Bacon-Wrapped Dates

I’m sitting here planning my calendar for the month of November…yes…November.

#1 – I can’t believe it is that close to Starbucks breaking out the red cups and holiday music playing in stores.

#2 – I have some REALLY GREAT stuff planned for the month of November!!! I almost can’t wait to share it with you! But I will wait, mostly because right now it’s just a plan on my calendar, and the way my schedule has been going lately…well, I’m gonna try really hard to do everything I have planned. I  promise, it’s gonna be good!

Last week I got to take a work trip to Santa Monica, so much fun and so nice to get out of the grey drizzle that has taken over Portland. Then I came home and got to go wedding dress shopping with my baby sister. It’s so exciting and yet, the whole time it didn’t seem real, like she was just playing dress up or something. Her wedding venue is a DIY-ers dream and we are going to have so much fun planning everything for the big day.

Last week, in all the chaos, I made an old go-to, easy recipe for dinner. A pancetta-wrapped chicken with date sauce. And since I had some dates left over, I also made one of my husbands favorite things, bacon-wrapped dates. A few years back, we went to a restaurant in downtown Seattle, Sazerac, for happy hour with some friends. On the menu, were these bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with cheese. We were engaged at the time, and he loved the dates so much, he asked our caterer if they could be incorporated into our wedding menu. (That, and his own personal lobster tail. No one else at the wedding got lobster tail. Just him. Not picky. AT ALL!)

Anyway, it’s one of his favorite things so I make them from time to time because they are so simple and tasty. An easy appetizer to prepare ahead of time for your next get together or just for a random Wednesday night.

Bacon-Wrapped Dates
24 large pitted dates
12 slices of bacon, halved crosswise
1/2 cup blue cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Place 24 toothpicks in a small bowl of water and let soak for 15 minutes. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and fit with a wire rack, set aside.
2. Slice dates lengthwise, be careful not to cut all the way through, to make a small pocket for the cheese. Place a small amount of cheese in the center of each date. Wrap a piece of bacon around each date. Secure bacon with a toothpick.
3. Place dates on prepared baking sheet. Bake until bacon is cooked through, about 20-25 minutes.