Typical Day: Are you ready for some football...

...FOOD???

Come July I am so ready for NFL games I can hardly stand it (Go Skins)!

***Side Bar: I am not sure how we will get football this fall. We do not have cable and only get fuzz on our TV. We have been known to watch Monday Night Football on ESPN.com, which has cartoon'd graph of the football field on the computer. We would refresh every few moments to see and watch the X's & O's move up and down the 'field.' Better yet is when ESPN highlights a 30 second clip of a a play that had occured moments before! Yes, we are that desperate about our football. ***

OK, where were we?? Ah yes, back to football food and ready for football. My sweet friend gave me a bag full of her jalapenos from her garden. We started discussing what she likes to do make with them. I mentioned guacamole, and she said a cream cheese filled jalapeno.

Ah yes, my mind drifted: an autumn breeze, chill in the air, and Joe Buck's lovely football voice playing the background. My mind immediately remembered my dear sis-n-law's recipe of jalapeno poppers! I knew what I was going home to make. Thank-you Katie, for your simple and delicious food.

Let me also preface this with Katie does not give measurements, all by taste your greatest sense while cooking. I just threw it all together, and tasted as I went. I usually like my salt, but I knew the bacon would be salty so I help back a little there. I would strongly suggest the same!

OK enough talking here are the ingredients:
Fresh Jalapenos
Cream Cheese (approx 1/2 cup)
lemon juice
1 large clove of garlic, pressed
salt and pepper
Bacon, uncooked

Instructions:

Keep stem of jalapeno on, and cut the in half length wise. Take a small spoon, and carve out the inside seeds and membranes (that's where the REAL hot stuff, so if you like it hot could use some seeds in cream cheese mixture).

In a small bowl mix together, cream cheese, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust accordingly.

Spoon mixture into each half jalapeno, and wrap 1/2 a slice of bacon around stuffed jalapeno.

A cookie sheet with a lip is STRONGLY suggested! Otherwise the fat from the bacon will run over and get all over your oven!

Cook on 350 until bacon is nice and crispy, and it make a cackle sound. If you take them out too early they bacon will be soft rubbery and jalapenos still crunchy. You want that switched - bacon crispy & jalapenos soft! Mine took about 35 min and they were PERFECT!

You should also know per Katie, these freeze nicely. I only cooked half of mine and put the rest in a freeze zip lock ready for September & football!!

With my favorite summer time beer it was a PERFECT FRIDAY NIGHT TREAT!!