Father's Day Bacon Bar: Dad, I Love You More Than Bacon!

Father's Day is less than a week away, and I have a super cute foodie gift I will be sharing with you later in the week.  I thought I would share last Father's Day with you.  It was a marvelously masculine, bacon-centric celebration of Dad!  Once I decided upon the theme of "Dad: I Love You More Than Bacon" things came together quickly.  I able to use a lot of decor I already had on hand, simplifying the prep work.  The hardest part was deciding which bacon bites to serve.  Editing the menu down to a sampling of sweet and salty to traditional and wacky was really the difficult part.  And all of the strange looks at the grocery store when I bought SO MUCH bacon!  I opted for: Chocolate Covered Bacon, Bacon Crackers (these are a fabulous little appetizer!) Cracked Peppercorn Bacon, Jalapeno Bacon and Maple Bacon Popcorn (which was a HUGE hit.) The dads absolutely loved this theme.  I know lots of gals that would too.  It would be easily adapted for a baby boy birthday shower or birthday party too.  I've included the printable tags which made the tables that much cuter.  Happy Father's Day Dad!  I Love You More Than Bacon, (and that's a lot!)

Love You Dad!

I broke out my chalkboard sign
that I use at my craft shows
to display the theme of the day.

I used an old burlap sack as the base for my table.
(I wanted a rustic, manly look)
Then I used some gingham placemats I had for color.
I used the red and white paper "boats" from tailgate
and red polka dot napkins to complete the casual look.
(Those little boats are perfect for serving popcorn!)

Maple Bacon Popcorn is the perfect balance of
sweet and salty.  A light, sweet maple "caramel" corn
accented with salty sweet bacon pieces.  YUM!

I served my bacon slices standing vertically
in jars.  I wanted to stay with a casual, masculine theme.

The bacon-slice tags I made to label the
dishes were a huge hit! I've included the free
printable tags for you below.

These buttery crisp crackers topped with
a sweet/spicy mixture of brown sugar and crisp bacon
were so good.  These would make a terrific party appetizer
or game day snack!

The Chocolate Covered Bacon was the wackiest dish of the day.
Some of the Dads were a little skeptical about trying it at first,
but all agreed it was a great combination of sweet and salty.

Here are the bacon labels I created for all of the dishes.
Click on the image to enlarge.
Right click and save to your computer.
Open with the software of your choice
and print onto cardstock.
These images are my exclusive artwork.
Please be courteous when using these printables 
and remember they are for personal use only.

MAPLE BACON POPCORN
from: Kernel Season's

6 cups popped popcorn
8 slices thick cut bacon
1/4 cup brown sugar (to sprinkle on bacon)
2 tablespoons maple syrup (to drizzle on bacon)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon baking soda

Prepare popcorn.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Place bacon slices in single layer on parchment paper and sprinkle with 1/4 cup brown sugar and drizzle with 2 tablespoons maple syrup.  Bake for 20 minutes or until fully cooked.  Allow to cook and for sugar to set and harden before cutting into bite-sized pieces.  In a medium saucepan, melt butter.  Add remaining brown sugar and maple syrup.  Allow mixture to boil for 5 minutes, add baking soda and stir.  (Mixture will expand!) Pour maple sugar mixture over popcorn and stir until evenly coated.  Stir in bacon pieces and enjoy.  This was everyone's favorite!

CRACKED PEPPER BACON

1 package thick cut bacon
1/4 cup coarsely ground black pepper
Pour pepper onto plate.  Dip bacon edges into pepper.  Sprinkle both sides of bacon with remaining pepper.  Cook in a large skillet (or bake on a lined sheet in the oven) until desired doneness.

JALAPENO BACON

1 jar pickled jalapeno slices, undrained
1 package thick cut bacon

Place bacon slices in a large zipstyle bag or container with lid.  Pour in jar of jalapenos, including liquid.  Make sure all of the bacon slices are evenly coated.  Refrigerate overnight, the longer it sits the more flavor will be absorbed.  Remove bacon from bag, wiping off any jalapeno pieces.  Cook in a large skillet (or bake on a lined sheet in the oven) until desired doneness.

BACON CRACKERS

1 box Club Crackers
1 package thin bacon, cut into small pieces
1 cup brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminium foil.  Top with a wire rack.  Line crackers up on wire rack.  In a small bowl combine brown sugar with cayenne and black peppers.  Sprinkle a small amount of mixture onto each cracker.  Add a piece or two of bacon to each cracker.  Top with remaining brown sugar mixture.  Bake approximately 15-20 minutes, or until brown sugar begins to melt and bacon becomes crisp.  Allow crackers to cook before eating, so cracker will not be soggy.  These would make an outstanding tailgate or party appetizer!

CHOCOLATE COVERED BACON

1 package thick cut bacon
1 package milk chocolate melts
1 package white chocolate melts
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with foil and place bacon slices on foil.  If you want very crisp bacon, use a cooling rack on top of the foil.  Bake 16-20 minutes or until bacon is desired crispness.  Transfer to paper towels for draining, and allow to cool completely.  In a small microwave safe bowl, melt the white chocolate pieces in 30-second intervals until melted and smooth.  Dip bacon slices into white chocolate, draining excess away.  Place on a wax paper lined baking sheet until set.  (You may need to do a second dipping to coat well- OR dip in milk chocolate and garnish with white chocolate. I opted for white so I would have some variation in color on the table.) In a separate microwave safe bowl, melt the milk chocolate pieces in 30-second intervals until melted and smooth.  Place the milk chocolate mixture into a large zipstyle bag.  Cut a tiny piece off the corner and drizzle the milk chocolate back and forth across the white chocolate-dipped bacon slices to create a design.  Don't knock this one til you try it!  Totally worth it!