A vegetarian rediscovers bacon

Photoblogger mandydale is rediscovering meat after 12 years of being a vegetarian, and she is sharing her experience on Flickr with "30 days of pork." An entry associated with one of her photos explains her reasons for deciding to eat meat again, and she also talks about how some vegetarians find bacon to be the hardest meat to give up in another entry. If you are a pork lover, you will find her photo essay to be both entertaining and inspiring.

Courtesy of iheartbacon.com.

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The secret is bacon

Did you know that an A&W Restaurant was the first restaurant to serve bacon on a cheeseburger? Or at least that is what they are claiming anyways. According to their website:

"In 1963, A&W® restaurants introduced The Burger Family®, which included a Mama Burger®, Papa Burger®, Teen Burger® and Baby Burger®...The Teen Burger included cheese, two slices of bacon, lettuce, tomato and salad dressing. We were the first chain to offer a bacon cheeseburger throughout our system."

Mulder recalls an A&W® national television campaign from the early 70s that focused on the chain's bacon cheeseburger. In the commercial, a customer whispers to a friend, "What's the secret?" The friend replies, "The secret is bacon."

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"Black Friday" shopping, bacon-style

The Grateful Palate has just rolled out a new line of products, many of which are in celebration of the 2007 Chinese Year of the Pig. You should definitely check out their website but here are a few highlights:

Vitamin G Container: Don't throw away that precious bacon fat - save it in a "Vitamin G Container" to use later!





Bacon Spoon Holder: Have bacon by your side in the kitchen all the time, even when you aren't cooking bacon.




Bacon Butter Dish: Bacon and butter - two things that warm the heart.





Bacon Ornament: Why even put any other decorations on the tree? Make this year's Christmas tree all about bacon.





Dan's Special Cure Bacon Bits: Sure to put that store-bought crap to shame.





Bacon Dog Treats: I'm gonna bet these are much tastier than Beggin' Strips (not that I'm going to try them myself to find out, but I'm sure Fido will notice the difference).




And last, but not least, Bacon Toilet Paper. For any of my friends who are reading this entry, you can be damn sure you'll be encountering some of this at my next party.



Happy shopping!

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Pork 101

As I was milling around my mother's kitchen while at home for Thanksgiving this week (where despite the large turkey dinner and subsequent leftovers, I've still somehow managed to consume a respectable amount of bacon over the last couple days - go figure), I came across a book about pork that she's had for ages but I've never bothered to actually pull off the shelf and read.

It's a cookbook that is part of a series that was produced by Time Life Books in 1980. The name of book is The Good Cook: Pork. It is clearly geared towards the average reader - there isn't really any information in the book that any dedicated porcine lover wouldn't already know. However, this is a very good book when it comes to the basics of understanding the history of pork and preparing basic cuts of pork in a variety of ways - it's a great book for the novice chef. And in particular, it includes a few sections on the topic of bacon.

There are also dozens of recipes in the back of the book, a few of which include bacon that sound delicious and I will be experimenting with over the next couple weeks. But in general, The Good Cook: Pork is a good basic reference book for any cook to have on the kitchen shelf.

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Graphic Pig

This image is both disturbing and intriguing. I found it on a random vintage poster website (ah…the wonders of StumbleUpon). Courtesy of freetranslation.com, here's a rough translation:

Eat with pleasure and without fatigue
Auvergne sausage
Absolute food purity
The good sausages of the extravagant pig

Yeah, eat the delicious sausages and then have nightmares about the crazy pig slicing itself in half...

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The bacon – it’s alive!!!

This is kinda creepy, yet I can't look away.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Humans taste like bacon

According to a robot in Japan, humans apparently taste like bacon. Maybe cannibals were on to something afterall...

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Bacon in paradise

My quest to prove everyone does (or should) love bacon was recently expanded to the animal kingdom.

While on vacation in Bora Bora last week, we took advantage of the glass doors in the floor of our overwater bungalow. The purpose of these glass doors is so that guests can feed the fish swimming below. I'm pretty sure the hotel management didn't envision that leading to their guests feeding bacon to the fish - I'm thinking they had something more like grapes and bread in mind. But give me an inch and I'll take a mile. So bacon it was.

Of course the fish loved it, which was not surprising. Observe the feeding frenzy.










And here's another shot of Bora Bora just to make you jealous.

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The Whole Hog

Earlier this week, on a cross country flight, I immersed myself in Bruce Aidell's 'ode to the pig' - the Complete Book of Pork. This book truly is the bible of all things pork. Aidell thoroughly explores the pig as an intelligent animal, a food source for many cultures over thousands of years, and even a pet and companion. Did you know pigs were amongst the first immigrants to the United States?

After an introduction and historical overview, the book dives right into the art of purchasing and preparing pork for consumption. Aidell starts with the very basics of cooking various cuts of pork and tells you how to adjust the recipes to your own taste.

He then goes into how to buy the best pork for your needs, including a detailed explanation of the various cuts that are commonly available (as well as some suggestions for where to find less common cuts).

The bulk of the rest of the book includes dozens of recipes and covers how to use just about every inch of a pig in the kitchen.

Of course, bacon is not ignored and is prominently featured throughout the book. There is even a section of the book dedicated to the art of preserving pork, including a few recipes for bacon.

Overall, the Complete Book of Pork is a great resource for people just beginning to explore the culinary world of pork, as well as the most knowledgeable porcine expert. Aidell explores the various methods of preparing pork and provides detailed instructions that can have the most novice chef making their own bacon in no time.

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Bacon bits experiment

Have you ever wondered how many strips of bacon it takes to make a serving of bacon bits? Thanks to the online publication Cockeyed.com, now we know.

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Pork art

Having one of these paintings by Victoria Reynolds hanging above your fireplace mantel would almost certainly create interesting conversation over cocktails with friends.

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Bacon biscuit bliss

While traveling in North Carolina this weekend, I stopped in the town of Hickory for lunch. I had hoped to stumble across some hickory smoked bacon while in Hickory, but unfortunately I had no such luck (very disappointing). So instead, I ended up at the Southern chain food restaurant, Bojangles.

I obviously subscribe to the theory that everything tastes better with bacon. But I also think bacon too often plays a "supporting role" in meals rather than being the primary focus. So imagine my excitement when I saw a "bacon biscuit" on the menu. That's right - the bacon biscuit is a sandwich comprised of few crunchy strips of bacon nestled inside a delicious buttery biscuit. Nothing else. No eggs, no cheese, nothing. And what's even better is that Bojangles serves the bacon biscuit all day long - it is not just banished to the breakfast menu.

But the best thing about the Bojangles bacon biscuit is that it is CHEAP - only 99 cents. For $3.83 I had two biscuits, Botato rounds (little round hashbrowns - also very delicious) and a medium drink. What a deal!

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