I've professed my love for pimento cheese many times on here, so it's no surprise that I have yet another way to take your pimento cheese game up a notch. Even better - these warm bacon pimento cheese cups are perfect for Labor Day cookouts and tailgating in the fall.

To make them you take your standard, delicious phyllo shells (found in the freezer section), and fill them with a smoked cheddar bacon pimento cheese and top each with a few more fresh bacon bits. Smoked sharp cheddar pairs really well with the bacon, but you can also make it your standard way with just regular sharp cheddar. Sometimes I use pepperjack for a little kick. The key is to find two cheeses that complement each other. Melted cheese, mayo, pimentos and bacon is probably going to taste good regardless as long as you don't go with something too crazy cheese-wise.

The number of phyllo shells that come in a pack varies by the brand, and different grocery stores carry different brands. If you're serving these for a crowd you can absolutely buy more than 48. These go QUICKLY! The recipe will probably yield enough for 60 mini cups, since only about a tablespoon goes in each cup. I usually buy Cracker Barrel cheese, which comes in 8oz packages, so most of the time I go ahead and shred the whole 16oz of cheese (upping the other ingredients as well) and then serve the rest of the pimento cheese with crackers. There are worse things than having extra pimento cheese around the house..

Enjoy, and have a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Bacon Pimento Cheese Phyllo Cups

4 oz sharp white cheddar, freshly grated
4 oz smoked sharp cheddar or sharp yellow cheddar, freshly grated
3 oz cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons diced (not sliced) pimentos
1/4 cup Duke's mayonnaise
6 strips bacon, cooked until crispy
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1/4 teaspoon onion powder (optional)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (optional
48 mini phyllo (filo) shells
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil and set aside. Combine cream cheese and mayo. You can do this with a mixer, but I usually just stir them together. Add grated cheeses, spices (optional), pimentos and salt and pepper to taste. Add in crumbled bacon, reserving a few tablespoons-worth for garnish.

Scoop mixture into the individual phyllo cups and place on the pan (they can be close together). Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until shells have slightly browned and mixture has melted. Remove from oven, let cool for just long enough so that you're not risking any burnt mouths and serve!

Of all the sandwiches, breakfast sandwiches are my favorite. There's something comforting about taking everything that's great about breakfast and putting it in between two pieces of buttered bread. It's also possible I find it comforting because I grew up eating breakfast sandwiches on Sunday after church. My mom is the queen of the fried egg sandwich. I guess I have her to thank for the fact that I find plain eggs and bacon boring and unsatisfying. At least these things are acceptable in North Carolina.

You can really do whatever you'd like with a breakfast sandwich. Be as creative or as simple as you'd like. Change up the choice of bread. Use ham instead of bacon. Spread cream cheese on the bread instead of adding a slice of regular cheese (I promise this is amazing). This seems like a pointless recipe to put up because it's so simple, but I've realized that a shockingly large number of people haven't been clued in on the sheer joy that comes from a good breakfast sandwich. So, I am posting two variations.

The variation I want to explain first is the Pimento Cheese, Egg and Bacon Breakfast sandwich. There are few, and I mean very few, things in the world that are better than a grilled pimento cheese sandwich. If you're not from the south, I'm sure this is a completely foreign concept to you and that's ok.

You may agree with me that the trick to a great, gooey grilled cheese sandwich is hand shredded cheese and adding a small layer of mayo to the inside of the bread.  Well, the same thing goes for using homemade pimento cheese in your egg sandwich. I combined this with soft scrambled eggs and bacon which results in a blending of flavors that is seriously out of this world. You start out with spreading the pimento cheese on the unbuttered side of a slice of bread, and once your eggs are done, you spread them over the pimento cheese, add a few slices of bacon on top and then sandwich it with the other piece of bread and grill it in the pan. Putting it back in the pan is essential, as it gives you the good buttery crunch and it also melts the ingredients together.

The second sandwich I've shown is much simpler, and it's my go to since sadly I do not always have homemade pimento cheese around. I sometimes leave out the bacon or the ham if I'm out of those ingredients. The pan I used was pretty bad, so the egg stuck too much to make it a perfect over medium fried egg, but my suggestion is to do it over easy if you're up for the mess or over medium. You can either use egg, mustard and cheese (with or without meat), or do egg and cream cheese (with or without bacon). I'm always rushing in the mornings, so if I have time to fry up a quick egg sandwich I promise you do too!

Enjoy!

Homemade Pimento Cheese*
Makes a full serving, feel free to cut this amount in half

2 10-ounce blocks Cracker Barrel Cheese, one Sharp White Cheddar, one Sharp Cheddar, grated
2 heaping tablespoons diced pimentos (not sliced!)
1 to 2 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup Duke's Mayo
1 teaspoon cracked pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional)

Grate the sharp white cheddar and sharp yellow cheddar cheeses together in a bowl. Do not buy pre-grated cheese, as these cheeses come with a waxy coating on the outside and will not melt as well (or taste as good). Throw remaining ingredients into bowl, and blend gently with a spatula, forks, spoons, or whatever you have on hand. Keep refrigerated until ready to use. Leftover pimento cheese is delicious on crackers, veggies, burgers, sandwiches, pretzels, etc.

*Adjust amount of cream cheese and mayonnaise to suit your personal preference. If you prefer a creamier and tangier cheese use slighly less mayo and 2 ounces cream cheese.

Grilled Pimento Cheese, Bacon and Egg Sandwich
Makes 1 sandwich (double, triple, quadruple as needed)

2 pieces cooked bacon
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon milk
2 slices sourdough bread
1/8 cup pimento cheese
Salt and pepper for taste
Butter for the bread

Cook bacon in pan or in oven until crispy. Spread one side of each piece of bread lightly with softened butter. On the non-buttered side of one slide, spread a generous layer of pimento cheese, it should be about a 1/2-inch thick. Break bacon slices in half an set on top of pimento cheese. You can also crumble the bacon on top if you want to make sure to have it in every bite (or bacon lattice it if it's that kind of a day!).

In a nonstick skillet, melt a small amount of butter. Whisk eggs and milk with a fork until combined, then add a dash of salt and pepper. Pour into pan over medium-low heat. Stir with a heatproof spatula until small curds begin to form, increase heat to medium high. Begin to fold the eggs over themselves until they are still soft, but fully cooked and no liquid remains. This will happen VERY quickly, so make sure not to overcook. Remove eggs immediately and place on top of the pimento cheese and bacon slice of bread. The key is to start with a pan that is the right temperature and not take your eyes off of the eggs while cooking. This will give you a flavorful, soft scrambled egg.

Place the remaining slice of bread on top, butter side up, and add to the pan over medium heat. Slightly press down to make sure the ingredients come together without compressing them too much. Flip once sides are lightly brown. Cut in half and enjoy! Keep napkins nearby.

*Note: To make a fried egg sandwhich, everything is the same except for you spread a thin layer of mustard on the bread instead of pimento cheese. Then you can top with your choice of cheese, bacon or ham, and a fried egg. Throw in a pan and lightly brown on each side. This works well with the soft scrambled eggs, too, but I wouldn't recommend swapping fried for scrambled on the pimento cheese version.

Sometimes I sit around and analyze food. I know it's weird. I can't help it. I'll be eating a really great bowl of cereal and think, "Man, whoever came up with the concept of cereal was brilliant. This is the best thing EVER." And then of course I will think the exact same thing about a million other foods. It probably gets obnoxious for my friends because if anyone is around me chances are I'll say it out loud. I'd imagine it's hard to be friends with me if you don't like food (I'd like to think I don't have any friends like that, but you never know with college girls).

That being said, sandwiches are another creation that I constantly sit there eating and think about how much gratitude I have for whoever invented them back in the day. I make myself sandwiches all the time, but they're pretty standard. The thing is, it is SO easy to take a sandwich up a notch. All you have to do is go heavy on the cheese and butter, and buy better bread. The fresh sourdough bakery bread is going to beat Sara Lee 45 calorie slices every time. There's just no getting around it. Life's too short to count calories.

Kevin at Closet Cooking always has the most amazing recipes and absolutely perfect food photography. I'd be jealous if I didn't love gawking at his page so much. I work three days a week, have class the other two, and am rarely around my house during lunchtime on the weekends. So, I decided that a Saturday at home over Easter weekend was the perfect time to try one of the sandwich recipes I'd been drooling over. I've been hooked on guacamole (not just avocado) in sandwiches for quite some time. Guacamole and cheese quesadillas are easily one of my top three favorite late night food choices. Adding bacon to the combo was brilliant. It was the best sandwich I've had in a good long while.

It's not all that time consuming, it's just about allowing yourself to break away from the same old sandwiches. Switching from provolone to sharp white cheddar is not breaking away. Making a delicious grilled guacamole bacon cheese sandwich is so much better.

Enjoy!

Bacon Guacamole and Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Recipe from Closet Cooking

Ingredients

• 2 slices bacon
• 2 slices sour dough bread
• 1 tablespoon butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup jack and cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 tablespoons guacamole, room temperature ***
• 1 tablespoon tortilla chips, crumbled (optional)

Directions

1. Cook the bacon until crispy and set aside on paper towels to drain.
2. Butter one side of each slice of bread, sprinkle half of the cheese onto the unbuttered side of one slice of bread followed by the guacamole, bacon, tortilla chips, the remaining cheese and finally top with the remaining slice of bread with the buttered side up.
3. Grill over medium heat until golden brown and the cheese has melted, about 2-3 minutes per side.

* I had some extra Wholly Guacamole in the fridge, so I took the shortcut and just combined that with a little lime juice, fresh diced tomatoes and garlic. It was homemade enough for me! If you have time, I bet his is delicious, too.

Has anyone heard that Dr. Pepper Ten radio commercial that asks all these questions starting with "Have you ever...?" The gist of the commercial is that women are supposed to answer "No" for this list of questions because we do womanly things and those are manly things. Blogging about bacon is apparently on the man list. Oh please!

Here's my "manly," brief blog about bacon. I love bacon. I love bacon on pretty much anything and everything. Bacon and eggs, bacon on cupcakes, chocolate covered bacon, bacon in pasta, scallops wrapped in bacon, filet mignon with bacon (red meat, extra man points!), cheddar bacon burgers, blts, etc. One last thing, I really love bacon in dips. Especially this hot and cheesy bacon dip.

The dip is super easy, and it so delicious. I'll be honest, I would sit there and eat a dip I thought was just average for 20 minutes without thinking twice (I'll blame it on the salt in chips). However, this dip is WAY above average. In fact, it is one of my new favorites. Prepare to be hooked!

Sorry the pictures aren't great. I have yet to find a good way to take pictures of dips. You'll just have to trust me on this one.

Hot and Cheesy Bacon Dip
Recipe from Heather Likes Food

1 C Mayonnaise

1 C Sour Cream

2 C Grated Monterrey Jack Cheese

1/2 C shredded Parmesan cheese

6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder (I used 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic from the fridge)

1 tsp dried tarragon, rubbed between your palms to release some of the oils of the herb

a few dashes Chipotle Chili Powder, more if you like it spicy! (I used Cayenne Pepper since I didn't have this on hand - just a dash or two)

Preheat Oven to 400°

Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl and transfer to an 8×8″ baking dish. Bake for 15-20  minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted. Serve with chips, veggies, or bread. 

Note: I got a little cheese crazy and added it on top as well the most recent time I made this (pictured). This makes the top very oily. I think the Parmesan is fine to do this with (what I did the first time), but the Monterrey Jack is not.

I know what you're thinking: this looks nothing like a breakfast pizza. You're right. It's more like a breakfast casserole the way I made it. I felt like I couldn't justify using 12 eggs for something I was just making on a whim, so I halved the recipe and used an 8x8 pan. I posted it anyways because in hindsight I'm not sure why those extra six eggs were so precious to me. So here is my first tip for the "pizza": make the full version. It wasn't really a problem that I made it smaller, but I also halved the bacon and I immediately decided that was a poor decision. I actually wouldn't have skimped on it, but I used the majority of my bacon stash for bacon chocolate chip cookies the night before.

But as for the breakfast pizza, I love how easily it came together. I have been reheating little squares of it for snacks here and there over the past few days. I'm used to grabbing a square of brownie or a cookie (healthy, right?), but it's a nice change of pace to actually have some real food to munch on. It's also good because I'm trying to wean myself off of the pizza sticks I wrote about a few weeks ago. I kept making them over and over again, and I think I was beginning to develop a slight addiction. One last tip is that I used mostly mozzarella for these because that's what I had on hand, but I think sharp cheddar is the most flavorful so that's probably your best bet. 

I promise this will be the last post from Southern Plate for a few weeks. I just can't get enough of her recipes. Nothing fancy, no hard to find ingredients, no completely unnecessary steps that you can't figure out how on earth make that much of a difference–she's just a true home cook. I love it. I promise you'll feel the same way if you take a look around her site.

Bacon Breakfast Pizza

Recipe from Southern Plate

• 1- 8 count can crescent roll dough
• 3 cups shredded hash browns (can used cubed)
• dozen eggs
• 1 cup shredded cheddar
• 6 slices bacon (more or less, depending on what you have on hand)
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Optional: Other toppings of your choice. Examples are: Onions, mushrooms, other meats, other vegetables, etc

Cook bacon and set aside. Spray a 9×13 inch pan with cooking spray. Place crescent roll dough in the bottom of the pan, pinching seams together to seal. Spread frozen hash browns over dough. Salt and pepper to taste (I start with 1/2 tsp of each). Beat all eggs in a bowl and pour over hash browns. Sprinkle crumbled bacon over. Place in oven at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, or until set in center. Sprinkle cheese over top and return to oven just until melted. Serve warm.