REAL italian wedding soup (am i right?)

picture may follow - but in the meantime, i am merely providing a link to an AUTHENTIC (i.e. tasty) italian wedding soup recipe to the a few million unsuspecting "allrecipes.com" readers who thought they'd found the real deal here (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mamas-Italian-Wedding-Soup/Detail.aspx)

poor souls.

Italian wedding soup

2 T extra-virgin olive oil

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

2 bay leaves, fresh or dried

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 pound ground beef, pork and veal combined

1 egg, beaten

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Pecorino Romano

1/2 cup plain bread crumbs

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg

6 cups chicken stock

2 cups water

1 1/2 cups dried pasta, rings, broken fettuccini or ditalini

1 pound triple washed fresh spinach or escerole, coarsely chopped

1 egg, well beaten

1/4 cup grated cheese

Directions

In a deep pot over medium heat add oil, chopped carrots, celery and onions

and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Cover pot and cook 5 or 6

minutes, stirring occasionally.

Combine meat, egg, garlic, grated cheese, bread crumbs, salt, pepper,

nutmeg.

Uncover pot and add broth and water. Increase heat to high and bring soup

to a boil. When soup boils, reduce heat a bit and start to roll meat mixture

into small balls, dropping them straight into the pot.. When you are done

rolling the meat, add pasta to the soup and stir. Cover and simmer soup 10

minutes. When pasta is tender, stir in chopped spinach/escerole in batches. Once

spinach has wilted into the soup, whisk in beaten egg with parmesan

cheese, stirring quickly to “whisp” the mixture into the soup. Adjust your

seasonings and serve.

oh the fun we can have....

i was lured into buying a jar (ok, three) of this jam when it was featured on fab.com, one of my favorite websites for daily sales featuring little-known designers and tons of things that are just plain fun (that site alone made stuffing 8 kids' stockings last year a pleasure). sign up now and get started. the stuff doesn't last long.

okay, enough of the shameless promotion of consumerism via fab.com....what this post is really about is even more shameful....BACON IN A JAR. from skillet street food, one of the first food trucks (an airstream trailer, actually) that was started in seattle back in 2007, by cia graduate, josh henderson.

here's how skillet street food describes their product:
"What is bacon jam? Well, we take a big bunch of really, really good bacon and render it down...add a bunch of spices, onions, etc. and let it simmer for about 6 hours, give it a quick puree, blast chill it...take a left turn, and end up in pure bacon heaven.

anyway, this spread is certainly one of henderson's crowning achievements.

it comes in handy when you're craving the addition of real bacon to a dish but don't have the time to fry some up.

i've used it on peanut butter sandwiches, in scrambled eggs, bean soups, salad dressings and of course, on grilled cheese. and the flavor is so intense, it takes only a dollop to get you where you want to go.

get a jar. or three.
and if you can bear to give away just one - do.
you'll be making a friend for life.