Baconfest! Bacon themed engagement party for bacon lovers: bacon wrapped shrimp, scallops, asparagus, oysters, angels on horseback poh boys and more!!

Posted by Its not everyday that we get to eat bacon - though we looooove bacon! And its not everyday one of my girlfriends get engaged.   So, when TestKitchenL and I started to plan a surprise party, we combined the lovely lady's love for bacon with most of her favourite foods... it was a lot of prep work, and our respective houses reeked of bacon for days after (not that that's a bad thing for most bacon lovers).. and we had lots and lots and lots of bacon.  I'll put up recipes for most of the bacon items over the summer.. have to space it out or you'll be bacon bacon baconed out! Now, lets Get. Our. Bacon. On.
We brainstormed up lots of recipes that included bacon and a lot made the cut (and some didn't.. thank god, or we'd be as fat as houses!), disguised the engagement party as a "test kitchen" TestKitchenL puts on every now and then with the usual crew... and had most of the "surprise" friends crew park a block or 2 away so our cover wouldn't be blown.  Her fiancee was in on the surprise, but H was happily surprised, and then we all zoomed in on the food!  H and B were first greeted by friends, balloons, fresh flowers and... maple glazed crisp bacon roses bouquet!

and.. with the flash on so you can see the glistening candied maple syrup... :D

Complete with two little piggies I created the night before...

We then started off with a bunch of bacon wrapped appetizers...
Bacon wrapped asparagus

Note to self when packing devilled eggs finished with bacon salt from Evoolution- always put little toothpicks in so the plastic wrap doesn't muss up the painstaking piping of the centres job if you ever need to transport them! *facepalm* Whoops!

BLT dip. Yup, that's bacon, lettuce and tomato dip baby!  Served with crusty baguettes and tortilla chips

Bacon wrapped scallops with a white wine, lemon butter rosemary reduction. The scallops were so big, TestKitchenL had to cut them in half or 3's so she could wrap them properly!

TestKitchenL's awesome asian pear cabbage slaw topped with candied maple bacon and craisins and a huge sushi platter (no pic - sorry!!).  Bacon wrapped jumbo tiger shrimp with a white wine, lemon butter rosemary reduction. Did I tell you TestKitchenL's rosemary reduction is amazing? Well, it is.. I think I ate at least 3 of these!!

Crispy bacon wrapped pesto chicken breast bites with bacon ranch dip. Heehee, we had picked at the dish already when I took this pic.. but you an't really tell we decimated it... sorta :D

Stuffed mushrooms - they weren't bacon-i-fied in anyway, but H loves them! I took a pic of them before smothering them in cheese and putting oven.  The recipe for them can be found by clicking here!

We washed these babies down with bacon salt rimmed Caesars with celery stalk "stir sticks" and fresh crispy bacon! - no pic, sollies!  Baked thick cut bacon wrapped oysters (and this was just one platter of a few!). 

And as H loves poh boys, what better than to pair up the bacon wrapped oysters and make them into poh boys?!  We made the angels on horseback poh boys with fresh torpedo buns from the Italian Market,  a swipe of Brad Smoliak's delectably balanced sweet yet bacony bacon jam, a squirt of roasted garlic chiptole aioli, a few spoonfuls of TestKitchenL's great candied maple bacon, a leaf or two of crisp romaine lettuce, a few hot and tender baked fresh oysters wrapped in a snuggy of crisp thick cut all natural bacon and top with slices of thick cut ripe tomato... and you have several dozen of these awesome babies:

We finished off with Korean icecream filled mochi balls, fresh cut fruit platter, and a light mango mousse cake with refreshing hints of citrus peel from Sunterra, and chocolate covered maple syrup kissed bacon skewers.  Yup, chocolate bacon! (Recipe from FramedCooks!)

We then proceeded to laugh, tease and laugh some more with games and opening presents... and we all left our cholesterol, triglyceride and sodium levels a bit higher, a belly full of bacon bacon and more bacon, lots of bacon leftovers... and little jars of  Brad Smoliak's bacon jam to enjoy at home with grilled cheese sandwiches, out of the jar by the spoonful... the possibilities are endless!!! And yes, I was greeted by the lingering scent of bacon when I came home lol!

As you step into this stage of your life together, we wish you both, H and B countless happy memories, laughter, tasty food and lots of kids as you grow old and pruney together!