Easy Baked Golden Cheese Appetizers

1 hunk of Havarti cheese (you can also use Brie)
1 can of crescent rolls

Take the crescent rolls out of the can and lay the dough flat. Put the cheese in the middle. Wrap the dough around the cheese. Put in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the dough is golden and the cheese starts to ooze out. This is so good and people love it.

Oven Baked Bacon

It's Christmas and who wants to spend Christmas morning slaving over the stove cooking bacon?  Not me.  I suggest you bake it in the oven.
Don't pre-heat the oven! 
Make sure the oven is cold when you put the bacon in.

1. Line a baking sheet with foil. This will make cleanup easier later.
   
2. Arrange bacon slices on the foil and place on the center rack of a cold oven. Close oven door. Turn oven on to 400°F. Walk away.
   
3. Come back 17 to 20 minutes later. As soon as the bacon is golden brown, but not excessively crisp, it's done. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the bacon slices, and also on how quickly your oven reaches the target temperature.
   
4. Remove the pan from the oven. Transfer the bacon to another sheet pan lined with paper towels to absorb the fat. You can pour the liquid fat into a heat-resistant container to save for other uses.
   

Tips:

Keep your eye on the bacon during the final few minutes of cooking to make sure that it doesn't burn. Also, remove the cooked bacon from the hot pan right away. The heat from the pan and the hot bacon fat will continue cooking the bacon.

You can slightly undercook the bacon, then cool it and freeze it in a zipper bag. Then, to reheat, cook two slices in the microwave on medium power for 30 seconds or so.

Variation: Sprinkle bacon with brown sugar or freshly ground black pepper before baking.

Niman Ranch bacon. This is the real deal. Thick cut, smoky, and meaty, this stuff is made from happy, pesticide-free, free range pigs that lead productive, satisfying lives and died in the prime of their tastiness for you and me. Oh man, this stuff is good as is everything from Niman Ranch. Go get some today (Trader Joe's carries the stuff as do other good stores.)

Freezing a few slices of raw bacon for easy access is a great idea, but don’t freeze cooked bacon, it won’t taste right later.

Oven-Baked Red Potatoes

Total time: approximately 30 minutes

Ingredients (serves 2):

1. 2 tablespoons of olive oil

2. 6 red potatoes

3. 1 tablespoon of coarse sea salt

4. 1 small handful of fresh rosemary

5. Pepper to taste (not pictured)


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Wash off each potato, then cut them into mouthful pieces.

Lay tinfoil over a baking pan. Lay down the olive oil. Toss in the potatoes and crown it all with salt, rosemary and pepper (if you so desire). Toss the potatoes with your hands, ensuring the potatoes are well coated. Throw the pan into the oven and cook until the potatoes brown (approx 25 minutes).