I'm not done with Bacon! Curried Macaroni, at your service

Might as well cook it while you can afford it!

In case you're tired of the same old BLTs, rashers and eggs, and angels on horseback, here's a recipe just for you.

Curried Macaroni

Cook 1 package (8 ounces) elbow macaroni or macaroni shells according to package directions. Prepare 2 cups Medium White Sauce. Add 1 tablespoon minced onion and 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder. Add macaroni; heat thoroughly. Garnish with bacon.

Broiled Fish with Bacon-Grease-Slathered Bananas

Continuing with the bacon thing, here's a recipe sure to please seafood lovers, bacon lovers, and lovers of all things sunny and fruity. It comes from a 1958 Cookindex recipe card, published by Tested Recipe Institute, Inc.

Shad Tropicana

Select a shad weighing about 4 pounds. Have the fish dealer split and bone it. Wash fish thoroughly and pat dry with paper towels. Place the split, boned shad on a well-greased broiler pan. Brush the fish with melted butter or margarine and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil fish, 3 to 5 inches from the heat, without turning, 8 to 10minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Halve 3 slices of bacon. Fry bacon strips in a skillet until crisp. Drain bacon well on paper towel; keep warm. Peel and slice 2 medium-size bananas; dip slices in bacon fat. About 2 minutes before removing shad from broiler, arrange banana slices in a row on top of fish. Finish broiling fish. Remove fish carefully with a broad spatula or pancake turner to a hot platter. Garnish with bacon, lemon wedges and parsley. Makes 4 servings.

Chocolate Nut Drops? You Decide.

This recipe is undoubtedly tasty. How can you go wrong with chocolate, walnuts, and icing?

But I have to admit, in a week in which my naughty puppy unscrewed the lid of a 1/2 full jar of dry roasted peanuts and consumed them, the picture brought to mind something else:

Go reindeer!

Sugar Plums Oh Sugar Plums, What Pray Tell Art Thou?

The first recipe in this month's holiday extravaganza led me on a quest.

Not being much of a candy maker (I'm afraid of boiling sugar), I can't quite tell what the texture of the candies is like, but their snowy whiteness makes a great backdrop for the neon-colored candied fruit of the era.

We always had little plastic tubs of the stuff in my childhood kitchen. I never liked it, but it was a holiday staple, as you will see from recipes to come throughout the month.

I imagine this candy to be very sweet, slightly chewy, and studded with the weirdly textured candied fruit flavors of the past. But they aren't what I ever imagined sugar plums to be.

And so I set out to find out what a sugar plum is. Turns out this is not a straight forward question.

Here are a few examples of the most common version found on the interwebs today:

Sugar Plums avec Saveur

Sugar Plums from Nourished Kitchen

Sugar Plums from Alton Brown

In contrast, Epicurious says that they are candied or dried fruits surrounded by fondant.

Other sources say they are a comfit; a confectionary item usually small in size which is arduously coated in multiple layers of sugar:

The Christmas Food Timeline

A Boke of Gode Cookery

So I'm still confused.

Perhaps I should ask the Patron Fairy for answers:

Look! She's wearing candied cherries! Surely she will know.

I'm off to Google her contact info...