Goat Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms Wrapped in Bacon

I am now officially uncool.

There was a time, back in the day, when I was all hip with the lingo. I knew what was up. I knew what was cookin’.

In the 90’s, even though I was fairly young, I hung out with my homies, we got jiggy when the Backstreet Boys came on the radio and we’d never diss each other. We’d wear our hair in pigtail braids ala Brittany Spears, circa 1998, and debated about why our favourite Spice Girl was the best.

In the 00’s – as a full-fledged teen – my homies turned into peeps, we rolled our eyes at our ‘rents and everything was sweeeet. We greeted each other with sup? and a high-five, and actually said word to your mother in conversation.

Now that it’s 2015 and I’ve been out of high school for almost 10 years (!!) and I am utterly clueless. I only recently found out what bae means, and while I have started calling Matt my bae, it’s only in an ironic way.

I never thought it would happen, but I hear kids say things and actually have to Google it to see what it means.

My latest slang to learn about: on fleek. No, I didn’t make a typographical error. I first came across the saying somewhere on the internet and my immediate reaction was immense confusion. It was in reference to someone’s eyebrows. Their eyebrows were on fleek. I looked it up and apparently it’s another way to say awesome. Or perfect. Her eyebrows are on fleek. Her eyebrows are perfect. Her eyebrow game is strong.

I have no idea. I still don’t really know what it means. All I know is that if I ever tried to use it myself I could NOT get away with it. I just couldn’t pull it off. Saying it out loud sounds like I’m speaking another language.

Same with yaaaaaaas, which basically means yes but more intensely. Like yes on steroids. Do I love bacon? Yaaaaaaaas! (see? I just can’t pull it off.)

The older I get, the more baffled I am by youths. I’m a regular Liz Lemon. “Oh god… Youths!”

But you know what? I’m enjoying it. My friends and I get together and drink wine and laugh about what “the kids these days” are saying. I don’t need to use on fleek in a sentence. I’d rather say neato or awesome. I’ll be less cool for it, but I’m okay with that.

The older I get, the less important these things are. I go out less, I stay in more. I won’t go to a bar and dance and eat overpriced food, but I will stay in and have friends over for a game night and potluck snacks. The latter is definitely more appealing.

If getting older means staying at home and having dinner parties, then bring it on!

I could say that these stuffed mushrooms wrapped in bacon are on fleek. But I won’t. Instead, I’ll that they’re awesome and rad and freaking delicious.

Roasted mushroom caps stuffed with a creamy goat cheese with parsley, red chili flakes and a bit of Panko crumbs for crunch, then wrapped in bacon for a crispy, salty exterior. Biting into these is like a texture explosion, but in the best possible way.

Even Matt (aka the Bae) loved these. To quote him: “I don’t even like mushrooms and those are freakin’ tasty.” (Now that’s a compliment!)

The mushroom flavour in these bite-sized snacks is not too strong – it’s overpowered by the bacon and goat cheese – so even the mushroom haters can dig ’em. The mushrooms essentially serve as a little cup to hold all the delicious cheese.

Plus, they’re just so pretty!

They’re really easy to prepare and can be made in advance. Simply mix the herbs and spices with the goat cheese and then fill the mushroom caps. Wrap 1/2 a slice of bacon around each mushroom, and store in the fridge for a few hours until ready to use. Once your guests arrive, pop them in the oven for about 20 minutes and they’re ready to be devoured!

If you like, hold the bacon in place with some toothpicks as they bake. I didn’t need the toothpicks since I wrapped the bacon pretty tightly, but just do what’s easiest for you.

To those of you like me, who’d rather stay home in stretchy pants with some wine and delicious homemade snacks, these appies are for you.

Cheers!