My First MMM Monday post featuring bacon-wrapped jalepeno poppers!!

I love food.  I love the experience of food.  I love making it, I love eating it, I love looking at it, smelling it, experimenting with it... Simply put, I have a love affair with food.  I realize my more healthy counterparts view food as fuel for the body.  I completely get this, but....I don't.  I get giddy like a little girl about to open her birthday presents when I have a new, delicious recipe to try.  Food is something we can experience with all of our senses.  We smell it, we feel it's texture in our mouth, we hear the sound as it cooks (or better yet, when we bite into it), the taste awakens all the buds on our tongues, and the sight of it can make you warm and tingly all over.  It's sort of like sex.  Food and sex.  Two of the greatest creations ever. 

Because of my love affair with food, I fully enjoy the process of food preparation and food consumption.  Some people HATE to cook.  I LOVE it.  If I weren't a teacher, I would probably want to be a chef.  Or even better, teach people how to cook.  I get excited about any new experience with food and I want to share it with everyone.  That being said - and to coincide with my resolution - I am beginning a new feature on my blog specifically for my addiction.  All about food.  I will call it "MMM Mondays".  I get to post about some of my favorites.  They will (hopefully!) be nothing short of a full-fledged orgasm-in-your-mouth experience, should you give them a whirl.  I must add a disclaimer though.  I do not like "elementary" food.  "Elementary" meaning bland, boring, tasteless, something a child would prefer (or could make).  Nope.  You won't find any of that here.  Elementary doesn't make you drool.  Elementary doesn't make you crave more.  Elementary won't even give you a long night of tangled, sweaty passion.  That's what I want.  Spice & Pizzaz.  So here you go.  My FIRST EVER food post. 

I have come to realize that anything, and I mean ANYTHING with bacon is heaven.  Add to it a perfectly creamy, slightly sweet and spicy interior and you have, quite simply, the BEST mouthful of yumminess ever.  I am addicted.  The problem is, these amazing lil' bites aren't exactly "clean eating".

Just look at them... aren't they calling out to you?!? Just pop me in your mouth. Yes, I think I will!  If you succumb to the temptation of my little friends and must try them for yourself, here is how I make 'em (a spin-off of ones I had at R&R Public House in Meridian).

12 plump jalapenos
12 slices of bacon
8 oz. cream cheese (softened)
1/2 c. roasted red peppers (minced)
1 garlic glove (minced)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 c. orange/pineapple marmalade (or whatever you can find in the "jelly section" of the grocery store!)

***To clean jalapenos, I HIGHLY recommend wearing rubber gloves.  The oils get under your fingernails and in your skin and burn like a mother!!***

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut each jalapeno in 1/2 lengthwise & clean out seeds and ribs. (This part takes the loooongest!) The more seeds/ribs you leave in, the HOTTER they will be. Rinse well with water & lay on a paper towel to dry.  In the meantime, mix the rest of the ingredients together, EXCEPT for the marmalade.  Scoop into a plastic freezer bag or sandwich bag.  Mush (that's a technical term) down to one corner.  Match up each 1/2 of jalapeno with its partner.  This is necessary to make sure they get "sealed" back together when you bake them or all that gooey filling will just melt out onto your pan & you will be left with nothing but empty... promises. :( 

Now, open your bacon, lay it out on a microwave-safe dish and zap those bad boys for about 3 min. This will soften the bacon so it is easier to wrap PLUS get the cooking started so they don't take so long in the oven.  Set aside to cool a bit. When everyone has their partner, cut the corner off the bag of cream cheese filling so you can fill the jalapenos (like a pastry bag). 

Squeeze out enough cream cheese to overfill 1/2 of a jalapeno.  Put the other (empty half) jalapeno on its partner, then wrap with an entire piece of bacon.  You should be able to wrap it around enough that most of the pepper is covered by it.  Sometimes I use a toothpick, but most of the time I don't.  Lay it seam-side-down on a baking sheet (preferably with at least a small edge so the bacon grease doesn't leak all over the bottom of your oven).  This will hold it together fine. 

Slide those mouthwatering treats in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the bacon looks slightly crispy.  When there is about 5 minutes left, crack open the marmalade, put it in a microwave-safe bowl and heat it for about 1 min.  When you pull the jalapenos out of the oven, generously drizzle with the marmalade.  You are ready to get the party started!!  These things will be gone in about 13.2 seconds.  They are sooooo goooood.  Next time you have a lil' gathering or are just craving something worse than a spoonful of Crisco, here's your answer.  EATIN' CLEAN, BABY!  I hope you enjoy it!