Gayle King says: “”Best thing I ate while judging the Vendy Awards—a cook-off among New York’s incredible street food vendors—this fall: the Cupcake Crew’s maple bacon cupcake. I knew I liked maple and that I also like bacon, but who knew how much I’d like them together?”— Gayle King

You can find out more about the Cupcake Crew and where they’ll be serving cupcakes (in the Big Apple only) on their website or Facebook page.

Cupcake Crew's - Maple Bacon Cupcake

Photo by: Molly Rundberg

And here’s a link to the recipe on Oprah.com.

Have you ever had a cupcake like this?  If so, what did you think? I’ll let you know our vote when we have a chance to try it out.

Oh, and did I tell you that my husband took Chocolate Dipped Bacon to a work potluck the other day?  It was a big hit!  Sadly, I forgot to get a picture of it.  I know, can you believe it!  I forgot!

It was super simple.

A pound of (Oscar Mayer, of course) Super Thick Cut Bacon, cut into thirds – cook until starting to crisp, but not overdone.  It will cook more after you take it out of the pan.

A container of dipping chocolate (this is what I had on hand).

Melt chocolate according to package directions.

Once the bacon is crisp and cooled and the chocolate is melted and still warm, dip as much of the bacon as you want in the chocolate.  We left about half of each piece of bacon exposed so the chocolate flavor didn’t overwhelm the bacon.  Set it on wax paper to cool, then arrange on a plate to serve.  Of course you could add sprinkles or nuts or whatever, but I prefer the pure chocolate and bacon flavors.

This photo from the Taste of Aloha website looks most like what we made.

Hey and next time you see a great bacon recipe, don’t forget to pass it along.

We also went to the Musical Instrument Museum (the MIM) for our 34th wedding anniversary on Dec 9th, celebrated the holidays with a few of the non-profit groups that I work with and had a lovely evening with some other dear friends.  All of those activities don’t have pics posted yet, but hopefully I’ll get to it.

I’m not quite sure how the month got away from me, but we didn’t decorate inside the house until December 19th which is VERY LATE for me!  Originally we weren’t expecting to have any gatherings at our house this year, so I guess that gave me the freedom to put it off.  Then we found out that we were hosting our family gathering, so I got busy and did a few things.

We still have at least one more celebration to come with our son, Kevin when he returns from being overseas in early January.  That will be a special time to have him back home and in the U.S. hopefully for a very long time.

Here are links to a few photos that I’ve posted on Facebook over the last month.  I hope you enjoy them!  (Note: I was told that some of these links didn’t work for those that aren’t on Facebook, so I’ve updated them.)

Randy Thompson’s Christmas Concert where Terry played in early December

Christmas with our Home Group (they’re like Family)

Christmas with my side of the family

Christmas with our Los Angeles area family and our precious friends, the Thompsons

This photo was taken at Thanksgiving a few years ago.  It makes me thankful that the weather in Arizona is often nice enough to sit outside during the holidays.

And here’s a Perkins family photo from last year.

On this day of remembering, I’m also thankful for…

1. Wonderful family that’s always there in good times and bad
2. Precious friends who love and encourage me
3. God’s provision for our needs and beyond
4. A comfortable home filled with joy
5. Plenty of food on the table
6. A house filled with music
7. The gift of creativity and imagination
8. God’s amazing creation
9. Good health
10. The freedom to travel this glorious planet

And soooo much more…

Blessings from our family to yours today and throughout the coming year.

Green Beans with Bacon, Onion and Brown Sugar!

Congratulations to Cheryl Lohrke!

Please send your mailing address to my email at HannFamily[at]cox[dot]net and I will mail your coupon for a free pound of Oscar Mayer bacon.

If you’re at a loss for how to use it, check out the Oscar Mayer website to find a bunch more bacon recipes.

Thanks again for participating.

Enjoy your treat!

This is last call for the Oscar Mayer Bacon Contest and the odds of winning are excellent!  I will be away from my computer until about 6pm (MT), so I’m leaving the contest open until then.

Just to get your creative juices flowing, I thought I’d share a Dutch Oven recipe that I found in my November issue of Taste of Home magazine.  (FYI, This recipe and others can also be found online, but you need to “register” by setting up a login.  There’s no cost to join.)

Pumpkin Bisque with Smoked Gouda

Take a look at the first ingredient!  Ah yes, bacon!

Ingredients for Pumpkin Bisque with Smoked Gouda

• 4 bacon strips, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 can (29 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup shredded Gouda cheese
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• Additional shredded Gouda cheese, optional

Directions

• In a Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towels with a slotted spoon; drain, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings. Saute onion in drippings until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.
• Stir in the broth, pumpkin, salt, nutmeg and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Cool slightly.
• In a blender, process soup in batches until smooth. Return all to pan. Stir in cream; heat through. Add cheese; stir until melted. Sprinkle each serving with parsley, bacon and additional cheese if desired. Yield: 9 servings (2-1/4 quarts).

Can’t you just taste that warm bacony, cheesy goodness?

I also wanted to clarify how we’ll choose a winner.  Since I can see the names of the people that submitted and I don’t want to show preferential treatment, I’m going to show just the recipes to my husband and have him choose a winner based on which one sounds the most delicious to him.  Good news is he LOVES bacon, so they’ll all be in the running.

And here’s a little clarification on the fine print.  I now have the coupons in my hot little hand and this is what they say:

FREE – One package of any OSCAR MAYER Bacon (up to $9.00).  Expiration 3/31/2012  

The images show Center Cut Bacon, Fully Cooked Bacon and Naturally Hardwood Smoked Bacon just to name a few.

Thanks for joining in the fun!  Keep your eyes open for more contests in the future.

I’m so excited that I get the chance to find out, but I need your help.

Last week for my last session at the BlogWorld Expo I attended a workshop taught by Marcy Massura about how to be a Social Media Community Manager. I had no idea when I walked in the door that I would be walking out with a year’s supply of bacon!  Wow!!!

It turns out that Marcy works as the Community Manager for the one and only Oscar Mayer.  Can you say AWESOME!  AND she was able to procure a gift of 52 full value coupons each for a pound of bacon! Wow again!  I guess I don’t have to say much more…I won the raffle drawing!!!  Wahoo!  My husband was ecstatic when I told him.

Now, I need your help in discovering fun new recipes to fill the next year with amazing bacon-licious dishes.  I’ve heard of bacon ice cream, a bacon bomb, chocolate-dipped bacon, but what’s your favorite? Please share a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments,then on Saturday, November 19th…as my thank you to you, I’ll share the love and award one of the coupons for a free pound of bacon to the most delicious sounding recipe.

THANK YOU MARCY and OSCAR MAYER and THANK YOU ALL for your creative ideas.  I’m looking forward to a very tasty year.

Want more fun with bacon?  Check out the Oscar Mayer Facebook page,but don’t cheat by using one of their recipes in the contest, o.k.?

Walt Disney Concert Hall

I’m interrupting my stories about Scotland to celebrate my 600th post by doing a little catch up on what’s going on in my life at this moment.

Today I’m in downtown L.A. I’m here to attend BlogWorld Social Media Business Summit & New Media Expo (#BWELA)!  I’m really excited about the avalanche of workshops that I will encounter over the next 3 days and can’t wait to get started sorting out which ones I’ll attend in person and which I’ll listen to after the conference.

BUT, before I dive into the conference I wanted to share a little of what inspired me today.  You see, not so very long ago I lived in a suburb of L.A.  In fact I lived just about 40 miles north of here for 18 years.  And while we didn’t come into the “city” frequently, we did have a chance to enjoy the benefits occasionally.  I’m not really a city girl,  I’m fairly certain that I wouldn’t want to live here, but I love visiting.  Something about the soaring skyline and bustling traffic energizes me.  I get the feeling that important things are happening here.  Deals are being brokered, historic decisions are being made and ideas emerge here that are changing the world.

These are just a few of the things that inspire me about L.A.:

1. Driving past the iconic Capitol Records building
2. Passing billboards about new TV shows and movies (do you see that in your town?)
3. Enjoying dinner outdoors in November
4. Landing on radio stations in 7 or 8 different languages
5. The city skyline – it’s breathtaking
6. Exit signs for Little Armenia, and Historic Filipinotown
7. Realizing that the Pacific Ocean is just minutes away.
8. Appreciating all the sculptures and great architecture in downtown
9. Remembering that they have an “all news-all the time” radio station (AM1070). I miss that.
10. Celebrating the fact that the L.A. Philharmonic plays regularly at two awesome venues – The Walt Disney Concert Hall (see below) and the Hollywood Bowl (one of my absolute favorites). I miss that too.

So here’s how my day went in this inspiring city…

I drove from the Burbank airport this morning and met my daughter and son-in-law for breakfast (which I don’t get to do nearly as often as I’d like).  Amy and Andrew are a couple of inspiring people too, but that story will have to wait for another time.  I enjoyed a few hours with them, then headed down to the hotel where I’ll be staying for the duration of the conference.

On the way there, I passed the AMAZING, Frank Gehry designed, Walt Disney Concert Hall just a few blocks from the hotel.  After checking in, it was such a gorgeous day that I decided to walk there.  If you’ve never seen it in person, you really should make a point to go.  I would love to take a tour and would especially love to attend a performance there.  I understand that the acoustics in the auditorium are nearly perfect.  Another fun tidbit is that there’s a small theater and gallery space in one corner of the Hall, called REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater).  I used to work at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts) when REDCAT was being built and the staff and student body were anxiously awaiting it’s completion, so I have a bit of a vested interest in the place.

Anyway, here are a few photos of this awe inspiring complex.

Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater

The amazing thing is not so much imagining the building, but actually making it come to life with all those curves and waves.  It’s spectacular!

While there I stopped in the gift shop because these places are just dripping with culture and creativity.  I saw this great T-shirt and a bunch of other inspirational items, but it wasn’t really a shopping day for me, and I can’t really afford a $120 scarf no matter how beautiful it is, so I had to pass on all but a couple of little things that I picked up for Christmas gifts.

L.A. Philharmonic Tshirt

After dinner, I had a chance to go out and play a little with my camera and here’s a fun shot.

Los Angeles Downtown

So now, it’s off to bed to rest up for 3 days of inspiration and information to come.

Have you ever been to Los Angeles?  If not, what do you find inspiring about your own town?

Hope to see you soon!

I wanted to let you know that I’m still in the land of the living.  Soon after I returned from Scotland and Ireland I headed out on a trip to Israel and Jordan.  I know, I know, it seems to come in waves.  Talk about drastic differences in culture, climate and everything!  Wow!  Both trips were amazing and I learned so much that I can’t wait to share about.

I am just now getting over my jet-lag and starting to feel like a real person again, so I should be back to posting very soon.  While you’re waiting, please enjoy this photo of the full moon over the Sea of Galilee.  It was taken from our balcony at the King Solomon’s Hotel in the city of Tiberias, which was about mid-way through our trip.

Come back soon for more travel stories!  I miss connecting with you.

Full Moon over the Sea of Galilee

In the afternoon, after we said farewell to the bagpiper and left Glencoe we followed the western coast of Scotland down to Oban.  By the time we arrived the skies had cleared and we enjoyed blue skies with billowy clouds the rest of the day.

The first thing we noticed when we got near the coast was the extreme low tide.  I researched it later and found out that the latitude (distance from the earth’s equator) of Oban is very similar to that of Ketchican, Alaska where we had seen tidal extremes as well.  On the day we were in Oban, there was a difference of 10 feet between high and low tide.  Here’s a little evidence.

One of our stops in town was the Oban Whisky Distillery which has been in business since 1794.  We wanted to take a tour, but we got there too late and the tickets were all sold out.  We were able to browse in their gift shop and picked up a few souvenirs.  We also picked up this cool Whisky Map that shows the various Scottish whiskies according to location and type of flavors (light, smoky, rich or delicate).  Click to enlarge and see if you can find one that’s familiar to you.

We strolled down the main street toward the edge of town, and hiding behind construction scaffolding, we discovered the gorgeous St. Columba’s Roman Catholic Cathedral.  As you can see from the photo, it was built with generous amounts of blue granite.  To give you an idea of the scale of the room, notice that Kevin is sitting on the right side of the aisle near the front.  In the next post I’ll share a little more about the cathedral as well as some tasty food discoveries that we made in Oban.

TRAVEL TIP TODAY:  Be adventurous.  You may find some hidden gems.  We had no idea that this lovely cathedral was in Oban, but we noticed an entrance among the scaffolding and decided to check it out.  We were so glad we did!  You never know what you might find around an unexpected corner, so don’t be afraid to explore a bit when you’re in a new place.

On Sunday we decided that we were going to head west.  The plan was to follow this route from Aberfeldy to Glencoe, then on to Oban before coming back home in the evening.  It would be a lot of driving (about 2 1/2 hours one-way) but we felt the destinations were worth it.

Amy wasn’t feeling well again, so she and Andrew decided to stay back in the room.  We were sad that they couldn’t join us, but Amy got some much needed rest and Andrew had some adventures of his own.  Hopefully he’ll post about it.

Shortly after we left the resort we came upon our first up-close and personal sheep.  They were a common occurrence all over Scotland, but these were crossing the road right in front of our car.

Then while driving along A827 through the town of Killin, we crossed a one lane bridge and came upon this gorgeous wide berth of the Falls of Dochart.  As always, feel free to click on any photo for a larger view.

Of course we had to stop and do a little bit of exploring here…even though there was a light rain falling. Overall we had better weather than expected through the whole trip.  Oh, we had a little bit of rain nearly every day, but really only one day where we came home somewhat soggy.  For the most part we could expect the weather to change almost hourly, going from sunny to cloudy to sprinkling to raining and back again throughout the day.

An island in the middle of the river on the downstream side of the bridge is known as Innis Bhuidhe. This is home to the Clan MacNab Burial Ground. Its use dates back to the 1700s. An oblong enclosure within the burial ground is home to fifteen graves, nine of which are the final resting places of clan chiefs, plus a medieval grave slab which suggests that at least one earlier burial did take place here. Unfortunately there was a locked gate on the bridge that kept us from getting inside, so this is all we were able to see.  However, if you have a little bit of time, there's a sign on the gate that says you can get the key from a nearby building.

After our pit stop we headed back out toward the road to Glencoe.  At one point we had to stop for a few minutes for road construction and I snapped this photo of the vegetation at the side of the road.  I just love the dozens, or would you say hundreds of shades of green…and how many different types of plants can you pick out?

Next we were finally on to Glencoe, a lush, misty and gorgeous part of the Scottish Highlands!  It is also the historic home of the tragic Glencoe Massacre of 1692 which adds an even more haunting air to the area.  We were told by those who would know, that watching the hovering clouds and mist shift and change in the valley is the only way to see the glen.

You many not be able to see it in these pics, but there is water everywhere in the glen.  Seasonal rivulets cascading through the crevices of the mountainsides.  An amazing amount of water!

At one of the roadside overlooks we also came upon this bagpiper picking up a few extra pounds (sterling, that is).  He was decked out in the full kilt ensemble so tourists could pose for photos with him or just snap a few pics, like we did.  What’s your feeling about tourist teases like this?  On one hand it’s hard to condemn the man for trying to make some money and he’s providing a service in some way.  On the other hand it feels a bit contrived and artificial.  I’d love to hear your thoughts.

For those who may not be aware, the kilt is a knee-length garment with pleats at the back, originating in the traditional dress of men and boys in the Scottish Highlands of the 16th century.  I think the look is quite handsome myself and love the endless varieties of tartan plaids that are used to represent the different clans.

Soon we were getting hungry and realized that there weren’t too many options for eating establishments ahead, so we decided to stop in Glencoe Village to see if we could find a place for lunch.  This is the main street in the village, just a little wider than one lane so pay attention as you drive, in case you need to share the space with an oncoming vehicle.

The village sits at the entrance to Glen Coe and is surrounded by spectacular mountain scenery.  It’s popular with serious hill-walkers, rock and ice climbers. The picturesque mountains have also been seen in numerous films, including Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban as the home of Hagrid.  I didn’t realize it before we went, but it’s possible that we could have gone on a Harry Potter Safari.  I guess that will have to wait until next time.  Here’s a list of all the movies, to date that have scenes from The Glen.  [This is a bit off the subject, but after living near Los Angeles (the film-making capitol of the world) for 18 years, I've always thought it would be a dream job to be a location scout.  Wouldn't you just love having the responsibility of searching for all those amazing spots where they film your favorite movies?  But I digress...]

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE FOOD: We parked our car in the public parking lot and walked down the street until we found the Glencoe Cafe.  Since the town is very small and relatively remote, we really had no idea what the quality would be like.  Sometimes remote areas (in the U.S. too) don’t have the competition to encourage high quality foods, good service and/or low prices, so we were taking our chances here.  I have to say that the owners obviously take great pride in their establishment because they had an extensive menu of freshly made fare, cheerful service and some delicious offerings!  We were NOT disappointed. This is a photo of my lunch.  A light and tasty shrimp salad sandwich made with homemade lemon mayonnaise, accompanied by a wonderful green side salad. Mmmmm!  I loved it and the rest of our group was just as pleased with their choices! Be sure to stop by and enjoy the culinary creations of Justine Macleod and James Robertson if you’re in the area someday.

As we left the Glen and headed down the coast toward Oban, we were greeted with this rainbow.  One of many that we’d see in our 2 weeks of vacation, but this one was a double treat with the reflection in the water.  Truly a gift from God.  We knew then that it was going to be a great day!

I’M A FAN OF…WATER:  Living in the desert for decades has created a deep appreciation in my soul for water of every kind and this vacation was a true refreshment for me.  How do you feel about rainy days?  Do you cherish them or do you just survive them?

TRAVEL TIP TODAY:  A bit random, I know, but something to consider.  If you have hair that’s difficult to manage in wet weather, try to find a style that’s easy to take care of before you leave home.  Talk to your stylist and see if they can provide some suggestions.  My hair is generally straight in the bone-dry desert, but I knew that the little bit of natural curl would quickly respond to the rain and humidity where we were going.  I asked my stylist to cut my hair short enough so that I could just let it go curly and not worry about it sticking out here and there in my normal style, which I did.  I also asked for a suggestion on a product that might help it stay curly and she recommend Redken Ringlet 07 Curl Perfector which worked like a charm to “encourage” my wavy hair to hold some curl.  This cut down on the amount of hair products and styling tools that I needed to pack. Plus it shaved precious minutes off the time that I needed to get ready each day and lowered the stress on keeping my hair in place.