Winner Announcement!!

Before I get started, I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who participating in the first installment of The Bacon Games, as well as Heather Lauer, who graciously agreed to take time out of her busy schedule to judge the entries. I have been thrilled with the response to this challenge and I am really looking forward to next month’s game!

I know you are all anxiously awaiting this announcement, so I’ll get right to the good stuff. I received an email from Heather last night with her choice for this month’s winner, as well as some details about how she came to her (very difficult) decision. I thought that everything Heather had to say was wonderful, so I’m going to share her entire email with you.

Hi there,

What an impressive group of entries! So much creativity! And I could honestly see myself trying every one of these recipes, I had to read through each of them several times before narrowing down my choices.

But for purposes of selecting the winner...

First of all, I wanted to choose a recipe that used bacon in a less obvious way. There are a lot of flavors that bacon combines with well, but bacon in dessert is always a challenge to pull off. You had a few entries in this area, but that’s where I decided to start in choosing the winner.

Despite bacon and dessert being a somewhat unusual combo, I’ve – not surprisingly – had bacon blessed desserts numerous times in my life. And there are some more common ways than others that people are using bacon in dessert, so for this contest I focused on picking a winner who created a bacon concoction that I hadn’t encountered before (which is a challenge).  It was also important to me that bacon was a significant ingredient in the recipe, and not just a secondary ingredient or after thought.

So I’ve chosen the Chocolate Bacon Truffles as the winner.  When done correctly, the combination of bacon and chocolate can be an incredibly complimentary pairing, and this application is unlike anything else I’ve encountered to date. I also liked the use of both bacon grease and bacon bits – these days, bacon grease is often overlooked as an ingredient in recipes that call for fat anyway. And the photo simply looks delicious.

Congrats to the winner!

Heather

So there you go, folks! This month’s winner is Jana of Cherry Tea Cakes!

Jana - Please email me your shipping information at bethanneleach@gmail.com so that we can get your prize to you!

For everyone else – next month’s roundup will be kicking off very soon with the revelation of December’s judge. Get your recipes in gear and pull out the bacon!

November Bacon Games Roundup

Welcome to the first official roundup of The Bacon Games!  I am very excited to share all of the wonderful posts that have been sent to me. I can honestly say that I have probably gained several pounds just LOOKING at all the mouth watering photos. Thanks so much to all who entered out first roundup.

For this month’s judging, we are honored to have Heather Lauer presiding. Heather is an author, blogger, and all-around bacon enthusiast. Heather will be checking out all of your little lovelies and when she has recovered from her pork coma, she will choose her favorite and we will announce the winner! The lucky chosen one will receive a copy of Heather’s book, Bacon: A Love Story.

So, without further ado....the contestants!

Heather of Girlichef is a woman after my own heart, combining chocolate and smoky bacon in a way only she can! I was drooling on my keyboard while I was reading about her Bacon Fudge with Bacon Caramel Shards

John (also known as Patio Daddio) put together some fabulous looking Pigamon Rolls. I do love a cinnamon roll, but a cinnamon roll topped with BACON? Hells yes. 

Doing his best to out-do himself, he also sent me his Pig Candy post. Ummm, yeah....drool.

Jana at Cherry Tea Cakes made not one, but TWO bacony delicious treats this month, porking it up with her Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes

and some mouth watering Chocolate Bacon Truffles.

Kristina of formerchef was reading my mind this month with her Pig Candy. And, really, what else is there to say about that? PIG. CANDY.

Amanda over at Amandeleine entered her Maple Caramel Pumpkin Bars with Bacon. Maple and Bacon are a fabulous combination that I’ve had for breakfast, but not for dessert. What a fantastic idea!

Sticking with the "sweet" theme so far, Angie from Angie's Recipes got on board with her Bacon Pistachio Cookies

Along those same lines, we have another cookie entry from Natalie at The Sweets Life , with her Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies. I do love peanut butter and bacon together, so I bet they are simply fabulous!

Kim, of Stirring the Pot, went all out and posted two recipes as well, beginning with a Tyler Florence recipe she was waiting to try for Crab Cakes with Lemon Aioli and Bacon Frisee Salad

as well as Bacon Jam from the most recent edition of Everyday Food, all with her own tweaks, of course. Wish I'd had that recipe when I was making jam for the Jam Exchange this fall!

And, as they say, th-th-th-th-that's all, folks! I think everyone did a fantastic job of putting fabulous pork fat to work in their kitchens this month!

Now its time for me to turn this rodeo over to our judge, Heather Lauer, whose decision reigns supreme. Once she has had a chance to peruse your submissions and let me know what her choice is, I'll be posting an announcement with the winner's name.

Great job, everyone!

REMINDER! The Bacon Games has BEGUN!

Ok everyone, just a quick reminder. The deadline for the first edition of The Bacon Games is THIS FRIDAY!

Get to your kitchen....right now....and cook something with bacon.....

Then send it to me at bethanneleach@gmail.com and I'll enter you in The Bacon Games!

(seriously....go now! did I mention there are prizes to be won?)

Everybody Get Bacon!

Ok folks, we're a week into round one of The Bacon Games!

You've got a couple more weeks to submit a dish and join in the fun! Pass the word along to all your foodie friends. Hey, there are prizes involved, remember?

So there you go, your friendly neighborhood reminder.....to get Bacon!

Whats on my agenda, you may ask? How about Dark Chocolate Bacon Jalapeño bars? Bacon Brittle? Bacon Crackers? I'm not giving away all my ideas....you've gotta come up with your own!