tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:34:05 +0000http://www.baconunwrapped.com/noreply@blogger.com (Heather)Blogger508125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-2603670520507802997Fri, 04 Jul 2008 07:01:00 +00002008-07-04T00:01:00.555-07:00I hope you're enjoying the 4th of July holiday! I recently received bacon toothpicks as a belated birthday gift from my brother and sister-in-law. For as many bacon gifts as I've received in the last few years, surprisingly I've never received the bacon toothpicks before. Like the bacon mints I tasted a couple days ago, bacon toothpicks smell worse than they taste. Even though they are packagedhttp://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/07/bacon-toothpicks.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-2853545934731984526Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:01:00 +00002008-07-02T00:01:00.390-07:00I have a complicated relationship with Easy Cheese. I know I shouldn't eat it, and I usually don't - it's not the kind of thing I keep in my kitchen on a regular basis, mostly for purposes of avoiding temptation. But when I do get my hands on some Easy Cheese, I lose all control. And if there are Wheat Thins around, oh boy, just get out of the way. I was pretty excited to try the Cheddar 'n http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/07/easy-cheese-cheddar-n-bacon.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-6732942489784870563Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:01:00 +00002008-06-30T05:32:56.438-07:00In early June I put out an APB to family and friends so they could help me find Easy Mac with Bacon. I had searched high and low at numerous grocery stores for several weeks and still hadn't been able to find a container. Within 2 days of asking my family and friends to help me find this product, I called off the search because a truck stop in Mt. Vernon, Illinois came to the rescue. I stoppedhttp://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/06/easy-mac-with-bacon.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-1129750630662413193Sun, 29 Jun 2008 07:01:00 +00002008-06-29T00:01:03.002-07:00bacon nation unwrappedRecent news from the Bacon Nation... Chocolate covered bacon takes one more step towards becoming mainstream.A Nutella, peanut butter and bacon sandwich is another way to enjoy the combination of bacon with sweet flavors.Endless Simmer takes a tour of bacon cocktails around the country.Theories of Bacon reviews bacon flavored potato chips. http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/06/bacon-nation-unwrapped-breakfast-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-6519540517700066126Fri, 27 Jun 2008 07:01:00 +00002008-06-27T00:01:02.708-07:00Road Trip 2008After 3540 miles, my bacon tour of America has finally come to an end. So I want to take a moment and thank everyone who hosted me on my trip. June Scott at Scott Country Hams Nancy Newsom Mahaffey at Newsom's Country Hams Ronny and Beth Drennan at Broadbent Country Hams Mike Sloan at Swiss Meats Jeff Bruning at the High Life Lounge Brooks Reynolds Herb and Kathy Eckhouse at La Quercia Steve http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/06/end-of-bacon-road.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-8004927902456480794Wed, 25 Jun 2008 07:01:00 +00002008-06-25T00:17:17.265-07:00Road Trip 2008In the small town of Pierz, Minnesota, which is located an hour north of St. Cloud and two hours from Minneapolis, there is a butcher with a big reputation. Thielen Meats has been in the business of custom butchery and bacon curing for over 80 years. Minnesotans will drive many miles to visit the store. But in recent years, thanks largely to some national media coverage, Thielen's has also http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/06/thielen-meats-famous-bacon.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-3900007697432368357Mon, 23 Jun 2008 07:01:00 +00002008-06-23T00:10:18.138-07:00Road Trip 2008A couple days ago I wrote about the bacon appetizer at Psycho Suzi's in Minneapolis, MN. Psycho Suzi's is a very casual establishment - their bacon appetizer is served on toothpicks. On the other end of the bacon appetizer spectrum is the bacon at Manny's Steakhouse which is located just a few miles across town from Psycho Suzi's. Both establishments use applewood smoked bacon, but that's http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/06/mannys-steakhouse-bacon-appetizer.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-444136362660762473Sun, 22 Jun 2008 07:01:00 +00002008-06-22T00:01:00.364-07:00bacon nation unwrappedRecent news from the Bacon Nation... Mad Meat Genius celebrates the 100th birthday of Milk Bones by making Bacon Dog Biscuits for his hounds.A 10 year old Oregon boy with leukemia is recognized for his "Bacon Boy" superhero cartoon (via reader Teena)Flights to England are expensive this summer because of fuel prices. So instead of going to visit the real Stonehenge, just stay at home and make ahttp://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/06/bacon-nation-unwrapped-summer-vacation.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-2956266431946328695Sat, 21 Jun 2008 21:14:00 +00002008-06-21T14:32:18.447-07:00The beginning of summer traditionally marks that time of year when we start to crave BLT sandwiches made with fresh ingredients. So ignoring Tomatogate 2008, today I threw caution into the wind and made a BLT for lunch. But not only did my BLT have tomatoes on it (vine ripened - supposedly safe - if not Joe Albertson will be hearing from me), but I also used sun-dried tomato bacon from http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/06/screw-salmonella-blt-season-is-here.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-1227811684587281435Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:01:00 +00002008-06-20T00:01:00.458-07:00Road Trip 2008I have a strange love of tiki bars. As kitschy and cheesy as they are sometimes, tiki bars tend to have a quirkier personality than your average neighborhood watering hole that makes the experience of drinking there that much more fun. Some might say I'm a bit quirky myself, so I guess the attraction is natural. When I heard about a bar in Minneapolis called Psycho Suzi's that not only has a http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/06/pyscho-suzis-bacon-appetizer.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-3926163735657170891Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:01:00 +00002008-06-18T00:08:06.636-07:00Road Trip 2008Many of the smokehouses I've visited over the last couple weeks have received numerous awards and accolades over the years for their products. They truly are some of the best smokehouses in the country. I love hearing stories about how their businesses started and grew into the successful operations they are today. And the one thing they all seem to have in common is that they started small http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/06/la-quercia.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-996233655180479680Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:38:00 +00002008-06-16T14:04:05.845-07:00Road Trip 2008Over a year ago I read an article in a magazine about bacon wrapped tater tots at the High Life Lounge in Des Moines, Iowa. Then I experimented with making my own version of bacon wrapped tater tots using wild boar bacon. The blog entry I wrote about it is the most visited item on my blog to date. It seems that a lot of people are as infatuated as I am by this simple but incredibly delicious http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/06/high-life-lounge.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-6745241124495363914Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:21:00 +00002008-06-15T20:52:05.067-07:00bacon nation unwrappedRecent news from the Bacon Nation... In her new book Sex and Bacon, former sex worker Sarah Katherine Lewis considers why she loves things that are bad for her. Click here to read her interview with the Seattle Post Intelligencer.Target is promoting the Best Meat Ever with its Bacon and Eggs Tote Bag....and the eggs indulges in pork belly.Kevin and Amanda indulge in Bacon Cheeseburger Chicken. http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/06/bacon-nation-unwrapped-bringing-sexy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-253813853809176392Fri, 13 Jun 2008 07:01:00 +00002008-06-13T00:01:50.187-07:00Road Trip 2008Part of the reason I timed my cross country drive to happen this time of year was so I could attend the annual meeting of pork producers and lovers that is the World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa. I chose last Friday afternoon to wander around this event that is hosted by the National Pork Producers Council at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. My goal was to absorb everything there is to know about http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/06/world-pork-expo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-4084416883205862915Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:51:00 +00002008-06-12T07:00:44.498-07:00Road Trip 2008Tony and I drove from St. Cloud, MN to Bozeman, MT yesterday (that's close to 1000 miles for those of you not familiar with flyover country). Needless to say, we're a bit exhausted today. So we'll be back tomorrow with another trip update. In the meantime, we're going to stop by the DMV this afternoon to pick up an honorary CDL...http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/06/road-weary.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-7548744839892640213Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:01:00 +00002008-06-11T00:01:02.407-07:00When I was in St. Louis last week, I spent 30 minutes on the phone with the guys from Crispy on the Outside recording a podcast about my cross-country trip, and generally all things bacon. Click here to listen to the interview. Enjoy!http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/06/crispy-on-outside-podcast.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-4315938730815832806Tue, 10 Jun 2008 07:01:00 +00002008-06-10T00:01:02.487-07:00Road Trip 2008Last Thursday I started the morning in St. Louis, Missouri and by noon I had driven to California. California, Missouri, that is. The Missouri version of California has just over 4000 residents - much smaller than the state by the same name. But what they lack in population they make up for with cured meats. Burger's Smokehouse produces approximately 750,000 hams, bacon, sausage and other http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/06/burgers-smokehouse.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-5593527490691808011Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:43:00 +00002008-06-09T10:18:34.615-07:00Road Trip 2008Last Thursday, I spent part of the day at one of my favorite bacon producing companies in the United States. Swiss Meats is located in the small town of Hermann, Missouri, which is about 80 miles west of St. Louis. The surrounding scenery is quite beautiful - rolling green hills alternate between farmland and forests. But the best thing about this part of the country are the cured meats. The http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/06/swiss-meats.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-2952919493409494902Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:17:00 +00002008-06-04T20:27:57.464-07:00Road Trip 2008Today my "Bacon Across America" adventure took me to Broadbent Country Hams in Kuttawa, Kentucky. Broadbent Hams was founded in 1909 by the Broadbent family in Western Kentucky. In 1999, Ronny and Beth Drennan purchased the business from the Broadbent family. The Drennan's recently moved the business to a brand new facility in Kuttawa, but they continue to use the same methods that have been http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/06/my-bacon-mini-bar.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-2789491941715528297Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:00:00 +00002008-06-04T07:00:01.785-07:00Road Trip 2008St. Anthony poses with Tuesday's booty. http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/06/tonys-cargo.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-3364896649560305549Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:24:00 +00002008-06-03T17:05:00.661-07:00Road Trip 2008Today is the third anniversary of Bacon Unwrapped. Yep, that's right - I've been sharing my bacon obsession with the interweb for three years. I've written almost 500 entries. I've eaten A LOT of bacon and I am still miraculously Lipitor-free. So what better way to celebrate this event than spending it touring smokehouses in Western Kentucky, Bacon Capital of the World? My first stop this http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/06/1095-days-of-bacon.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-4451693475990382863Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:53:00 +00002008-06-01T14:43:43.663-07:00Road Trip 2008After I arrived in Lexington, Kentucky yesterday, I was sitting in my hotel room doing a little online research to discover what exactly about Lexington I needed to experience during my 36 hour visit. Naturally I was also on the hunt for a bacon adventure. That is when I first learned about the Kentucky Hot Brown. Yeah, that's right, a "Hot Brown." I didn't think it sounded terribly http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/06/hot-brownhot-damn.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-4215928129028244423Sun, 01 Jun 2008 02:53:00 +00002008-05-31T20:03:32.922-07:00Road Trip 2008St. Anthony (aka "Tony") and I are officially outside the Beltway and headed west! We arrived in Kentucky earlier this evening and will be spending a few days in the Bluegrass State searching for bacon action. Today was a big driving day so there isn't any baconage to report, but we've already got a few things lined up for tomorrow in Lexington. But now it's time to get some rest and hopefullyhttp://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/05/quick-update-from-road.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-2516289830475582503Thu, 29 May 2008 20:19:00 +00002008-05-31T19:42:26.424-07:00Road Trip 2008Move over Matt Lauer...I'm about to launch my own version of "Where in the World is Heather Lauer?" I've been somewhat M.I.A. from this blog over the last couple weeks, and it wasn't just out of laziness this time around. I'm actually in the process of leaving my job of 11+ years and moving from Washington, DC back to the Mountain Time Zone, so I've been a bit preoccupied with matters related http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/05/following-bacon-road.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13408040.post-8804060565037698865Sun, 25 May 2008 16:21:00 +00002008-05-25T10:17:34.310-07:00bacon nation unwrappedRecent news from the Bacon Nation... Want the taste of bacon on your lips all day long? Try some bacon flavored lip balm (via Skulls and Bacon).Inspired by maple bacon lollipops, Chomposaurus dreams of the day when we can eat bacon, eggs and homefries on a stick.http://www.baconunwrapped.com/2008/05/bacon-nation-unwrapped-bacon-daydreams.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Heather)