popie's jalapeño poppers

I know, I know...  I have totally dropped the ball.  You'd probably given up on me.  I did exactly what I can't stand for other bloggers to do ~ keep cranking out fun and interesting recipes just to fall off the face of the earth.  I'm sure you're not at all interested in my excuses, but it makes me feel better to explain, and so I'll tell you anyway.

A little over two weeks ago, I was planning for a trip to Dallas.  I did some pre-cooking and photos, and I even uploaded what I knew I'd need to do posts for the time I'd be gone.  I got to Dallas, got to my hotel room late the first night, sat down with my laptop, only to find the hotel was VERY proud of their internet service... $16-per-day-proud.

I love and appreciate my readers, I really do.  I... just... well...

I promise I really love my readers. :)

So, I got back into town with every intention of getting back into the groove, and found that every night was booked with something, which then took me to an unexpected family situation, which took me out of town, which now brings me to tonight.  I haven't been home one evening since I got back from Dallas nine days ago.

Waa, waa, waa...

I know.  I'll stop.

So... now you know and now on to why we're really here; FOOD!  This is actually a great post in honor of Dallas.  I didn't have any jalapeño poppers there, but it's definitely a southwest kind of thing and screams for a pair of cowboy boots and two-steppin'.  Texas is written all over these things.

I have named these after my sweet, sweet grandfather, Popie.  He loves spice, and he loves bacon, and, well, I love him more than life, so that's a good reason, right?  I made these for him a couple of Christmases ago, and he actually asked for more when I visited home the next time.  He never asks for anything, because he never wants to put anyone out.  So I knew he really liked them, and now I try not to go back north without taking a few I've put together and frozen for him to pull out as needed.

I've taken a couple of pictures to show you how to seed the jalapeños.  It's really easy to push the end of the spoon straight into the rib of the pepper and lift up as you can see below:

Beware that working with these things can be slightly uncomfortable.  Make sure to not rub eyes (or nose, or anything else for that matter) after getting the potent oil on your fingers.  It has been suggested to wear gloves, but I don't.  Just take precaution, and you should be fine.

Thank you, dear readers, for your patience.  I would love to say a hiatus won't happen again, but one never knows.  In the meantime, stay tuned regularly for some of my favorites.  Fall has begun, and in the Green household, that means the kitchen goes into overdrive.

Wanna go for a ride?!?

Popie's Jalapeño Poppers - makes 20 

Ingredients:

• 10 jalapeños, halved, seeds and ribs removed 
• 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sharp shredded cheddar cheese 
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
• 10 slices bacon, halved
• favorite BBQ sauce
• toothpicks            

~ Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.

~ Halve jalapeños, trying to keep stems intact (they're so pretty, if you can).

~ Remove seeds and ribs, as shown above.

~ Mix together cheeses and seasonings, and fill the peppers with cream cheese filling.  
    (think "spackling")

~ Wrap one-half piece of bacon around each filled pepper and secure with toothpick.

~ Brush wrapped peppers with sauce.

~ Place peppers on baking sheet in oven and cook until bacon is cooked and cheese is

    bubbling.

Tips and Tricks

• This is a GREAT way to use up extra pimento cheese.  I just add the seasonings and fill as usual.


• Line your baking sheet with foil.  The filling really oozes, which is wonderful, but messy and tough to clean.


• As mentioned, I sometimes will freeze these once assembled.  Remove from freezer and cook at lower temp, about 225 degrees, to slowly heat up.  Then turn up heat to crisp up bacon.  I slowly heat so that the cheese doesn't cook too quickly before the bacon and pepper.


• Take these to your next football party and be a total rock star!

Recipe adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks.