Donna’s Bacon Cheddar Toasts

When you marry into a Portuguese family you learn a thing or two about family. You learn you have to visit. Spontaneously. You don’t wait for a specific invitation on a specific day, at a specific time. You visit without notice. You visit often. Sundays are preferred.

If you don’t visit often you are reminded of that immediately. Portuguese family are masters of guilt. But they’re right. It’s true. You don’t visit enough and when you visit you never stay long enough. Sometimes you visit and you don’t bring the kids. Bad.

One missing Sunday turns into two and the next thing you know it’s been months and months or maybe even more. You have failed, yet again. You’ve been afraid of the reprisals, the condemnation, so you’ve stay away even longer.

When you arrive after a long spell of not visiting, you invent creative stories. You tell your relatives you’ve been studying, traveling and renovating. You say you’ve had Ebola and swine flu or maybe Mad Cow. You mention volunteer work in war-torn countries and a sojourn in the Himalayas as a monk. But none of this matters. It has been too long between visits.

But no matter your pathetic excuses, you’re welcomed with open arms and kisses and food. GLORIOUS FOOD! If you come during a meal you are offered the meal. If you come in between meals you are offered a meal (essentially).

Of course, you feel guilty about not having visited in a long time and not bringing the kids (even though they no longer live with you) so you vow to eat everything that is put out and ask for more. Consumption of food heals all wounds.

The only saving grace is that this is easy to do, at least on this visit, because Donna is an amazing cook. She is renouned for her roast beef, chourico & potatoes, pavlova cake and hot-cross buns. She is a walking and talking cookbook, every measurement and ingredient and cooking method on the tip of her tongue. You savour everything she offers and you learn her recipes.  When the Bacon Cheddar Toasts appear you know you have an entry for your next post. Now you are both happy and grateful and very, very full.

Recipe

Donna’s Bacon Cheddar Toasts

This is the easiest and tastiest dish in the universe.  The only rule is to not be sloppy. Construct your toasts exactly how they look in the picture. Don’t toss around the cheese and onion like confetti so that it’s all over the pan and your kitchen floor. Take your time. Don’t try to jam too many onto the pan or your “toasts’ will not be toasty, they will be soggy.

• Sliced white bread
• Mayonnaise
• Finely chopped bacon
• Finely chopped onion
• Grated Cheddar Cheese
• Black Pepper

Method

Remove crusts from bread (Feed crusts to birds or turn into croutons for your husband-see Secret Caesar salad recipe for explanation)

Spread mayonnaise on crustless bread

Cut bread into 4 squares

sprinkle grated cheddar cheese (grate your own if you’re not too lazy)

sprinkle with finely chopped onion (hand-chopped or else it will be watery and gross)

sprinkle with finely chopped bacon (make pieces small so that it crisps a bit)

Sprinkle with black pepper

Put on baking sheet so that the toasts are NOT touching. Bake at 350 until the toast is crispy, the cheese melted and the bacon cooked. Donna says they freeze well.