Would you believe me if I told you that I used to not like popcorn? I mean, I didn’t dislike it, but it certainly wasn’t something that I sought out or drooled over. Forgive me for saying this, but there were even a few times that I went to the movie theatre and didn’t eat one piece of popcorn.

Don’t worry, I’ve since made up for those days. I now go to the movie and spend the entire movie with my face shoved in a bag of popcorn. After all, they wouldn’t make DVD rentals if you were supposed to actually watch the movie at the theatre. No, the theatre is for the popcorn. Don’t try telling me otherwise.

Popping popcorn at home is super easy, but it’s hard to get that buttery movie theatre flavor. I’m not sure what they use on their popcorn, but it’s not real butter. In fact, it’s probably best that I don’t know what it is. It would simultaneously gross me out and make me start an internet search for an online store where I could purchase some of my own icky but delicious fake butter flavoring.

So, let’s just move away from buttery popcorn. Let’s take a step back from the bag of cheese popcorn. Let’s put down those little popcorn seasoning shakers they sell all over the place now. Let’s fry up some dang bacon and pop our corn in the dripping. Let us all rejoice in the bacon and sprinkle a good amount of crumbled bacon right in our bag of popcorn. Let us all live happily ever after.

This recipe is a part of Bacon Week, the best week there ever was. If you’d like to participate, please send me a link to a bacon recipe on your blog and I’ll feature it here at the end of the week. Email the link (and feel free to include a picture sized 625px wide or smaller) by July 1st to karly[at]bunsinmyoven.com[dot]com.

Bacon Popcorn

• 10 slices bacon
• 1/3 cup popcorn kernels

Dice the uncooked bacon and toss it in a large, hot skillet to fry. Stir frequently and continue frying until crisp. Remove piece of bacon from skillet and add drippings to a large stockpot over low-medium heat. Place 3 popcorn kernels in the bacon grease and wait for one to pop. When one of the kernels pops, your grease is hot enough. Add the remaining popcorn, cover the pan with a lid, and shake, shake, shake while the rest of the popcorn pops. Remove from heat and add the diced bacon to the popcorn. Salt if desired and enjoy!

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a huge fan of dips, but I’m not sure if I properly conveyed my deep love and affection for a good dip. You see, dips are so creamy and cheesy and dippy. They are fun to eat and are generally filled with some of my favorite things. Dips are fun. They take me to my happy place.

So, please, don’t tell me that it was wrong that my kids ate this dip, and only this dip, for lunch yesterday. It has four major food groups in it! Dairy, protein, grains, and vegetables! Well, I guess the vegetable group probably isn’t properly covered when you consider I only added a 1/4 cup of a very finely chopped onion, but I’m okay with overlooking that. We should all live on the wild side once in a while! Besides, dip doesn’t need to be healthy. It just needs to be delicious.

Trust me on this. This dip? Is outta this world. I’ve made a bacon dip before and it was good. Now, however, I know what good really means and this dip blows that other dip outta the water.

Besides, it’s served in a bread bowl which makes this dip infinitely cooler than those other dips that rely on bowls for serving.

Please. Make this dip. It’d be perfect for lunch. Or, if you’re more reasonable than me, perfect for your next get together. I guarantee people will beg you  for the recipe.

This recipe is a part of Bacon Week, the best week there ever was. If you’d like to participate, please send me a link to a bacon recipe on your blog and I’ll feature it here at the end of the week. Email the link (and feel free to include a picture sized 625px wide or smaller) by July 1st to karly[at]bunsinmyoven.com[dot]com.

Hot Bacon Cheese Spread
slightly adapted from Taste Of Home Bacon Recipe Cards, June 2010

• 1 unsliced round loaf bread
• 2 cups (8 ounces) Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• 1 cup (4 ounces) Parmesan cheese, shredded
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup finely diced onion
• 7 bacon strips, diced and fried
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 tsp crushed red chile flakes

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice the top quarter off the loaf of bread and set aside. Carefully hollow out the inside, leaving a 1 inch shell. Cube removed bread and set aside for dipping.

Combine remaining ingredients in a large bow, spoon into bread bowl. Place on an ungreased baking sheet and cover with the reserved top quarter of the loaf to prevent the dip from becoming to brown while baking.

Bake for 45 minutes or until heated through. Serve with bread cubes and crackers.

Every now and then I get a big ol’ craving for Mexican food. This only happens about once every, oh, day or two. I can’t help it. I love Mexican food. In fact, I sometimes regret not marrying an old Mexican grandma. I’m sure her cooking would have been divine. I guess my husband and his lackluster cooking abilities will have to do though.

He’s cute. I like him. Even if he does roll his eyes and say “Mexican food again?” At least he lets me pose him (sit here, turn your head this way, smile, no, not a fake smile, a real smile!) so that the internet can see how cute he is.

That’s enough talk about boys. This is a food blog.

Something that I must have to go along side my tacos, enchiladas, and burritos is this delicious, nutritious (Well, kind of. Maybe.), completely addicting guacamole. Trust me when I say that this guacamole will change your little Mexican food loving life.

The best part is, if you live with onion haters, you can easily substitute onion powder for the chopped onions and you don’t sacrifice any flavor. I like the crunch the onion adds to this, but the flavor doesn’t suffer a bit if you leave them out. And, yeah, that boy up there is the onion hater in my life. It’s a good thing he’s cute.

Guacamole

• 4 ripe Haas avocados
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup finely diced onion (I use a red onion, but any will work) (or sub onion powder)
• 1 lime
• 2 tbsp sour cream
• 1 tsp cumin (or more, to taste)
• salt, to taste

Chop the avacodos into small cubes and mash with a fork, leaving just a few chunks and add to a medium sized bowl. Add in the garlic, cilantro, onion, sour cream, cumin, and salt. Squeeze the juice of the lime into the bowl and stir everything together. Serve immediately.

I’ve had appetizers on the brain lately. These little BLT Stuffed Tomatoes aren’t helping much either. In fact, looking at these pictures makes me sad. I don’t have any left and now I want more!

These are the perfect little finger food, full of creamy sour cream, salty bacon, and a bit of parmesan cheese, all stuffed in a little cherry tomato and sprinkled with green onions. Could there be a tastier combination?

The next time you have a get together I beg you, I implore you, I command you to make these little guys. You won’t believe how quickly they fly off the plate.

These don’t take all that long to prepare and can be made a few hours in advance. You just slice a cherry tomato in half and then scoop out the insides. I use a paring knife and just cut all around the edges of the tomato and flip the insides out, but you can also use a small spoon to scrape the guts out. If you do use a paring knife, be careful! It’s easy to slip through the thin tomato skin and slice off a finger.

You then whip up your filling and either pipe it into the tomatoes or just use a small spoon and scoop it into the empty tomatoes. I prefer to use a spoon myself, but do what works best for you.

These aren’t all that bad for you either if you use light sour cream and turkey bacon. I’ve never used turkey bacon myself, but that doesn’t mean you can’t!

You can count on each person eating at least 3 or 4 of these little guys, so make plenty!

BLT Stuffed Tomatoes

• 8 ounces sour cream (light works great!)
• 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 tbsp parmesan cheese (the powdery kind is fine)
• 2 tsp fresh parsley, chopped (you can substitute dried parsley)
• green onions, for garnish
• salt and pepper, to taste
• about 20 cherry tomatoes

Wash cherry tomatoes and slice them in half. Use a paring knife or spoon to scrape out the insides. Dab the inside of each tomato with a paper towel to dry it and then sprinkle with salt. Mix together the sour cream, bacon pieces, parmesan, parsley, and salt and pepper. Spoon or pipe the filling into each tomato and sprinkle the tops with chopped green onions (or more parsley, if you’re an onion hater).

I’ve still got Superbowl on the brain over here. No, I don’t care about the teams or the game or any of that other completely interesting football stuff that the rest of the world cares about, I just care about the menu. Superbowl is the perfect day for dips and snacks and finger foods and I’m sorry, but there just aren’t enough days devoted to the finger foods.

This Jalapeno Popper dip is the perfect football food. It’s spicy, so the boys can act all tough and pretend like their lips aren’t burning off and the girls can say things like “My, my, my…aren’t you manly and strong!” Clearly, this is a winning dip.

This is positively full of jalapenos. The recipe calls for two diced jalapenos plus one jar of pickled jalapenos. I’m a bit of a wuss, so I won’t lie, my lips burst into flames. It’s hard being such a sissy. My husband had to throw a glass of water in my face. Go ahead and add the pickled jalapenos and then give it a taste. Add more jalapeno if you can handle it, but be careful, you don’t want to end up with a face full of water and third degree burns on your fragile little lips.

Jalapeno Popper Dip
Recipe from Closet Cooking

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese (I used the powdery kind and it was fine)
• 1 (4 ounce) can pickled jalapenos
• 2 jalapeno peppers (diced, optional)
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Finely dice the jalapenos and add to a mixing bowl. Add in the cream cheese, mayonnaise, cheddar cheese, and parmesan cheese. Mix well and spread into a small baking dish or oven safe bowl. Mix together the panko and parmesan and pour over the top of the dip. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 10-15 minutes or until heated through. Serve with chips and a big ol’ glass of milk to cool the burn.