Gingersnap Caramel S'mores

My boys were having a friend spend the night and we decided to do a cookout, I wanted to go a little different route on the S'mores and this is what I came up with!

All of these ingredients can be store bought or homemade!

Gingersnap Cookies,  LINK

Caramel Sauce, LINK

Marshmallows, LINK

Toast your marshmallow, a lot or a little

Spread some Caramel Sauce on a cookie, place on hot marshmallow, top with another cookie and smush down!

Dive in!!!

Oven Baked Bacon Flavored Fries

These have become our go to for fries. It works fantastically with a wide variety of potatoes Super crispy with a great smokey bacon taste. YUM!










4  potatoes....white flesh sweet, orange flesh sweet, idaho, russet, yukon gold....any type you like!
2-3 TB bacon grease (I used Hormel Black Label Cherrywood Smoked Bacon)

Seasonings to taste:
 Our favorite is garlic powder, black pepper, crushed red pepper, a touch of sea salt and a little smoked paprika


Slice (and peel if desired) your potatoes into french fry sized slices (thicker or thinner to your preference) and soak in cold water for at least 30 minutes, drain and rinse well. (you can soak them for longer, the longer the better in my opinion to remove as much starch as you can, just change out the water every hour or so.)






Pour your drained potato slices into a large pot, cover with cold water and put it over high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a gentle boil and cook 5 minutes or so, until just BARELY fork tender.







Drain, pat dry with paper towels and allow to air dry for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 425












Toss fries with bacon grease (heated slightly so it is melted) and season to taste.










Pour into a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 30-45 minutes until evenly browned and crispy.

Serve immediately!








Great plain, with your favorite dip or for even more intense bacon-y goodness top with some shredded cheddar and some diced up bacon, place under a broiler to melt the cheese then add a sprinkle of green onions!


Of course this is an excellent recipe for "regular" fries too....just use 2-3 TB of your favorite oil in place of the bacon grease

Hawaiian Pork Burgers

We were having a debate on what to have for dinner. I had thawed pork loin chops yesterday

but we ended up skipping it. I didn't have a meal planned for tonight because of a prior plan, but it got cancelled. My husband suggested burgers so I thought I could just grind up the pork I had and make pork burgers. After a few searches and remembering that we had some leftover fresh from Hawaii pineapple some friends brought us, I came up with an idea and set to work!

Burgers:

24 oz ground pork(give or take, I ground my own so I think it was a bit more, the packages in store are generally around 24 ounces)

3 green onions

1 TB soy sauce

1 TB water

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp white sugar

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp fresh ginger, minced

1/2 cup grated granny smith apple(about 1 small apple)

salt and black pepper to taste

Other:

Fresh pineapple slices

Swiss cheese slices

6 buns

BBQ sauce of choice (my fave)

red onion slices

green leaf lettuce

Place all the burger ingredients in a large bowl. 

Mix together gently until just combined, don't over work it.

Shape into 6 patties.

Grill or Broil to a internal temp of 160.  Place a strip of pineapple(you can grill or broil it first, or leave it fresh) and a slice of cheese and cook until cheese is melted.

Toast your buns and , spread bottom of the bun with BBQ add some lettuce, then your finished patty, top with red onions and the other half of the bun (spread with more BBQ if you like)

And DIVE IN!