More Bible Lessons

Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible, that is.

She calls it "Cheesy Asparagus" - I'd call it something else because "cheesy" is a Southern insult. As in "Did you see that cheesy dress she wuz wearin'? Bless her heart, she jes' don't know any bettah, Ah guess."

1 lb. asparagus, trimmed
1 T olive oil
Pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese

Drizzle the asparagus with olive oil, toss, pepper them and then sprinkle a lot of Parmesan cheese over them. Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes until the asparagus is soft and the cheese has crusted up.

BAKED ACORN SQUASH WITH PINEAPPLE.
Cut an acorn squash in half, get rid of the seeds and threads. You'll need:
1 8 1/2 oz. can of crushed pineapple
2 T butter
2 T light-brown sugar
pinch of pepper

Combine these ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer until syrupy. Put the acorn halves cut side up, fill with pineapple mixture and bake until the squash is tender.

MAPLE BACON
Take six slices of bacon, lay them flat on a cookie sheet (probably a good idea to use foil on the tray) and coat the bacon with maple syrup. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the bacon is done. Let the bacon cool and chop it into crunch. Use as a garnish on a baked sweet potato, on top of a German potato salad... you'll think of things.

PECAN AND CREAM CHEESE STUFFED DATES
3 T cream cheese, room temperature
3 T finely chopped pecans
pinch of black pepper
12 Medjool dates
4 slices bacon, cut crosswise into thirds.

Mix the pepper and pecans into the cream cheese, stuff that into the dates, wrap with a slice of bacon, and bake at 400 for eight minutes. Then, using tongs, not your fingers, flip them over for another 4 to 7 minutes.

I think I'd use the maple syrup-crumbled bacon dusted onto the cream cheese in the date and forget about wrapping bacon around the dates... but that's just me; I'm not much of a Bible student.