Bacon-wrapped Chicken Tenders: Photograph by Andrea Karapas

As a child, I spent many weekends with my grandparents in the Irish Hills of Southeastern Michigan.  Famous for its attractions such as Stagecoach Stop, USA and Prehistoric Forest, the Irish Hills hold many of my dear memories.  My grandparents owned a beautiful home on Twin Lakes that provided a perfect environment welcoming adventure and imagination for myself and my chosen weekend sleepover guest.  The property itself was a desirable location not only for hide and seek, snowball fights, and sledding hills, but also for private chats in the wooden swing overlooking the water and really bad, loud serenading to the occassional boats that passed by on the lake.  Inside, my grandma catered to our every whim, painting our fingernails bright red so we could hold them up against the light walls and pretend we were fancy ladies, putting our hair in rollers (the kind you have to sleep in) so we’d wake up with beautiful curls and a lot of volume, and allowing us to listen to my Aunt Ellen’s ABBA albums on the stereo console while we sang along to Knowing me Knowing you.  The late nights of whispering and giggles are timeless but waking up to the smell of my grandma’s weekend breakfasts will forever be my favorite part of those weekends.  The smell of bacon as we came down the stairs in our pajamas was enough for me to know that I had found a love that would last forever.  Breakfast always started with a grapefruit half, sectioned and sprinkled with sugar and as the crispy strips of bacon laid glistening on a papertowel-covered plate, my grandma was frying eggs in the same pan she fried the bacon while poaching the yolks with spoonfuls of the bacon grease.  If you’ve never eaten fried eggs this way, you’ve truly been deprived! My love affair with bacon began at a very early age and my Grandma Wegner was the one that introduced us. 

I hear a lot of people say, “everything’s better with bacon” and I will admit that I’m a dedicated supporter of this philosophy.  Who doesn’t love bacon?  There’s even a day devoted to the celebration of bacon.  This year it will be on September 3rd and I plan to celebrate, Grandma Wegner style.  Although 70% of all bacon in the US is eaten at breakfast time, I have a lot of favorite appetizer and dinner recipes that feature bacon.  This recipe, taken from the December 2010 issue of Everyday Food, can be made as an appetizer (featured photo) as well as paired with a salad or side dish and served for dinner.  The flavors of the bacon and sage really bring the chicken to life.

Although Prehistoric Forest and Stagecoach Stop will never be as they once were, my love for bacon will live on forever and I’m sure you’ll see many more posts in the future that include my one true food love.  To bacon, I will be forever faithful…’til death do us part.

Bacon-wrapped Chicken Tenders
8 fresh sage leaves
8 chicken tenders (about 1 1/4 lbs)
8 slices bacon
1/2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
Place a sage leaf on each chicken tender, then wrap each with a bacon slice.  In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high.  Add tenders, sage side down, and cook until fat is rendered and bacon is browned, about 6 minutes.  Flip and cook until tenders are cooked through, 6 minutes.  With tongs, transfer to a wire rack set on a rimmed baking sheet to drain.