(Sorry there’s not more of the spread to show you, but before I could take a picture, the rest of this yummy concoction was gone!)
So here I am, in the final stages of preparing the food for our New Years Day brunch buffet, when I realize that there is not even one slice of bacon in any of the foods I have prepared. No bacon!! What will people think? No bacon?? So I’m thinking about this flaw in my menu planning when lo and behold the Seattle Times came to my rescue. There in the Jan. 31st edition in beautiful black and white is the answer to my problem – a simple recipe that contained bacon and would fit beautifully in with the other dishes I had prepared. Not only did it look delicious, I actually had all the ingredients on hand including cooked bacon. (I usually fry up a half pound of bacon at a time, and dole it out parsimoniously as a garnish for our morning toast and eggs.)
So I jumped up out of my chair (that’s figuratively “jumped up” you realize) and proceeded to add this lovely spread to my carefully laid out menu. (Turns out, not as carefully planned out as I thought, but all’s well that ends. . . . or however that saying goes!)
Anyway, this spread is just delightful. It’s creamy, and slightly sweet, and salty, and just perfect on baguette slices or simple cream crackers.
So God forbid this type of situation should ever happen to you, (the no bacon dilemma), but if it does, remember this recipe. The spread is super easy to prepare, can be made up to 3 days ahead, and looks beautiful in either a bowl or on a plate drizzled with balsamic vinegar glaze.
- 8-oz. cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 T. milk
- ½ c. crumbled cooked bacon
- ½ c. chopped dates
- 2 green onions finely minced
- pinch kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- balsamic glaze, opt.
Whip the cream cheese and milk together. Stir in the bacon, dates, green onions, salt, and pepper. Serve in a small bowl or on a small plate drizzled with balsamic glaze.