Eat to live. Live to Eat.

So I’m at a friend’s place, and it’s cocktail hour. No problem with the libations; there are plenty of those. But what’s a cocktail hour without hors d’oeuvres? We could have resorted to cheese and crackers, I suppose, but that’s giving up without a fight.

With a little snooping, I found unsalted Saltines (wouldn’t you love to be in charge of that marketing campaign?), a half-pound of bacon, a jar of bruschetta topping and a good size chunk of doggie-bagged grilled chicken breast from a restaurant meal the evening before.

I dumped a dozen or so Saltines into a Baggie and crushed them, using a water glass as a rolling pin. Then I fine-chopped the chicken and sliced the bacon strips in half. I mixed the chicken and cracker crumbs and a couple of scoops of the bruschetta topping in a bowl. To that I added a beaten egg, a spoonful each of Dijon and mayonnaise, a dash each of Tabasco and Worcestershire and a little salt and pepper. Then I mixed it all into a paste. I placed a teaspoonful of the mix on each bacon half. As I went I rolled each bacon strip with its stuffing up into a ball and secured it with a toothpick. Finally, I broiled the little beauties for about ten minutes, turning once at the halfway point.

Try that with a nice Scotch, and you might just skip dinner.