Whoomp! There It Is!

I realized today that I haven't shown you how far The Bacon Level House (TBLH) has come.  Oh man, oh man, I can't wait to show you. You are going to be in awe. My parent's should have their own show or something.  Just wait until you see how far it has come....

Baseball Cookies

I love baseball season; I always have. I guess you could say it’s my sport. It’s the one game that I actually know what’s going on, and can somewhat carry on a conversation about. I first came up with this idea in college, and I was part of the “Diamond Dolls”. I have made these cookie sandwiches at Christmas and used sprinkles on top before, but it hit me during baseball season that these were the perfect shape and color and with just a little something special they can easily become bona fide baseballs!

These are some of the easiest no bake, cutest baseball cookies you will ever come across. Maybe I’m biased? They take a few extra minutes because you have to wait for each step to dry or melt completely, but they are so worth it! I've made these twice for Stephen's baseball team this summer. *Quick Plug* The Opelika 13 Yr Old All Stars are going to the World Series this weekend due to their winning State last weekend! Woo Hoo! Wish us luck!

Your ingredients are simple:
Ritz crackers
Peanut butter
Almond Bark
Food color pen

First, pull out your almond bark. For this example, you will need vanilla flavored. It’s delicious. Don’t be afraid of this stuff. If you don’t know where almond bark is, it’s in the baking aisle right next to the chocolates. Tip: It melts very easily, so don’t leave it in your car during 90 degree weather. Just saying…

Pull it out of the fridge, if you did leave said almond bark in the car and it melted, to bring to room temperature. If not, it should already be at room temp. Get to breaking it up. I did this with a large knife and shaved off pieces. This may be the hardest step, but it’s not really hard just time consuming. Count this as your daily arm workout.

Now we must create a double boiler. If you are like me and don’t own one you can create one using varying sized pots. This technique is not suggested or correct or anything you will ever see, but it has never let me down. I add some water to one pot and turn on low and insert the other pot right on top.

Technically the water is not supposed to touch the second pot. Just be careful not to let the water boil and remember to stir constantly. I hear that it’s extremely easy to do this step in the microwave, but I am a creature of habit and the first works for me, so why change? While your almond bark melts (you can take the smaller pot out of first periodically if you need to do something else) build your cracker sandwiches.

Then, place one sandwich in, flip to coat and remove. This step needs to happen fast because the peanut butter will melt out. I used a spatula in the left hand and tongs in the right. Flip with the left; insert and take out with the right. You get the picture. You’ll figure out your own technique, and it’ll go very quickly. Once all your sandwiches have been dipped, let dry completely.

At this stage, get out your Betty Crocker Food Decorator pens. They work the best. It’s like food coloring in marker form. They’re great! You will need red for this. Now place little X’s in a backward parenthesis shapes, and voila! You instantly have delicious, beautiful baseballs!

Changing My Perception

The four of us (Stephen, Martha, Pixie, and I) have a new friend. He could almost be called a pet, but to be a pet that would mean that I would have to feed him or change his water or let him out...you get the point. This is the best kind of pet, a friend. At first, I was scared to death, and I'm still a little skittish of him and his kind. I don't want to touch him, or have him touch me, but I do get worried about him, so that must mean my feelings are changing for this little guy. This is Dennis. Dennis Hopper.

 After having this little friend show up on Stephen's back steps nightly for a few days we decided we needed to name him. Make him an official part of the family. We went back and forth and back and forth. We came up with some good ones...and some not so good ones, Stephen. My last and final vote was for "Sir Wart of Hoppingham". You must say this with an accent; any kind will do. Stephen liked Dennis Hopper. Telling our age difference, I didn't even know who that was. Somehow it stuck.

We enjoy going out every evening to see if Dennis is out there. Sure enough, every single night for the last month or so there he is. The girls don't bother him, and we speak in passing. Don't want to get too attached; I'm sure once summer has ended he'll go back to wherever he came from, but until then we'll enjoy our nightly summer buddy.

True Friendship

I think today was a perfect day to run across this video. I found a picture while looking around Pinterest. I didn't believe it, so I had to go see for myself.  This is so touching. The video of the reunion brings chills and tears. The looks on their faces are pure joy; they are so happy to see their friend.



I also enjoyed watching some of this interview.



Happy Monday! I hope you have a wonderful week!