Eat The Love - Recipes, Photographs and Stories about Desserts, Baked Goods and Food in general, with a healthy dose of humor and happiness for the food obsessed

Bacon Mac and Cheese [Sponsored Post]

This creamy, homemade bacon mac and cheese recipe is made on the stove in one skillet, with an option to make it baked-style! A fast, easy weeknight meal.

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Bacon Mac and Cheese in a cast iron skillet on a table.

This post was sponsored by Safeway. I was compensated for this post and for developing the recipe. However, all opinions below are completely my own. You can get all the products featured in this recipe at your local Safeway!

I’ve made numerous variants of mac and cheese in my kitchen. They range from a cheeseburger pasta recipe which is basically a mac and cheese meets hamburger helper sort of dish to a rather glorious chard and smoked gouda mac and cheese that I wrote when I first started blogging (it’s such an embarrassingly written post with terrible photos, please don’t judge me). I have at least two or three other mac and cheese recipes in my kitchen arsenal that I have yet to write up. But it’s my easy bacon mac and cheese recipe that I want to chat about today!

You make it on the stovetop. It’s done in one pan, including the macaroni, meaning no pre-cooking and draining the pasta! You can eat it right then and there, if you like a super creamy stove-top style mac and cheese. But I’ve also added an option to cover it with bread cubes and bake it in a screaming hot oven for 10 minutes to get the convenience of stove top and the crunch of a baked-style mac and cheese. It’s the sort of one-stop-shop of creamy bacon mac and cheese and it comes together fast! With minimal effort, this homemade mac and cheese with bacon recipe is absolutely worth it.

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Apple Cider Donuts

This is the best apple cider donut recipe! It uses two easy-to-find grocery store ingredients adding extra apple flavor with no boiling or rest time needed.

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I have a running joke with my partner AJ that you NEVER say no to donuts. It stems from the time when we were on a cruise and he ordered coffee from room service in the morning. The man taking his order on the phone asked him if he needed anything else with the coffee, like donuts. HE SAID NO. Obviously I hadn’t trained him properly (though had he been asked if he wanted an apple fritter, he would have said yes). You don’t necessarily need to order the donuts, but if they offer it to you, YOU NEVER SAY NO TO DONUTS (or sufganiyot – which are basically Jewish donuts).

So, when we were on a road trip across the US a couple of years ago, we found ourselves just outside of the Shenandoah National Park, at a small town that was known for their apple cider donuts. Though it the summertime and blazing hot outside, I knew I had to get a couple of donuts for the road. I have no regrets. To me, apple cider donuts are a year round treat!

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Parker House Rolls

This easy-to-make variant of the original Parker House rolls recipe can be made the day before, turning them into overnight Parker House rolls!

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Fresh baked Parker House rolls in a pan sitting on a table with melted butter and flaky salt in small bowls next to baking pan.

I’ve stated in the past that I absolutely love Thanksgiving. It’s one of my favorite holidays, with no pressure to get the perfect gift or make huge romantic gestures. Instead it focuses on food and food and MORE FOOD. And though the turkey is the main course, it’s the sides, like the green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and homemade cranberry sauce that often what folks gravitate toward. And though I’ve made different rolls for the holiday table including my potato rolls, these parker house rolls appear nearly as often. In fact, I love these fluffy buttery rolls so much that I pretty make them all year around. I can’t believe it took me this long to share the recipe!

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Chicken Karaage, Japanese Fried Chicken

This easy chicken karaage recipe is a classic Japanese dish that is extra super crispy because of the double frying technique!

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Chicken karaage, japanese fried chicken, piled on a plate with a hand reaching to grab a piece.

It probably comes as no surprise to my friends that karaage, Japanese fried chicken, is something we almost always order when we go out and get ramen. My partner AJ is basically obsessed with all things fried chicken. And, truth be told, I’m pretty obsessed with fried chicken too. I make my easy fried chicken recipe a little TOO often. But the real reason I don’t make karaage at home is mostly because I often opt to make my Taiwanese popcorn fried chicken which is harder to find here in San Francisco!

But sometimes I get that craving for Japanese karaage fried chicken, and it’s not too difficult to whip up if you’re not afraid of a little of bit of deep frying. The chicken needs a quick marinade for the boost of flavor, then it’s a double fry, giving the karaage an extra crispy coating. It’s what distinguishes this chicken karaage from other fried chickens!

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Apple Fritters

This homemade apple fritters recipe is better than any apple fritter you’ll find at a bakery. It’s made at home and not sitting in a bakery case all day!

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Homemade Apple Fritters on a plate, next to apples and a small dish with cinnamon.

One thing that my partner AJ never turns down is an apple fritter. Sure, I can get them from the local bakery, where I get donuts. It’s almost always the first thing that’s gone from the pastry box. But as the weather turns cooler, I start cranking out the apple desserts. Fried apple pies, apple pandowdy and apple brown betty all start to show up. But the one thing I love to make is homemade apple fritters and I realized I’ve never shared my recipe on how to make them!

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Lamb Tagine with Prunes [Sponsored Post]

This traditional lamb tagine with California Prunes is a Moroccan classic recipe streamlined into a one-pot dish that doesn’t require any special equipment!

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Moroccan lamb tagine with prunes in a ceramic bowl.

This post is sponsored by California Prunes. I was compensated for this post and for developing the recipe. However, all opinions below are completely my own. Be sure to check out California Prunes online at www.CaliforniaPrunes.org and on social media @CAprunes.

My partner AJ absolutely loves meat – all sorts of meat. Common meat like chicken, beef and pork elicit the same response: “Oh roast chicken is my favorite!” or “Woo hoo, we’re having grilled skirt steak tonight!”, while less common meats like rabbit, ostrich or lamb also create the same reaction of “Oh hey, we’re gonna have ostrich!” and “YAY! Rabbit pot pie!”. So, it came as no surprise that he exclaimed “Lamb! I LOVE lamb!” when I told him I was making lamb with California Prunes tagine for dinner.

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