<img class="size-medium wp-image-63 alignnone" title="cheese" src="http://www.malvina.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/cheese-500x332.jpg" alt="cheese" width="500" height="332" />

...and lots of dairy fat. 

We have a New Year's Day tradition in our household. We invite a bunch of people over to eat black-eyed peas, collard greens, cornbread, mac &amp; cheese, and other Southern stuff. That's four pounds of shredded sharp cheddar up there. Thank god for my Cuisinart. 

Every few years we also throw in a dessert contest. This year we offered bonus points for bacon desserts. We have friends who are talented bakers and we just wanted to put that challenge out there for them. 

First is Brooke's chocolate-bacon cheesecake with chocolate ganache. Brooke used to bake professionally and it shows. Beautiful. There was applewood-smoked bacon both *in* the cheesecake and on top. She used a pound of bacon! This entry won the Non-Pie division.

<img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-64" title="chocolate" src="http://www.malvina.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/chocolate-500x332.jpg" alt="chocolate" width="500" height="332" />

This lemon meringue pie was Julie's entry. BEAUTIFUL. I know she slaved to get that meringue just perfect.

<img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-65" title="meringue" src="http://www.malvina.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/meringue-500x332.jpg" alt="meringue" width="500" height="332" />

Sitting between the meringue pie and the choco-bacon cake there is a sort of sad-looking key lime pie made by our friend Dan, who only recently took up an interest in cooking. And you know what? HE WON THE PIE DIVISION. It wasn't very pretty, but it tasted absolutely fanastic.

Also pictured is a maple-bacon cupcake with a vanilla frosting pig on it. Christina (who has been to every one of our NYD parties) got second in the non-pie division for these.

<img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-66" title="pig" src="http://www.malvina.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/pig-500x332.jpg" alt="pig" width="500" height="332" />

These four entries all won <a href="http://www.insidevoice.net/archives/2009/01/holding_pots.html">potholders</a>. There was also a fifth entry, a pecan-whiskey cake, which wins points for being Southern and containing booze. However, the cake showed up too late for the judging. We had a consolation prize reserved for just such an entry: we had found an unused but slightly damp sudoku book in a box of books at a remote trailhead in Humboldt County over the weekend and rescued it from certain death by rain. Put a ribbon on it and voila! It's a prize.

Happy (slightly belated) new year. If you want to come to next year's party, drop me a line!