REDNECK HORS D'OEUVRES

Trust me, they're delish! We cook pretty much every meal around here. It's very rare that we go out to eat, even getting take-out is a rare occasion. We enjoy cooking, we know how it is prepared, who prepares it, what the kitchen is like, where the food comes from, etc. Usually our first topic of discussion of the day is "What are we having for dinner?" Chris is the main chef around here. You know you did right when you married a man that not only can grill with the best of 'em but can also make gravy! I used to be such a nuisance in the kitchen that "Martha," my sister, nick-named me "Betty Crock-of-sh**." :) But Chris (yes you too Mom and Martha) has taught me a lot about cooking and I've really come to enjoy it so I like to think we work as a team. Which leads me to talk about one of our favorites to fix: Redneck hors d'oeuvres. I love the name. It's cubed steak (we use deer meat - we hunt it and we eat it - but beef cubed steak can be used) cut into squares and marinated how you like (we use a little Regina Red Wine Vinegar, Lea & Perrins, Dale's Seasoning and Southern Flavor - in that order). You then take a cube of cream cheese (about the size of a piece of cubed cheddar cheese). Put it smack dab in the middle of the piece of meat, put a hot banana pepper or two on top of that (jalapeno peppers can be used if you like it hot), fold your meat up around the cream cheese and pepper, wrap half a piece of bacon around that, hold it all together with a toothpick or two, and it's ready for the grill. Grill them however you like your meat cooked, put them with a couple of sides (our "sides" with this are usually homemade french fries and oven-toasted BBQ bread), and VOILA! DELICIOUS! I never said we cooked healthy, I just said we cooked!

We tried a little variation of this with chicken the other night. We took a boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut it in the middle so as to make a little "pocket," put some cream cheese, a few of these

(If you've never heard of Wickles, go to their website, wickles.com, and check them out. They're made right here in Alabama. They just came out with pepper rings, and I could eat a whole jar!)

We also added a little jalapeno jack cheese, wraped the chicken with bacon, and grilled it. We almost had it again the very next night it was so good!

I'm off to spend the afternoon with one of Chris' brothers and his children who are visiting from Illinois. We haven't seen them in almost 4 years so we're super-excited!