Jalapeño Poppers

This is just one of the many tasty recipes made by a member of my family while I was traveling in Austin and Nebraska City (my mom gets credit for this one). These were incredibly flavorful and delicious, and even though we made a ton of them they all got eaten. They were a little spicy, but the cream cheese really helped mellow them out...and if you don't like spice you can soak the peppers in water to reduce their spiciness. I plan to post even more recipes from my amazing, beautiful shower that my wonderful aunts threw for me, so stay tuned.

Ingredients
~20 medium sized jalapeño peppers
-1 package of cream cheese (get the full fat kind and allow to sit at room temp to soften)
-1 package good quality bacon
-toothpicks (soak these guys in water for about 30 minutes so they don't fry in the oven)

Steps
(Preheat oven to 350)
1. Cut peppers in half and scoop out the seeds. Toss peppers in a bowl of water for about 30 minutes (more if you don't want them to be very spicy).

 Note: You might want to wear gloves while doing this so you don't accidentally rub your eyes later and find that your fingers still have jalapeño juice on them.

2. Dry peppers off and scoop about a tablespoon of cream cheese into each pepper half.

 3. Cut bacon slices in half with a sharp knife or scissors.

4. Wrap a half slice of bacon around pepper and secure with a toothpick.

5. Cook for about 45 minutes or until bacon is crispy.