I guess?) it would be a little harder to accomplish.

The walls are also a little more presentable now since we've put stuff up! The toilet paper holder thingy and the towel ring (part of the same Delta line as the faucet, to ensure some semblance of uniformity) mounted easily and look good. The mirror Leslie ordered finally arrived too. It also mounted easily and really brought a finished look to the space (it was a little weird to have a vanity with no mirror). The shelf we ended up using was the third one we tried. The first was too big, the second was too small, but this one was just right. So, once we installed baby-bear shelf, we stuck a few things on it and mounted a picture above it along with another picture on the adjacent wall. Some pretty good decorations for bathroom, I'd say.

And finally, the thing we ended finishing up in December (effectively missing our self-imposed deadline) was the t-moulding. It took a bit of time to find moulding that actually matched, but we managed to and now it's installed too!

So there you have it: the tale of the half bath. It was an exciting project for us and hopefully you enjoyed riding along. We won't be diving into much of anything in the way of house projects in December, what with all the holiday festivities, so you'll have to wait for January (or watch old episodes of Home Improvement) to get your fix of remodeling goodness. But, in the meantime, thanks for reading and we'll be back soon!

Thankful For Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in my favorite holiday. Why? Well, here are a few reasons:

1. There are no presents to buy
2. You're encouraged (nay, expected) to feast on delicious food
3. There's football on TV
4. The whole family gets together to celebrate
5. I get two days off work
6. Black Friday / Cyber Monday deals on Amazon

Now maybe I'm weird, but that looks like a pretty good list of perks to me. What's not to love?

We started out with some exciting travel the weekend before Thanksgiving. Leslie and I drove down to Wilmore, KY to visit my sister. She's currently a student at Asbury and we've been meaning to visit for awhile, so it was nice to finally get down there. We got to see campus, check out a local restaurant, go ice skating, grab some coffee, and even meet her boyfriend. It was a quick trip, full of fun, and definitely worth getting up early on a Saturday to take.

Then, in preparation for the greatest holiday ever invented, we spent much of Tuesday night baking. Leslie made a double batch of the delicious yeast rolls that her family has for most holidays and I made a few pies to serve after dinner with my family. We then journeyed up to Fort Wayne, baked goods and the dog in tow, on Wednesday after work.

We spent Thanksgiving day at my parents house. It was a large event, as usual, with 21 people, family and friends, all packed in for our Thanksgiving meal. The usual suspects were there - turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, sweet potato casserole, and more. And, as a special treat, we made homemade ice cream later in the day (in case we hadn't already had enough food?). We played cards and watched football and talked and did all that typical family stuff. It was the lovely, familiar holiday I'm used to.

Friday, instead of going shopping like some people do, we went to Leslie's parents' house for round two! We had lots of food, but it's a different take on things than what we had the day previous, so it didn't feel redundant at all. Oh, and this was a Thanksgiving I'm still not so used to... there are kids. Lots of kids. Five whole kids. And they all want to climb on / sit on / ride on / jump off of / be thrown in the air by / wrestle me (well, maybe not the baby... but he'll get there soon enough). So it's a little more hectic environment, but still fun. They're great kids and love their aunt Leslie and uncle Jeremy the best. Leslie's sister's family also got a new puppy recently, so Leo had a lot of fun playing with their two dogs. It was a good time for everyone, and we were glad we got to see everyone on both sides.

And that about does it for our Thanksgiving adventure. Thanks for reading and I hope you all had wonderful Thanksgivings of your own. Now, just as a warning (as I'm sure many of you will also be busy with holiday festivities this month), our blog posts might be a little more inconsistent for a bit. Sorry to ruin your day.

Thanks again and have a great week!

Yelping Around Town

Something many of you probably don't know about me... I'm on the Yelp Elite Squad here in Indianapolis (for what that means, what Yelp is, or a cool tour of their HQ, check out these links here, here, and here, respectively). One of the best perks of being an Elite is attending fun, free events, and a few of them happened in the last few weeks.

While not an exclusive Yelp event, the first of our adventures was a performance of A Christmas Carol at the Indiana Repertory Theater. Yelp partnered with them for the evening and gave Yelp users a promo code for discounted tickets. We had never been to the theater before and were pleasantly surprised by how nice it was. It's a beautiful building, fairly small auditorium, and great feel. The show was excellent and a great way to start getting us into the Christmas spirit (even if it was only in mid-November).

Then I attended an event the following Tuesday at a burger joint in Avon. It was a smaller group, only about 16 people including myself, which served as a nice introduction for me since it was my first Elite event. It was, not surprisingly, a lot of fun. The restaurant pulled out all the stops, bringing out appetizers and specialty burgers for us to sample before also letting us order whatever burger and side we wanted. It was a lot of fun and I left there full and happy, taking leftovers, a bottle of their handcrafted soda, and a swag bag with me.

And we followed that with yet another event on Thursday. This event, called "Yelp's Gin Academy," was put on by the Ruth's Chris on the north side of Indy and Hendrick's Gin. We started off with some appetizers and a gin and tonic before moving upstairs to a private room where we were given an overview of the origins of gin and the gin making process that Hendrick's uses (all their gin is handcrafted in small batches using stills from the 1800's - pretty cool stuff). The Hendrick's rep then lead us through making a few cocktails, including a punch, which we were of course encouraged to sample thoroughly. Even Leslie, admittedly not as big a fan of gin, still thought it was fun and liked a few of the drinks we made. They even sent us home with gift bags filled with some Hendrick's info, the recipes for the cocktails we made, and even little mini bottles of gin. Not a bad reward for just writing a few reviews, eh?

So there you have it - some of the adventures we've been having while not working on the bathroom. And, speaking of the bathroom, you'll have to wait a bit for that update. In observance of my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, we won't be posting on Friday. Yep, sorry, you'll have to wait until next week. So, until then, have a great week, happy Thanksgiving, and we'll see you later!

Half The Bathroom, All The Fun - Part 3

Things have continued to move along smoothly and we're nearing completion. Or at least functionality, if not completely done. This is our third update on this lovely bathroom remodel, so if you've missed the last two you can catch up with Part 1 and Part 2 now.

We left off last time with the tile being set and just needing to grout. We did that over the weekend and the results look really nice. The grout color goes well with the tile and it all compliments the blue walls perfectly.

The next step was the vanity. I set the vanity top out on a set of horses and connected the faucet and drain. This made it a lot easier to get all the faucet connections attached since I didn't have to do it all in the cramped cabinet. I also took this opportunity to replace the shutoff valves with new quarter-turn valves. We then installed the vanity cabinet and mounted the top without a problem. We still need to get the drain connected, as the new tailpiece is higher up and a different size than the existing piping. Luckily, we're just a few minutes from Lowes, so these problems shouldn't be hard to remedy.

Another important piece of the puzzle was added this week too - the toilet! The old toilet was ok, but we opted for a cool new toilet to match the cool new bathroom. We ended up with the American Standard H2Option Siphonic Dual Flush (seriously, click the link and watch the video, it's pretty cool). It's dual flush, meaning that there are two different flush options - choose between a 0.9 gal flush for liquid waste and a full 1.6 gal flush for solid waste. The choice is indicated by buttons on top of the tank, so it should be pretty easy to figure out, but now you know what to expect next time you use the bathroom at our house.

The old flange was in good enough shape that I was able to reuse it without difficulty. I got new mounting bolts and seal, attached the bowl, hooked up the tank, and connected the water line. Everything works well and it looks cool too (for a toilet, at least). We still need to get a toilet seat, but otherwise the bathroom is on its way to becoming functional again.

We aren't quite wrapped up yet, though - there are a few things that still need to be done this weekend and beyond. We have to mount the toilet paper holder, the towel ring, and various pictures and other wall decorations. We also need to install the T-Moulding at the threshold to transition from the laminate outside the bathroom to the tile inside it. We're also waiting for the mirror Leslie ordered from Menards to arrive so we can get that hung as well. So a few things, but nothing major. Hopefully we'll be wrapped up before Thanksgiving or shortly after.

And that's all for now. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!