Maple Bacon: Simple changes

The other day, I got a notice taped to the side of my house which read, "Free TV pick up, Thursday March 28" and I was very excited.  Inside Children's playroom sat a large, 17 year old TV, one of the big clunky heavy ones, that was basically unused and just hanging out.  The opportunity to eliminate it was just too good and so Husband and I decided that we'd lug the TV to the curb as the flyer requested and get rid of it once and for all.

Only it wasn't that easy as since this is one of the OLD types of TVs, the thing weighed more than the two of us combined.  I also don't consider myself a weakling but this TV was HEAVY.    After barely making it to the front where Husband and I realized that we hadn't opened the door in preparation, we had to set the thing down.  Then we decided to push it across the foyer, and then we got stuck in the front door.  Husband had the brilliant idea of using a cast off office chair as a type of dolly so I grabbed that and we clumsily hoisted the TV onto the chair and basically pushed/dragged the chair-TV combo to the front.  We set the TV down and walked back into the house.

Can I just try and express to you how different the room looks without the big black box?  It's totally opened up a new space, and that simple elimination of one rather clunky piece of antiquated technology dramatically changed the space into something phenomenally new.   You can see more white walls, you have more space to move around and I have more room to rearrange the lego build area AGAIN.  

Simple changes make for something brand new.  Even in cooking, simple changes can make something taste even better.  I decided to brush bacon with maple syrup and see what yumminess could occur and the result was delicious - salty, sweet, slightly caramelized.  It's amazing on a BLT sandwich, delicious with pancakes, and the best part is that you cook it in the oven so it's easy to make.

Maple Bacon

Makes 8 to 12 pieces

Ingredients

12 to 16 ounces of thick-sliced applewood bacon (you can try thinner slices, but it will cook up faster in the oven)

2 to 3 tablespoons maple syrup

Method

Preheat oven to 400.

On a large roasting rack, lay bacon in a single layer.  Definitely use a rack as you want the bacon to drain the fat.  Place bacon in oven and cook for 16-20 minutes, until golden.  Remove from oven and then brush a nice layer of maple syrup on top of of each slice.  Return to oven and bake for an additional 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove from oven, and immediately remove bacon from roasting pan and drain on a paper towel  If you do not remove bacon immediately, the syrup will harden,  it will stick to the pan and will be near impossible to remove.

Serve alone, with pancakes, or on a BLT.

Printable recipe

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