Life, Baker Style: Bacon Pasta aka Pasta Carbonara aka Happiness in a bowl

Highlights of last week:
1. KU winning in the Final Four
2. Seeing the Hunger Games (obsessed)
3. Shopping in Knoxville
4. Fun birthday party with Kiewit friends
5. Mimosas with coworkers

Low lights:
1. KU losing in the National Championship
2. Being really really tired and grouchy the next day. Dang it, Eastern time zone.

What makes losing the National Championship tolerable and gives you the energy to make it through a rough work morning? Bacon Pasta. Carb madness and bacon goodness combined in cheesy glory.

Let me introduce you to something awesome. Caleb calls it Bacon Pasta. The rest of the world knows it as Pasta Carbonara. I learned how to make this a very long time ago when we were dating and it's one of those recipes I keep in my back pocket. I have it memorized, so it's slightly different every time. Adapted from Paula Deen, goddess of all things comfort food, this was comforting on a sad, sad night.

Bacon Pasta aka Pasta Carbonara (Adapted from a Paula Deen Classic)

- 1/2 lb center cut bacon (or more, too much bacon is really impossible)
- one small onion
- 1/4 cup cream
- 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
- 4 large eggs, yolks separated
- 12 oz pasta such as penne or rigatoni
- splash of white wine (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste

The A Team. Plus our senior prom pic in the background. Aww. Pour yourself a glass of vino and get cooking! (Sorry for the yellow-ness of these pics, I cook at night people!)

Heat up a skillet to medium heat and start some boiling some salted water. Dice up the onion and cut the bacon into small pieces.

Throw your bacon in the hot skillet and get it frying.

Once the bacon is chewy and starting to brown, throw the onions in there. If you want to deglaze the pan, pour a little of your wine in there and scrape those little bits off the bottom. Yum.

Once your bacon and onions look like this and your house smells like heaven, turn the heat off and set aside. If your water is boiling, go ahead and throw the pasta in.

While the pasta is cooking, make your sauce. Separate your eggs and discard the whites. Or save them for something. Like meringue. Or egg white omelets. But I never make meringue or egg white omelets, so I tossed them.

Separating eggs is easy, just crack open the egg and transfer the yolk back and forth between the shell halves until all the white is out.

Add 1/4 cup of cream to the egg yolks. Oh, did I mention this was healthy? Because it's not.

Add a liberal 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese to the egg mixture.

Add some pepper. I usually wait till the end to add salt, because the cheese and bacon can be pretty salty. Whisk it all together.

Once the pasta is ready, you have to work quickly. Drain the pasta and then put it back in the hot pan but NOT over heat. Add in the egg mixture. The heat from the pasta will cook the eggs just enough but heat from the stove top will scramble the eggs. (Not good.)