Grilled Jalapeno Poppers Wrapped in Bacon

Grilled, not fried...both cheddar AND cream cheese...wrapped in bacon. What's not to like??

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(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

10 jalapeno peppers, tops cut off and halved lengthwise, seeded--place on cookie sheet
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 green onions, chopped
3 ounces grated cheddar cheese
20 bacon slices
1 teaspoon garlic powder
toothpicks

Note:  BE CAREFUL when you seed the peppers.  Use a spoon and do not touch your eyes...or anything else that is sensitive...because you will start to burn and tingle...and not in a good way :)

In a bowl, stir together and combine the cheeses, green onions, and garlic powder. 

You should have 20 jalapeno halves.  Stuff the cheese mixture in each one, leveling it off even with the pepper so it doesn't bubble over on the grill (if you have cheese left over, that's okay, it makes a really good cheese spread on Ritz crackers)

Wrap completely with bacon slice and secure with 2 toothpicks, one on each end of the pepper.

Oil grill just a little so the bacon doesn't stick, and grill (cut side down) until bacon is crisp.  Turn over and grill other side until bacon is crisp and the cheese has melted a little. Keep an eye on them--the grease from the bacon will make them flame up and burn. 
Remove from grill.

crispy bacon and melty cheese..mmmm...

Serve

Pot Roast with Tomato Gravy and Garlic Confit

"I am so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers"

--L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Time to get out your crock pots and cinnamon brooms and light your Yankee Candles...Fall is here!

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(WHAT YOU WILL NEED)

3 1/2 pound chuck roast

1  32-ounce can peeled plum tomatoes

1 head garlic, separated into individual cloves, unpeeled

1/4 cup dry red wine (preferably the same one you will drink with dinner)

salt/pepper

garlic powder

dutch oven with a tight fitting lid

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Place roast in a pan.  Sprinkle salt/pepper/garlic powder on top.

Drain tomatoes and add them to the pan by hand, squeezing each one, to break it up. Place around and on top of roast.

Pour wine around the roast.

Add garlic cloves to pot, unpeeled.  Don't worry--as they cook, they will mellow and soften and you will be able to squeeze them out of their papery wrappers and into your mashed potatoes. Mmmmmmm, so good!

Put the lid on tightly, and cook in the oven for 4 hours.

When it's done, the meat will fall apart with just the slightest touch, and the tomatoes will have concentrated into a rich chunky sauce. Discard the few pieces of fat that separated from the meat, and you will be left with your sauce.  Because the garlic cooks low and slow in the meat's rendered fat, it poaches, and gives you garlic confit--silky, spreadable goodness. 

Break the roast into large chunks and spoon the tomatoes and some of the juice over the top, with the garlic cloves on the side.  Sprinkle some salt and pepper on top to finish.  I always have mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, and warm crusty bread with this--squeezing some of the garlic cloves into the mashed potatoes and onto the bread while I eat.

And don't forget the wine you opened for the sauce...it's been ready and waiting for you this whole time :)

up close with the pot roast and garlic