Hi friends, I am going to make this a quick one because it’s been a very busy day. I’ve only been back in Oregon for about 30 hours from an amazing work trip to LA. It was a very fun time – we ate great food, went on a fun tour and went to a taping of the Tonight Show. We flew back Saturday afternoon and I spent today finishing up Christmas shopping, working on projects and, of course, working on food for the blog! I took on a lot of big projects this afternoon, and though I’m happy with what I accomplished, I do think I could have planned my time a little bit better.

I ended up eating dinner a little bit later than I planned, so I made these bacon-wrapped dates as a quick snack while I waited for my “real” dinner to cook. We made an even simpler version for our holiday party. But this time I decided to stuff them with blue cheese. A little blue cheese, I feel, is never a bad thing. And yes, I still had leftover bacon and dates (though not anymore!).

Did I mention that there are three whole ingredients? It’s possibly the easiest appetizer of all time, with the biggest impact.

Here’s what you need for appetizers for two people – you may wish to change the quantity if you are serving for a party rather than before a meal:
Six pitted dates
Two slices of bacon
Blue cheese crumbles

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Use your fingers and a long, thin object such as a chopstick to stuff blue cheese crumbles into the hole left by the pit in each date.

Use kitchen shears to cut the bacon strips into thirds. Wrap the bacon strips around the stuffed dates and place them on a pan covered in a sheet of foil or a silpat. I recommend placing the outer edge of the bacon roll downward.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the bacon is at your desired doneness.