From Pulled Pork Plans to Back Bacon Bliss: A Culinary Adventure in Unexpected Dinners

There are days when maintaining this blog, a true labor of love, feels less like a passion project and more like an endless stream of homework. And then there are days when life decides to throw you a curveball – or, in my case, when my adorable, albeit mischievous, six-month-old puppy decides to literally eat my homework (or rather, my dinner plans). What resulted was an unexpectedly delightful meal: back bacon served on a peach biscuit. It might sound like an unlikely pairing, a culinary oddity even, but let me assure you, this humble, hastily assembled dish proved to be a surprisingly tasty handful. It’s a testament to the unpredictable nature of home cooking and the resilience required when things don’t go quite as planned.

The Genesis of the Peach Biscuit: A Day Gone Awry

This culinary tale begins with an innocent batch of biscuits. Yesterday, I had made wonderful plans. A swim and playdate with my sister and my friend, K, promised a refreshing break from the usual routine. Before heading out, I whipped up a batch of homemade biscuits, infusing them with the warm sweetness of brown sugar and the juicy tartness of fresh peaches, intending them for our lunch. They cooled on the kitchen counter, their inviting aroma filling the house, a promise of a delightful midday treat.

However, as often happens in the whirlwind of a busy life, work had other ideas. What I anticipated would be a quick 1.5-hour wrap-up session stretched into an epic six-hour marathon. Despite my earnest (and recurring) Christmas wish for improved time management skills, Santa, it seems, has yet to deliver that particular gift. By the time I finally escaped the office, my carefully laid plans, and more importantly, my fresh peach biscuits, were well past their prime for a casual lunch. Biscuits, by their very nature, are best enjoyed fresh. They don’t have a long shelf life, and even the freezer offers only a temporary reprieve, never quite restoring their initial tender flakiness.

Reluctant to waste food – a cardinal sin in my kitchen – I tucked them into the freezer, vowing they’d only stay for a day or two. My mind immediately began churning, searching for a creative reincarnation beyond the obvious rewarming with butter or transforming them into peach shortcakes. After all, I had just perfected my Plum Browned Butter Bliss, so another shortcake felt a bit redundant.

The Magic of the Toaster Oven and Baking at Work

Speaking of “Bliss” – I had actually just finished baking a Peach Browned Butter Bliss to bring to the studio that very afternoon. As you might imagine, it was incredibly well-received. If you ever want to make a truly unforgettable impact at your workplace, I highly recommend this strategy: bake it at work. The intoxicating aroma of warm peaches tossed with a hint of cinnamon will waft through the entire newsroom, creating the absolute best kind of distraction. And here’s a little secret for you: a full-sized, deep-dish pie plate surprisingly fit perfectly into the toaster oven! My colleague, D, practically floated over from her desk, staring mesmerized as the Bliss bubbled and browned on a filing cabinet. She mused aloud, “Why do I even own an oven?” It’s a valid question, isn’t it? If you can bake a delicious pie in a toaster oven, why bother heating up a much larger, energy-consuming conventional oven? This little hack became a foundational principle for my ongoing culinary adaptability.

From Frozen Biscuits to a Pulled Pork Dream

So, with these frozen peach biscuits now a pantry fixture, the challenge was clear: how to incorporate them into a dinner? My thoughts immediately turned to pulled pork. It was a perfect fit! Peaches, with their sweet and slightly tangy profile, pair beautifully with the savory richness of pork. And biscuits? They’re practically made for soaking up the luscious juices of pulled pork. The idea made even more sense considering I was on traffic duty for the “Homestretch” segment that day, which meant I’d be at work until 6 PM. Pulled pork, cooked low and slow in a crock pot, was the ultimate hands-off solution for a busy evening.

I delved into the frosty depths of my freezer, excavating various forgotten bits of pork shoulder and pork tenderloin. A quick thaw in a bowl of hot water, then a crucial step: browning the pork in a skillet. This initial searing creates a deep, rich flavor that even a slow cooker can’t quite achieve on its own. After setting the pork aside, I sautéed a sliced onion in the same skillet, letting it soften and caramelize slightly. Then came the unconventional, yet remarkably effective, deglazing agent: half a can of root beer. (If you ever find yourself with a flat half-can of root beer or even Coke, this is an excellent way to put it to good use. While not strictly “healthy,” it’s certainly more purposeful than pouring it down the drain, and let’s be honest, you were likely going to drink the sugary stuff anyway, weren’t you?) Apple juice works too, though it offers similar sugar content despite the added vitamin C. The root beer lifted all those delicious, browned bits from the bottom of the pan, infusing them back into the sauce.

With everything prepped, I dumped the browned pork, softened onions, and deglazing liquid into the slow cooker, setting it to cook all afternoon. The anticipation of coming home to the tender aroma of slow-cooked pulled pork was a comforting thought as I headed back out the door.

The Canine Catastrophe: When Dinner Disappears

Finally home, I began the ritual of shredding the pork with two forks, its tender fibers yielding effortlessly. The next step was simple: pop the frozen peach biscuits into the toaster oven to warm while I planned to incorporate some smoky barbecue sauce into the pork – transforming it into what I affectionately call “shredded pig candy.” My part of dinner prep complete, I headed upstairs with my son, W, to read and reenact scenes from his favorite book, Mortimer, Be Quiet! We were halfway through a particularly dramatic page when a familiar and distinctly loud crash echoed from downstairs.

Ah, the joys and challenges of living with a six-month-old puppy. This particular furry family member, already capable of standing on his hind legs and nearly resting his paws on my shoulders (and I’m a good six feet tall when I stand up straight, which isn’t often!), is a force of nature. Besides the astronomical cost of feeding him and his seemingly perpetual state of hunger, he possesses an uncanny ability to access bowls and skillets precariously close to the edge of the counter. This wasn’t his first foray into counter-surfing thievery; in the past week alone, he’d managed to “down” two half-pound sticks of butter. And I strongly suspect the butter currently in our dish has a tell-tale licked crevasse, not the neat spread marks of a knife. The crash could only mean one thing.

You can probably imagine how this story concludes. A torrent of exasperated expletives (uttered under my breath, of course) later, the pulled pork dream lay shattered, or rather, thoroughly devoured by our canine friend. My carefully planned dinner was gone, and hunger was setting in. With a sigh, I unceremoniously pulled out a small package of back bacon from the refrigerator.

The Accidental Delight: Back Bacon on Peach Biscuits

Within minutes, the back bacon was frizzling in a skillet, its lean strips cooking quickly. We then stacked it onto the plain, warmed peach biscuits – a delightful twist on their original purpose. Dinner that night was served simply, wrapped in paper towels, on the back porch, as the last vestiges of daylight faded. W, ever the curious toddler, busied himself thumbing peas from their pods, intermittently tossing them into (or sometimes at) our mouths.

Back bacon is an ingredient I don’t frequently keep on hand, but I had recently purchased it because it’s significantly leaner than traditional streaky bacon. This became particularly evident when I saw the minimal ‘puddle’ on my paper towel in the photo above – it was mostly juice, not grease. To put it in perspective: 100 grams of back bacon contains roughly 100 calories, making it a slightly lighter option than even ham. (As a quick reference, during my time working at a sandwich shop – no, not a “sandwich artist” role, but one where I actually crafted substantial sandwiches – each portion typically contained about 60 grams of meat.) This lean profile made it a guilt-free, quick, and satisfying choice after the day’s events.

Embracing the Unexpected: A Lesson in Culinary Flexibility

In the end, what began as a well-intentioned culinary plan, derailed by both work commitments and a very hungry puppy, transformed into an unexpectedly delightful, simple supper. It might not have been the gourmet pulled pork feast I envisioned, but the back bacon on peach biscuits hit all the right notes: savory, sweet, and comforting. It reinforced a valuable lesson: sometimes, the best meals are the ones you never planned, born out of necessity and a touch of improvisation. And as the old saying goes, if it’s good enough for the midway, it’s certainly good enough for my family. Life, and cooking, often throws us curveballs, but with a little creativity and a willingness to adapt, even the most chaotic days can end with a surprisingly satisfying meal.