Bacon, Date & Pistachio Encrusted Mac & Cheese

An accidental success gave birth to this unusual recipe.  My roommates and I threw a party where we served homemade macaroni & cheese and bacon-wrapped dates, alongside many other finger foods.  The next day, I heated up some leftover mac n' cheese and, as happens from time to time, it got mixed into the candied dates.  Naturally, I just ate them all together.  BOOM!  A creamy, luscious, taste-bud popping classic was born.

This twist on your everyday mac n' cheese replaces the quotidien bread crumb topping with a mixture of smoky bacon, sweet dates and salty pistachios.  Elevate your next bowl of mac n' cheese with these decadent ingredients for a TO.DIE.FOR comfort meal.

Bacon, Date & Pistachio Encrusted Macaroni & Cheese

Your Favorite Macaroni/Pasta & Cheese
5 Slices of Bacon, cooked
5-6 Pitted Dates
1/4 C. Pistachios, shelled (almonds would also work well)
Something green for garnish, like thyme

Preheat the oven to 350.

Place your cheesy pasta into a greased baking dish.  Set aside.

Roughly chop your bacon, dates & pistachios into similar sized pieces.  Mix them together in a small bowl.  Evenly cover the pasta with the bacon mixture.  Bake for about 15 minutes until the pasta is heated through and the topping has ever so slightly browned.  Garnish with thyme to finish.

Easy Guinness Cupcakes with Chocolate Whiskey Frosting

Happy St. Patty's Day!  I know the internet is littered with similar recipes, but I couldn't refrain from taking part.  It's fun to cater your menu around the holidays and these cupcakes turned out so well, that I had to share them.  This is my EASY version of the impressive originals.  The cake is dark and flavorful with a slightly bitter taste from the Guinness and is complemented perfectly by the sweet and subtle whiskey flavored chocolate frosting.

Guinness Cupcakes

1 Chocolate cake mix

2 T. cocoa powder

1 t. instant coffee powder

3 Eggs

1/2 C. applesauce

1 1/3 C. Guinness

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray and flour cupcake pans.  

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and beat until smooth.  Fill the cupcake pans 1/2 way full with the batter.  Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick skewered into the center of the cupcakes comes out clean.  Cool before frosting.  

Chocolate Whiskey Frosting

1 Container of your favorite chocolate frosting

1 1/2 T. Whiskey

Gently fold together the two ingredients in a medium sized bowl.  If you'd like your frosting to taste more like Whiskey, add more, but the frosting will become more like a ganache, instead of a firmer cake frosting.