What's for Dinner? - Salty, Sweet, Sexy Scallops

This particular dish has been a home run every single time I have ever prepared it, be it in St. Louis, St. Thomas, or here in Kansas City. There is something so deliciously naughty about teasing one's tongue between salty and sweet. The taste buds for both of these are located on the very tip and front sides of the tongue, perfect for a candy-like, slightly sticky, but just a little salty after-dinner kiss...Yes that's right, for this dinner your inner kitchen goddess needs to come out and play. Perfect for a date night, or maybe when you plan on reading a few more chapters of "Fifty Shades of Gray....."  *giggle*

~Ingredients~

3/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup lite soy sauce

1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

10-12 large sea scallops, cut in half

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

*10-12 slices of bacon, cut in half

*toothpicks

~Directions~

1.  Whisk together maple syrup, soy sauce, and Dijon until smooth.

2.  Add the scallops and toss until they are coated.

3.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and marinate for at least an hour.

4.  Preheat oven to 375.

5.  If you are wrapping your scallops in bacon, this is when you would prepare it either in the oven or in a skillet. However you prepare it, the bacon should still be very soft and pliable so that it is easily wrapped around a scallop.

6.  When the bacon is finished cooking, wrap each piece around each scallop and secure it with a toothpick.

7.  Line baking sheet with aluminum foil and transfer scallops after each process.

8.  Sprinkle each scallop (whether wrapped in bacon or not) with the brown sugar.

9.  Bake in oven 10-15 minutes, until scallops are pink and opaque. Turn them once halfway through.0.

10.  Serve as is and enjoy your sticky-sweet-salty-sexy dinner!