No, I haven’t lost my mind.

This is the final part of my strawberry project, and I saved the best for last. Bacon is the new “it” food; companies and chefs are pairing it with everything from ice cream to chocolate. So it’s got to go with strawberries, right?

Well, I set off today to find out. I tried several techniques, from wrapping fresh strawberries in prosciutto to stuffing strawberries with chocolate chips and wrapping them in a cooked piece of bacon. The prosciutto was a definite no, but I knew I was on to something with the bacon. It just needed one adjustment…

The oven! Again, I tried a few techniques, including broiling the bacon-wrapped berries, but I really only ended up filling my house with smoke. Finally, I stuffed three berries with chevre, three with chocolate chips, and three with nothing, wrapped them each in a strip of low sodium bacon, and roasted them in a 450F oven for roughly 10 minutes — 7 on one side, 3 on the other.

They were all wonderful, but I liked the chevre-filled ones the best. They were even better drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar. Okay, so maybe I also drizzled a tad of chocolate sauce on the plate. But I swear it was just for the visual effects.

Ohhh, but it was good.

Now, normally I wouldn’t eat nine pieces of bacon unless I was serving these little piggies as an appetizer to guests. Instead, I might do something like this and eat three or four pieces with a salad for lunch or dinner:

The good thing about strawberries is that you can eat them plain, use them in baking, or eat them any of the various ways I’ve been testing out. And bacon is sliced, so you can use just a few pieces at a time. I honestly have never tried freezing bacon, but I don’t see why you couldn’t if you used a freezer bag. Either way, paired with a salad, this makes a great lunch or dinner and a perfect appetizer for friends. Plus, they’re so easy!

Recipe: Berries in a blanket
Serves one

4 fresh strawberries, washed and capped (stem removed)
4 strips reduced sodium or turkey bacon
1 tsp chevre, divided into 1/4 tsps (optional)
1 tsp aged balsamic vinegar (optional)

Preheat oven to 450F. If you’re going to use the chevre, make a shallow slit in the side of each strawberry, just big enough to fit a 1/4 tsp of the soft cheese. Filling the strawberries from the side instead of the top helps keep the cheese from melting out while roasting.

Wrap each berry horizontally (to cover the chevre and hold it in) with one strip of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Place on a baking sheet and put in the oven for about 7 minutes. Check after 5, and if the bacon is browned, turn each piece with tongs. Roast for another 2 — 3 minutes until all sides of the bacon are cooked and brown.

Remove from the oven and immediately place each piece on a plate covered with two layers of paper towels to drain the grease. Cool slightly, then plate and drizzle with the 1 tsp of aged balsamic vinegar. Enjoy with a salad or as a snack.

In an April post entitled Rescuing film classics, I wrote about director Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation, an organization dedicated to the preservation of cinema’s greatest treasures. This got me thinking about how we can preserve the treasures that we have in our own homes—things like photographs, books, old letters, and original artwork.

With help from the good folks at the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, I pulled together some conservation tips that might help.

Read the full story

Every year we struggle with what to get those special men in our lives for Father’s Day. Coming up with something handmade and manly is normally a tricky combination that sometimes requires a lot of thought. I’m lucky that two new baby’s were born into the family in March, so there are an overabundence of cute photos circulating through Facebook and my email account.

For Mother’s Day, I took my favorite photos of the new babies and my two year old nephew and made them into paper beads (click here to see Mother’s Day jewelry blog). This time for Father’s Day, I thought I would use the same technique.

Instead of cutting out each face to make a single bead, I grouped them all close together and wrapped them around a pen. It was so easy and fun. It may take a few tries to get the perfect circumference, but don’t get frustrated.

I added the names of all the babies at the bottom of the photos and stretched them out so that they matched the width of the photos.

Tips: Use the glue sparingly. Too much causes the paper to slide around. I also learned that if you apply it to the entire strip of paper first, it causes the paper to wrinkle and crease as you roll it around the pen. To avoid this, apply glue to the paper that makes contact with the pen, roll it up until it is secure, and then apply glue as you roll it.

After the glue has dried, use a few coats of sealer, like Mod Podge. Even when glaze completey dries, it can be a bit sticky. Add a few coats of varnish or clear nail polish as your final layer. This way, sweaty hands won’t cause the surface of the pen to get sticky.

For more Father’s Day craft ideas, check out what my fellow craft bloggers have been up to! Tip Junkie has found a bunch that you must check out!

Happy crafting and Happy Father’s Day!