Yum Yum Jalapeno Yum Yum

There's only so much northern "Mexican" food I can take. Being from the south, I've gotta have my spicy fix. Now granted, Stan's idea of a spicy fix is much, MUCH hotter than mine. But he humors me.

Every now and then we get a big craving for, what my side of the family calls, "Stan's Jalapenos" because well...it's his thang. Here's how you make 'em:

1. Buy, grow, beg, steal, or borrow a bunch of jalapenos (8-12 or so). They are sometimes hard to come by up here.

2. Chop off the end with the stem.


3. Slice each jalapeno in half long-ways.


4. Scoop out the seeds -n- such with a spoon. (Don't squirt yourself in the eye...not that I'd know that firsthand or anything. A-hem!)


5. Fill each half with cream cheese.


6. Sprinkle brown sugar on top of the cream cheese. Like this...








I was making these the other day and at this particular point is where I had the bright idea to take pictures and blog about it. So you missed all the other visual steps.


Mackenzie was helping. She was dishing out the brown sugar on the left...I was on the right. I like me some brown sugar! Her? Not so much. She doesn't like jalapenos either, but she asked to help and I wasn't about to question it.


And no, you dont have to have a plastic toy pony with bug-eyes watching you while you work.


Oh, and I do recommend taking off any rings from your fingers (see picture). Trust me, you do NOT want jalapeno juice settling in between your ring and finger. It burns! Like fire! Not right away...but within an hour or two. And just like if you wrote on yourself with a Sharpie marker...it just has to wear off. Again, not that I'd know that firsthand or anything.


I digress...


7. Where was I? Oh yeah...get some (thick sliced) bacon and cut all the strips in half...not length ways...just in half...so they're half as long as they used to be...whatever that's called.


8. Take one of the half-slices of bacon and wrap all the way around one stuffed jalapeno. (You can use toothpicks to keep them in place...or just wrap it so that the end is on bottom when you set it in the pan.)


9. Repeat #8 for each one. Place each wrapped jalapeno on a baking dish (with sides). I prefer to line the dish with foil (easier clean-up) and spray with cooking spray (so you're not eating little bits of foil that's stuck to your jalapeno). Like this...





10. Stick 'em in the oven. I always forget what temp...but I think I usually end up going with 400 degrees. And just bake 'em til the bacon is done. I dont remember how long it takes...probably 30-40 minutes or so. How's that for precise? The aroma is fabulous, so I can't stop myself from checking them every other minute.


I'd love to show you a picture of the finished product after they've cooked. But I lost my head and was in too much of a hurry to eat them, so taking a picture didn't even cross my mind until they were all gone. All of them. Oh, remorse. I didn't eat them ALL by myself. Stan helped. Some.