Homer on Bacon

Following is a great quote from The Simpson's that I was reminded of today:

Homer: So you think you know better than this family, eh? Well as long as you're in my house you'll do what I do and believe what I believe! So butter your bacon!

Bart: Yes father.

Lisa: Mom, dad, my spiritual quest is over!

Homer: Hold that thought... Bacon up that sausage, boy!

Bart: But dad, my heart hurts!

You can listen to it here. Classic stuff.

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Swedes and Bacon

I had no idea about the important role pigs play in Swedish culture until I visited the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis earlier today.

Apparently pigs are a particularly important part of Christmas Eve meals in Sweden. There is a lot of Swedish art that depicts pigs in humorous situations, which is commonly seen on Christmas cards and in stories.

Following are a couple examples of such art.

In the first photo (by Swedish artist Jenny Nystrom), apparently a woman and her daughter are dancing with their pig friends. Looks like a fun party to me!


But the next one is my favorite (which is also by Jenny Nystrom). A child is playfully fighting with a group of pigs over some sausage (which has disturbing cannibalistic implications that I'll disregard for now). Each pig has something written on it. The one on the left says "glad" which means "joy" in Swedish. The second one says "jul" which means "Christmas." But my favorite is the one on the right. Unfortunately it's hard to see in this photo, but that one has "godt slut" on its ass. And no, it's not just a dirty pig (although it is quite humorous, especially since the pig is running away with a sausage in its mouth). What I think that translates to is something roughly along the lines of "happy returns." But I'm not entirely sure and am still trying to figure it out.


Bottomline - I now have a new respect for Swedish culture.

By the way, the Institute is located in a quite beautiful building that includes many interesting displays. I would highly recommend it if you are in the Minneapolis area.

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Gobble Gobble Bacon

This morning I had turkey bacon for breakfast. I'm staying at a friend's house in Minneapolis for the weekend, and my friend is well aware of my love for bacon, so he felt obligated to offer bacon as a breakfast option (despite his anxiety about properly cooking bacon for the queen of bacon). And turkey bacon was all he had. But I gladly accepted the offer, because I never turn down any offer that involves bacon, and I still needed to do a post on this site about turkey bacon anyways.

I remember eating turkey bacon when I was younger, but it has been a while. As with other 'bacon alternatives,' the draw of turkey bacon is that it contains less fat, cholesterol, calories, etc. With all that said, it's not so bad. It's not the real thing - it's not as crispy or juicy - but it still has the flavor of bacon.

I wrapped it in a spinach tortilla with egg, mushrooms and olives. It made for quite a tasty breakfast treat and a good start to my day in the Land o' Lakes.

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Unwrapped Book Review: "Don't Forget the Bacon"

Don't Forget the Bacon!
by Pat Hutchins

When I found this book on Amazon, I immediately bought several copies to give to all of my friends who have recently had a baby or are about to have a baby. But of course, before giving it to any of them, I had to read and review it myself!

At face value, the book is cute, it's short enough that kids will enjoy it without getting bored, and it's full of goofy words and phrases to entertain. But at the end of the book I was left with only one question...how in the hell did the kid forget the bacon??? I can understand forgetting the eggs, cake and pears...but the bacon??? Clearly he is the product of bad parenting. (SPOILER ALERT) At least they made him go back and get the bacon in the end!

All joking aside, it is a cute book and I will give it to my friend's kids anyways. And hopefully they will learn a valuable lesson from it - DON'T FORGET THE BACON, EVER!!!

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My Bacon Buddy arrived!!!

My Bacon Buddy arrived today!


And I bought a few extras...it's going to be a very Merry Christmas for a couple of fellow bacon lovers.

Thanks Crafty Planet! I love it!

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Bacon on Las Vegas

The show "Las Vegas" on NBC is my Monday night guilty pleasure. I'm in love with Josh Duhamel's character, Danny. And Las Vegas is one of my favorite cities in the world.

And tonight's episode was made even better by an exchange about one of my other favorite things - bacon. It was over lunch between Danny and his dead father's faux ex-girlfriend. It went like this:

Girlfriend: Cobb salad, extra bacon. Just like your father.

Danny: Well, it was his favorite

GF: Bacon brought Larry and me together.

Danny: Really, how is that?

GF: Well one afternoon I was at the buffet at Bally's - it's not fancy, but on Thursday afternoons...

Danny: Half price. I know. He's been going since I was a kid - he used to take me all the time.

GF: Really?

Danny: Yeah.

GF: So, one Thursday, I'm in the buffet line. And Larry was in front of me at the salad bar taking all of the bacon bits.

Danny: Oh, he used to do that, it used to drive me nuts.

GF: And you know they make those bacon bits fresh there. It's real bacon - it's not that imitation - which makes it so great. And your father is hoarding all of them for himself. And I don’t know, I just lost it. I started screaming.

Danny: Really?

GF: Yes, I mean it was awful. I'm not proud of it. But I really wanted those bacon bits.

Danny: That's understandable.

GF: I thought so! That's when we met. Bacon.

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Bacon Press This!

I finally broke down and bought a bacon press. It arrived a couple days ago. I can't wait to use it. It can be used for a number of things including cooking bacon to make it flat or making a BLT panini sandwich.

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The Oracle of Bacon

The University of Virginia Computer Science Department has created their own version of the "Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon" game.

It is disturbingly addictive.

http://www.oracleofbacon.org/

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Beanpot Charm

I love bacon. A lot. But spending $275 for a gold charm made to look like a pot of Boston beans with bacon on top might be going too far even by my standards.








Note: It is entirely possible that at some point in the future I might go on a drunken internet shopping spree and buy one of these. You just never know.

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Camping with bacon

I'm not a frequent camper, but I do occasionally enjoy a night out under the stars. And I think one of the best things about camping is waking up in the morning to make breakfast over the campfire.

So I'm not sure how I feel about Mountain House Precooked Eggs with Bacon. This is the description on Amazon:

"Now you can bring the eggs. Mountain House's Precooked Scrambled Eggs with Bacon yields enough for two, half-cup serving. It's the easy way to make breakfast. Just add boiling water to the pouch and watch the sun come up while you eat."

I guess it's not as messy and much easier to carry this pouch in your backpack instead of a carton of eggs, package of bacon, frying pan, etc. So before I judge, I've ordered a sample from Amazon to test it myself. I'll follow up with another post once the results are in!

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Get Your Bacon On!

The "Get Your Bacon On!" Listmania list on Amazon.com (by vorvolaka, Bacon Lover) is a fine collection of books and other bacon related products for all you bacon lovers out there.

The list suggests things like bacon-wrapped filet from Omaha Steaks, a bacon press (for the truly hard core bacon lover), a microwave bacon cooker, books and dog toys, amongst other things.

It's a nice collection of items that all of us should have on our wish lists.

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A Speck-tacular View

I just returned from a trip to Beaver Creek, Colorado for a final weekend of fall colors and warm weather before winter arrives (which it did on Sunday).

On Saturday afternoon, I had lunch on the patio of the Beaver Creek Chophouse at the base of the ski mountain.

Not only was the view awesome (see above), but the "Chophouse Panini" that I ordered was one of the best variations on a BLT that I've ever had.

The sandwich contains Speck Tirolese (a smoked version of Prosciutto), Buffalo mozzarella, vine-ripened tomatoes, arugula, and pesto aioli, served on grilled, fresh-baked Ciabatta bread.

The Beaver Creek Chophouse is best known for its apres ski. But I highly recommended it for the Chophouse Panini, as well!

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Bacon Snack Bars

There aren't many situations in which the use of bacon is inappropriate. But the editor of Empty Bowl describes his experience with Bacon Snack Bars that are made from peanut butter, bacon and Tang. I applaud his sense of adventure, but I'm not sure I'd need to actually taste these to know that they're absolutely disgusting and totally wrong.

Sadly, this is seriously a recipe that is posted on the Kraft website.

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Bacon for babies

Several of my friends have either recently had a baby or are about to have a baby. Which got me thinking...I wonder if there is such a thing as bacon flavored baby food. Everyone loves bacon, so why not start 'em young? However, after some quick research on the web, I was unable to find any such product. I'm sure there is some health reason for this, but it really is unfortunate for the kids! So if you know of such a product, let us know about it!

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Bacon for survival

I just came across an article on PalmBeachPost.com about foods you should stock up on prior to a storm. And bacon made the list! The type of bacon it refers to is shelf-stable bacon (such as Oscar Meyer Ready to Serve Bacon), which isn't the best form of bacon but is better than nothing when you're in a desperate situation. And what could be more comforting in a stressful environment than some bacon! It really makes sense on so many levels.

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Bacon Prose

"Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon." -Doug Larson

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