When a Jeopardy champ gives you advice, take it.

A few weeks ago, my Facebook status read something like this:

is thinking of building an outdoor kitchen solely for the purpose of frying bacon.

One of my replies suggested cooking it on a George Forman Grill. I thought this was a FANTASTIC idea, and I could even stick our panini grill on the back porch so NO bacon-y smell would enter the house. What a great idea!

So did I listen? No. And that was not the only mistake I made earlier this week.

Mistakes:

1. Taking two kids grocery shopping with me

2. Grocery shopping at Super Target where I RARELY grocery shop

3. Taking two kids grocery shopping with me

I realize these are mistakes as it's happening, but it doesn't really hit me until I'm making Arroz con Pollo for dinner, and step one is "Fry 4 strips of bacon in a dutch oven." Forgetting Aunt B.'s Jeopardy champ words of wisdom, I start heating up my big old pot on the stove. As soon as the first strip of bacon hits the pain, I realize mistake #4.

When making a mexican dish, do NOT use maple smoked bacon.

Too late to turn back now, and too late to take both kids back to the grocery store, I carry on, and about 45 minutes later, when the sweet savory smell of maple hits the cumin, oregano, cilantro and cayenne pepper, my house smells like a mexican house of pancakes. And the beautiful thing about bacon is the smell permeates EVERYthing in your home. So even after a good vinegar wash down, I still smell IHOP meets Taco Bell whenever I walk in the door.

Sorry, Aunt B. From now on, I will NEVER ignore your advice!