Encrusted Mac & Cheese With Bacon

Every January our local Dorothy Lane Market grocery store has their BaconFest event.  Just some of the selections are a Butterscotch Bacon Tart at the bakery, a Bacon Ranch Cheese Ball at the deli, a Cajun Bacon Cheddar Sausage at the meat counter, and a Bacon-Wrapped Sea Scallops in the seafood section.  We walked away with some of the Encrusted Mac & Cheese with Bacon you see below, which was awesome.  

https://dayton937.com/dayton-dining/baconfest-is-back-at-dorothy-lane-market.html

Flexible Tailpiece

I mentioned in last Tuesday's blog that I needed to buy a longer PVC tailpiece.  I expected to get one that was longer than needed and cut it down to the size needed, but what I bought is what you see below, an accordion-looking tailpiece that extends from eight to twelve inches.  The other advantage of this design is it can be bent to handle misaligned plumbing connections.  More product details can be found at the link below.

https://www.doitbest.com/product/400649/do-it-best-1-1-2-in-x-12-in-white-plastic-tailpiece-400649

Hottest Times

A few weeks ago I blogged on my life's coldest times.  Now, over on my Life Experiences blog at the link below, I cover the hottest times.  There are not that many compared to the cold ones, but these four stick out in my memory as self-induced puddles of sweat and lessons learned.  

https://lifeexperiences.paulishing.com/2025/04/the-hottest-times.html

New Vanity

One upgrade we've been wanting to make is replacing our upstairs bathroom vanity with the model shown below.  With my brother-in-law's help (really the other way around), we first removed the old vanity which was so strongly caulked it took several tools, including a crowbar, to finally pop it free.  The new vanity posed its own challenges.  The holes for the faucet handles were not predrilled wide enough so it required a trip to the hardware store to buy a rounded file.  Three of the drawer handles needed two long flat-head screws, but only four were included, so that took another trip to the hardware store.  One more trip to the hardware store was needed to buy a longer PVC tailpiece (more on that in a couple of days), bringing the number of trips to three, which is about average for a project like this.  The result was beautiful and worth the work.

Huge shoutout to Albert for taking his morning to make this a reality!

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Home-Decorators-Collection-Clady-31-in-Single-Sink-Deep-Blue-Bath-Vanity-with-Silver-Ash-Cultured-Marble-Top-Assembled-HD2030P2-DB/315622122

Food Bank Donations

Gourmet Chef Elaine and I signed up at St. Charles Church to make this April's deliveries of all the charitable items donated at the entrance to the church to the Catholic Social Service food bank near downtown Dayton.  The first week resulted in filling the back two rows of our SUV (shown below) and unloading fifteen crates of beef ravioli, canned corn, peanut butter, pasta, cereal, soups, paper products, and more at their donation site.  We learned they had provided food to about 130 families that morning and that their food bank is just one of many in our region.  Pretty impressive operation and much-needed help to people in need.

https://cssmv.org

Lebanon Bologna

I love Lebanon Bologna (shown below) but never thought of why it's named that.  A quick search led me to the Wikipedia link below where I learned that Lebanon refers to Lebanon County, Pennsylvania where the Pennsylvania Dutch developed it about 240 years ago.  I also learned it's not so much akin to bologna as it is to sausage.  It's cured, smoked, and fermented to impart its signature robust taste.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebanon_bologna

Strawberry Mule

The Strawberry Mule shown below is from Cooper's Hawk.  It combines Tito’s vodka, strawberry puree, and ginger beer with garnishes of sliced strawberry, lime, and a big sprig of mint.  You can make this without the puree, but I like the extra sweetness.  This basic recipe can be used to make tons of different flavors, with peach and watermelon next on my list.  Bring on summer!

Bottle Protector Bags

I ordered an 18-pack of the inflatable bags shown below from Amazon for $20.  That's way more than I needed but the price was OK, so I got them anyway.  They come packed flat and include a hand pump that worked one time before it broke, so I resorted to my battery-powered pump instead, which was way easier.  It's a bit tricky to inflate and I wasted a couple of bags before I got that hang of it.  I inflated two bags all the way and that made inserting a bottle difficult, so I inflated a couple more about three-quarters, which worked much better.  These bags are great for packing bottles in my suitcase and not worrying they may break.

The link below now points to a 36-pack of bags for $30, so you might want to shop around for other options.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B098DCV7X7

Resident Alien

Like most folks I talk to, my list of must-watch streaming series includes Yellowstone, 1883, 1923, Lioness, Tulsa King and pretty much everything currently being put out by Taylor Sheridan.  But when I take a moment to watch a series that Gourmet Chef Elaine wouldn't like, I've been watching Resident Alien on Netflix.  Without giving too much away, an alien (shown below) crash lands on Earth during their mission to wipe out all human life.  It takes on the form of Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle and tries to complete his mission, however, becoming partially human complicates things.  The show can be a bit off-color at times, constantly humorous, and plot twists are aplenty.  Most episodes end with Harry explaining his greater appreciation of humanity.  You can see a preview at the link below.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8690918

Grippier

Last November I wrote about using a pair of pliers to twist off the lid on a quart of Half-n-Half.  Well, perhaps that post and a lot of complaints got to the geniuses that designed the cap because as you can see below, they have recently increased the height of the cap and changed the design of the vertical ridges to make it much easier to grip.  It's still difficult, but at least at this time, I'm able to open it without resorting to my toolkit.