Bacon For Desert… Really

Brianne Fitzgerald (foreground), Executive Director at Mahaska County United Way is seen checking out the different entries in the cooking contest at Paslode

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The thought of bacon and desert don’t seem to go well together, and before tasting some of the creations, I wouldn’t have believed it myself.

As part of Paslode and its’ employees commitment to the United Way of Mahaska County, they held a contest to see who could make the best dishes using bacon. The staff, volunteers, and board members from United Way helped to judge the contest where 3 prizes were up for grabs. They have many other items to give away during the week for other events.

All during the week, employees enjoy different things every day to have fun and to help raise funds. One of the favorite things they have for the employees is a bean bag toss where at the end, someone could win a tool set.

But the sights and smells of the cook-off was enough to convince me that bacon needs to be in almost everything, and honestly, that wasn’t too hard to do in the first place. Judging those dishes wasn’t an easy task. The sampling and tasting went on for some time, and the choices were finally made.

Items in the top 3 of the Main Dish category were 3rd place – Bacon Wrapped Chicken w/ Jalapeño, 2nd place was Mac and Cheese Soup, and the winner in the Main Dish Category was Bonnie Smith with Crock Pot Pizza.

Moving along to the Side/Appetizer category, 3rd place was Bacon Deviled Eggs. 2nd place was Pineapple w/ Bacon and winning in the Side/Appetizer Category was Kris DeJong with Pastry Cup w/Dip.

And now for my weakness, desert. 3rd place was Maple Cupcakes w/ Bacon and Raspberry, 2nd place was Turtle Bacon Bars, and taking home the prize for best desert was Dennis Ray and his Peanut Butter Bacon Bars.

Thanks to Paslode and their employees for their continued support of United Way of Mahaska County. Paslode is celebrating their 25th year in the Oskaloosa community.