#baconcandles

Men are hard to shop for, but I've found that function and/or edibility are key. Here's a fun two-for-one crafty project that makes for excellent man-gifts: bacon-fat mason jar candles and chocolate-covered bacon. For both, you'll need: 2 pkgs. bacon of your choice (I like maple, and thick-cut is best)

6 4-oz. mason jars (if you don't need a lidded candle, reserve the lids for three pairs of steampunk goggles)

6 waxed and pre-tabbed candle wicks

1 lb. soy wax chips/shavings

candle dye of your choice (optional)

1 c. semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

spicy Cajun seasoning (optional)

FOR THE CANDLES

1. Fry your bacon.

I like to sprinkle a little cinnamon on my bacon, but that's a personal preference. The thick-cut bacon is perfect for optimum fat rendering. Plus, it holds up better to the chocolate we'll be dipping it in later.

2. While the bacon cooks, prepare your candle vessels.

Use a little dot of hot glue to secure your tabbed, waxed wicks in the center of your mason jars. Set these aside.

3. Transfer your bacon strips to a paper towel to drain, and pour the rendered fat into a can or heat-proof bowl through a mesh strainer to remove the little bacon bits left behind.

4. Melt your wax.

I used a fondue pot to melt my wax, but any double-boiler would work. You could also hold a heat-proof bowl over a pot of boiling water (careful, please!) if you don't have a double-boiler.

As the wax melts, slowly add in more wax chips a few tablespoons at a time, stirring along the way.

5. Add your bacon grease. The proportion of bacon grease to soy wax is completely up to you. More grease will make a softer, gooier candle, and more wax will dilute the bacon-y smell. I went with about 40% bacon grease to 60% soy wax.

6. Add candle dye. I used a mixture of green and orange dye to get a brown-ish maple color. However, I forgot that wax dries MUCH lighter than it looks when melted, so add more dye when in doubt.

7. Pour your candles.

Pour the candle wax/grease mixture into your mason jars carefully, leaving about a centimeter clearance from the top.

8. Allow candles to set up.

I was in a bit of a hurry, so I threw mine in the fridge to set up quicker. Within about 30 minutes, they were able to be handled. As I mentioned before, the color dries MUCH lighter, so I ended up with a peachy tone rather than brown. Eh, still works! Kind of looks like the fatty parts on bacon, anyway.

FOR THE CHOCOLATE-COVERED BACON

1. Let your bacon strips cool.

By now, the bacon you cooked for the bacon candles should be completely cooled and drained. Try not to snack on too many of them, because now we're going to COVER THEM IN CHOCOLATE.

2. Melt your chocolate chips. Put about a cup of chocolate chips in a microwaveable bowl, and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds on 50% power. Stir them up, and repeat in 10- to 15-second intervals (at half power) until the chocolate is completely melted, silky and smooth.

3. Dip your bacon.

I like to leave about an inch of uncovered bacon at the end to act as a handle, as well as to inform the consumer of what they're about to eat. It's more attractive looking than a nondescript blob of chocolate, I've found. Lay freshly-dipped bacon strips on a wax-paper-lined tray.

I am a huge fan of sweet and spicy, so I sprinkled some Cajun seasoning on about half of this batch.

It adds a wonderful slight kick, mingling oh so beautifully with the sweet and salty goodness you've already got goin' on in your mouth. So. Good.

4. Let your chocolate-covered bacon set up in the fridge. It shouldn't take long for the chocolate to harden enough to be handled, but a solid hour is probably best. Throw them in a wax-paper-lined decorative tin, and you've got a super tasty, novelty, unexpected housewarming, birthday, holiday, anytime gift for the carnivores of your life.