Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Sweet Bacon Tater Tots

Sweet Bacon Tater Tots 3

Can I tell you how lucky I am to be married to my husband?

We are the perfect pair. We make each other laugh all the time. I mean the man cracks me up till I have tears rolling down my face. He just has the best sense of humor. I laugh every single day of my life. Marry a man that makes you laugh ladies. I think it's one of the most important parts of a relationship. He brings joy into my life. I hope you are all that lucky.

And he is always trying to make me happy. He truly adores me and I can't tell you what a boost that is for your ego. I highly recommend it.

He's my carpenter, my jar opener, my reacher of bowls and baskets in high places, my sounding board, my lugger of all things heavy, my recipe tester, my eater of all the "uglies" before I take a photo, my back scratcher, my blanket getter, my confidant, my foot rubber (but not nearly enough!), my truest friend, my believer and love of my life. He makes me feel safe, he makes me feel content and most of all he makes me feel extremely loved.

I just thought he deserved a little shout out. He had a rough week. I've been working him like a dog to get the yard ready for my son's graduation party. Saturday we were out in the yard at 7:30am and worked all day. We were exhausted. John started to complain that the base of his thumb hurt. By bedtime it was really hurting. By 1am he was on the iPad googling to see what time the walk in clinic opened.

Let me give you the back story. About 10 days ago he was building me a gigantic birdhouse that was my Mother's Day gift. While he was drilling out the holes, his drill kicked back and hit him at the base of his thumb. It hurt, and it got a little bruised but he really didn't think too much of it. Sunday after a day of lots of lifting and shoveling and moving heavy stuff, he was really hurting. So off to the walk in. He walked out with a temporary cast. It was fractured. All that time walking around with a fractured hand. Oy!

I felt bad. I instinctively did what I always do when I want to make someone feel better. I feed them. I put a batch of Ranger Cookies in the oven (recipe coming) and decided to make him these Sweet Bacon Tater Tots. If there is one thing that will make my husband feel better, it's bacon.

My mother-in-law told me about a recipe she saw on The Chew called Tasty Trashy Taters. That recipe had the tots stuffed with cheddar cheese. Let me tell you, I tried to stuff mine with cheese. It just wasn't happening. No matter how small I sliced that cheese, the tater tot fell apart. I was so frustrated. I decided to skip the cheese altogether. I dipped them in the same mixture I used on my Sweet Bacon Chicken Wraps. They were fantastic!

These were such a hit. I couldn't get them out of the oven fast enough. The cheese was not missed at all. One pan gone in minutes. I could barely photograph them before they were scooped up. John had bacon AND cookies. He had a good day.

The Sweet Bacon Chicken Wraps that I make are one of my most popular appetizers. I think these will be following very closely behind.

Sweet Bacon Tater Tots

Make sure your tots are thawed. I cranked the oven up at the end to get the bacon nice and crispy.
Sweet Bacon Tater Tots
recipe from Lisa @ The Cutting Edge of Ordinary
Approximately 50 - 55 tater tots (thawed to room temperature)
1-16-ounce package Bacon (strips cut in 4 pieces)
2/3 cup Brown Sugar
2 tablespoons Chili Powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil and place a cooling rack on top of the pan. This will allow the bacon to crisp on all sides.

Cut each bacon strip into 4 pieces. I found using kitchen shears worked best for this. Cut the bacon in half and then cut each half in half again.

Wrap each thawed tater tot in bacon and then roll it in the brown sugar mixture. Place on top of the cookie rack.

Bake about 10 to 15 minutes at 375, then increase the oven to 400 and let them cook another 5 minutes. Check to see if they are crisping up. You may need to leave them in 5 minutes longer. Check frequently at this point so they don't burn. Serve warm.

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