Bacon-Tomato Bagel Melts

I need to go to the doctor. I think I have been infected with cooking-more-itis, reputed to be highly contagious, and exhibits a wide range of sypmtoms: Baking more than usual; feeling the need to create new recipes; and, most seriously, a compulsion to post. Sounds serious... :-)

A month after my sweetheart and I were married, mid summer, I checked our mail box. Laying innocently inside was a magazine I did not order, addressed to the previous inhabitant of our humble (and ridiculously small) abode. Quick Cooking. The title intrigued me and so, please don't judge my thievery since I didn't have a forwarding address, I took it home with me. And thus began my obsession with cookbooks and cooking magazines. If my husband had suspected what effects this small magazine would have had on our marriage, he would have considered pitching it immediately. Until he remembered that it would mean delicious food coming out of the kitchen and landing on his plate...

This recipe was in that first magazine and was one of the first I made. Besides being quick recipes, they are simple ones that normal people make, and don't call for incredibly expensive ingredients. I bought several more magazines that I often use, but regretfully, they are no longer printing Quick Cooking, although I have searched online. It was through Taste of Home, and they must have discontinued it. So I will post the recipes that we often make, so everyone can enjoy them.

2 bagels, split and toasted
8 tomato slices
8 bacon strips, cooked
1 cup shredded mozzerella cheese
cream cheese

*I cut the bacon in half and then cook it. That way I only need 4 pieces of bacon!

Spread the toasted bagels with cream cheese to preference. Layer on the tomato slices, then the bacon, and sprinkle the mozzerella on top.

Broil 5 inches (top rack) from the heat for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese begins to brown. Makes 4 sandwiches.

We dip this in ranch dressing... the kids love it. It is easier for them to eat these if you cut the bagel in half after it is cooked. I cut all the sandwiches, because it is easier to dip them that way and I don't feel guilty for taking 2!

Very quick and easy, if you use the microwave to cook the bacon to crispy.