(Originally posted 5/6/09)

In case any of you were wondering [of course you were] how Iron Chef Tempe: BATTLE BACON VS. APPLES ended up...........I won*!! On my birthday, which caused many accusations of cheating (and I was trying to lose! with dignity!!), but nonetheless, I am the proud continued keeper of the Iron Chef Cup.......at least until the next Iron Chef challenge, which I am of course now obliged to host. There are worse fates. Here is how I won:

...........two words: PIG CANDY. Caramelized, sugared bacon strips sprinkled with roasted pecans and drizzled with semisweet chocolate. This will either sound disgusting to you or unspeakably delicious, and if it is the latter, then you and I can be friends. Oh, and there was also a 'cocktail' that accompanied this, which I called 'The Suckling Pig': sparkling apple cider dosed with a shot of lightly salted rosemary simple syrup and garnished with a twist of cooked bacon. Virgin, but could have easily been 'spiked' with hard apple cider or rosemary-infused vodka, the possibilities are endless. Anyway, it was delicious. OH YEAH. All right, fine, I wasn't really trying to lose. I really wanted to win. Ha HA!!!

( *For my 28th birthday last year, we hosted an 'Iron Chef' style dinner party/competition, secret ingredients: bacon & apples.......extra photos from which can be found here, if you are so inclined.)