Kathleen McGivney

That's right, I said bacon

Bacon chocolate chip cookies, originally uploaded by kmcgivney.

The photo has been up for a while. There has been much discussion with friends about the unexpected deliciousness of this cookie. And now, it's time. It's time to discuss this cookie: the chocolate chip and bacon cookie.

That's right, I said bacon.

I got the idea to make a chocolate chip and bacon cookie after I had the bacon and chocolate bar from Vosges Haut Chocolat. I thought, why can't I do that... in a cookie?

So I searched online for a recipe, and heard tales of a restaurant that served a bacon cookie (with chocolate chips, pecans, and cherries, not just chocolate chips), but I only found one recipe, for a cookie that had bacon on top, not inside. So I decided to make my own.

I adapted it ever-so-slightly from, you guessed it, a Smitten Kitchen recipe (what can I say? Deb has amazing recipes). Essentially, I sub out really crispy crumbled bacon for nuts in a standard chocolate chip recipe. It's simple, and it tastes delicious!

Recipe and more photos after the jump.

Back in Antwerp

Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp, interior, originally uploaded by kmcgivney.

We are currently in Antwerp, on a little side trip after spending a few days in London. With the Eurostar now doing high-speed trips between London and Brussels, we couldn't pass up the chance to drop by one of our favorite European cities - and of course, pick up some Belgian chocolates for our loved ones. (If you do not currently have "loved one" status and would like to inquire how to obtain it along with some Belgian chocolates, please inquire within.)

We were last in Antwerp in November, as part of our annual Thanksgiving trip to Europe. This started a few years ago when we both realized that we had no vacation days left, but that our respective employers declared both Thanksgiving and the following day a holiday, thus giving us a 4-day weekend to spend anywhere we wanted. So, naturally, we flew to Belgium to visit friends. The following year, we went to Italy to cheer on a friend running a marathon, and this past year, we just decided to explore Belgium a little more and get all of our Christmas shopping done early (with you guessed it - chocolates for everyone).

This photo of the interior of the cathedral in Antwerp was taken in November with a Canon 5D (first version) and a 17-40mm f4 lens. There are several more photos in my Belgium set on Flickr, which includes photos from our first trip to Belgium as well. Since we have the 5D Mark II with us this trip, I expect there will be a few more there in the next few days.