By Kellee Mayfield of Delta Moxie

When I registered for Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged (#AWBU) this year, I registered for Foodie Friday as well. Last year I arrived at the end of the Foodie Friday Challenge and witnessed how much fun it was.

I don’t consider myself an amazing cook because I keep my meals simple. If I’m not preparing my meal in a blender, I’m keeping the number of ingredients to about 3 to 5. So when Amanda Brown asked me to be a table leader for this year’s #AWBU Foodie Friday Challenge, I agreed and considered that they might be desperate for help!

The team leaders were provided guidelines a few days before the big event, and I knew then the Foodie Friday coordinators had made a mistake in asking me to lead a team.

We had a maximum of 45 minutes to prepare and present for judging one appetizer that could serve 15-20. Each team was given an “In-Basket” of items from which we had to use at least one ingredient, Presentation items which we were to share with other teams, and Pantry items which were first come, first served. Team Leaders were also told just a few days before the conference that we could bring ONE secret ingredient.  I chose to bring miso.

There were seven groups of approximately 4-5 team members; the team members were assigned randomly. My team, Team #3 consisted of Talya of Grace, Grits and Gardening, Lenora Reidel of Confessions of a Marine Wife, Ceri Wilkin of Recipe Doodle and Samantha Craig from the Paul Michael Company. Can a team leader get any more fortunate?

I created these easy to read boards for my newly formed team to visualize the ingredients, guidelines and discuss our options.

Ceri was nominated as our kitchen runner and Lenora served as our pantry runner. Talya and Samantha were the bosses of the prep table. These women are amazing. They orchestrated and created an incredible winning appetizer, Bacon-wrapped Stuffed Dates with an Orange Marmalade Miso/Soy Sauce.

 

Bacon-wrapped Stuffed Dates with an Orange Marmalade Miso/Soy Sauce

Ingredients

1 bag of whole pitted dates

1/4 package of feta or goat cheese

1 bag of whole almonds

Petit Jean Meats bacon slices, quartered

toothpicks

 

Sauce

1 jar of orange marmalade

1 tbsp. miso

3 tbsp. water

1/4 cup soy sauce

Preheat oven to 500º F.

Split dates down the center lengthwise. Place one almond inside each date, add a pinch of feta or goat cheese, wrap in 1/4 slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick. Repeat until all dates are filled and wrapped.

Place on baking sheet. Bake until bacon is cooked (about 10-15 minutes). (In the case of the Foodie Friday Challenge we did not have access to the oven so we pan seared the bacon until it was cooked.)

Sauce

Blend miso into three tablespoons of hot water and dissolve. In a sauce pan, add 1 jar of orange marmalade, dissolved miso and water, 1/4 cup soy sauce. Stir and simmer for simmer 20 minutes. (or microwave for 30 seconds, as Ceri prepared it in our case).

Thank you, Debbie Arnold, Julie Kohl, Amanda Brown and Gina Knuppenburg for coordinating a very informative Foodie Friday and an incredibly fun Foodie Friday Challenge.  And thank you, esteemed judges: Mimi SanPedro, Joel DiPippa, Daniel Walker, Kevin Shalin, Alice Stewart and Justin Burks.

Talya, Ceri, Lenora and Samantha, you women created a fabulous appetizer!

The thank you list is not complete without extending our heartfelt gratitude to our wonderful AWBU Foodie Friday Sponsor, Arkansas Farm Bureau. What a delicious and enriching event.

Enjoy!

Kelly Jo at Delta Moxie

In 2007, Kellee Mayfield and her family moved to Lake Village. Kellee was quickly given the nicknamed “Kelly Jo” and the name stuck.

As an Oklahoma native, Kelly Jo writes about living in very southeast Arkansas and the Mississippi Delta which has been penned the most Southern place on earth. She also shares her art as well as the art of resourcefulness as being the key to really small town living. Kellee is a mother, wife and contract clinical specialist for a medical device company. And she has a southern drawl. Catch up with Kelly Jo at Delta Moxie.