Excellent flavor---made exactly as written, including optional ingredients---and it was absolutely delicious. My asparagus was very thin and only took about 9 minutes to get done. I do think I'd only use 1/2 the olive oil next time simply because there was so much left in my bowl after I took the asparagus out. Hate to waste the good stuff!

I wouldn't call these anything special but they are quite good. My family loves them. My husband doesn't ordinarily eat sausage of any kind but he loves these! Definitely line the pan with foil because they are messy! I do not keep them in a crock pot because we don't like soggy bacon--but they don't last long enough to warrant holding in the crock pot anyway. I have also done these in a frying pan and they turn out very well. I cut the bacon in half and wrap them WITHOUT toothpicks. Then sprinkle the brown sugar on and let them sit a few minutes until the sugar dissolves. Just pan fry using tongs to turn; less time consuming and easier to get the bacon evenly browned.

For the life of me, I don't know how this dish got such high reviews. I made this EXACTLY as written and it was boring and bland. It wasn't terrible...it was just didn't have much flavor. With so many other recipes out there, I won't bother making this one again.

For me, this was just ok. I agree with the other reviewer who said it was a bit too dense. My husband and I both felt it needed to be creamier. I'm really glad I tested this first before serving it to guests. I have used much better recipes for Hot Spinach Dip. With modifications this one would be much better.