devils on horseback

Did you know there was such a sport as mutton busting? I certainly did not, prior to my first trip to Houston Rodeo. Ben and I went with a big group of our friends to see some country artist that neither of us had ever heard of (Jason Aldean) but just the ticket through the gate was well worth the trip. Immediately I could smell all sorts of things being fried—cheesecakes, snickers, oreos, cookie dough—and although my iPhone camera failed to capture the glory of any of these, I did snag a bite of Melanie’s fried cookie dough on a stick so I feel I got a full enough experience of the south’s obsession with frying things.

Undeniably, the highlight of my evening at the rodeo was watching the mutton busting and cheering on the contestants alongside all my fellow Texans with their rhinestone button downs and snazzy boots, all belt buckled up in their tight jeans. Let me please clarify that the contestants in this "sport" are 5 year olds and a mutton is a fluffy sheep. The children latch on to this wild beast of an animal with all their adrenalined might and try not to fall off as the mutton busts out of the gate, speeding across the dirt arena trying to shake off its cute little country-fied miniature parasite. Sometimes the mutton did not care so much that it had a rider though, and would just kind of look around like it was hungry and would rather be chewing on some grass somewhere in the real outdoors. I had to wonder how these kids practice for this terrifying ride; I mean, my dog is large enough that I could strap a kid to it and see how long it could hold on, but not everyone has such a valuable coach as Quimby in their home.

I made a little snack when I got home from school the day after the rodeo traditionally called Devils on Horseback. In considering the components of this appetizer, however, I am not sure why it acquired that name in the first place so I decided to rename it “Cowboys on Mutton-back.” Enjoy!

Cowboys on Mutton-back

(Devils on Horseback)

Dried Medjool dates

Quality blue cheese

Bacon

Preheat oven to 375. Use a paring knife to remove the seed from the inside of ach date. Stuff each date with as much blue cheese as possible, without any spilling out and squeeze the date shut (kind of pinch together the slit/hole you made you take the seed out/stuff in the blue cheese). Wrap each stuffed date in bacon (I used 1 piece of bacon per 2-3 dates). Place wrapped stuffed dates on a cookie sheet, seam side down. Bake for 20 minutes, then flip each date over and bake another 5-10 minutes (just until bacon is cooked through). Allow to cool before serving. Note: you can make as many or few of these as you want; if using as an appetizer, assume each guest will eat two or three.