& some bacon

Bacon bandages. Because I'm too buried to manage much else.

I thought vacation meant VACATION?

Right. The world is in an economic collapse. Be happy you're working so hard, 'hoo.

Bah. Humbug.

Plus a plug for American Science & Surplus, which is always a good time »

Via @ColonelTribune

bacon calling

the bacon bag »
I think I know what my brother's getting me for Christmas -- he just sent me a link to this Reuters news video: Wrap your phone in bacon »

(mmm bacon.)

sunday sacrament

I’ve come to depend on this

two eggs over medium
yours scrambled
          an offering of bacon

pancakes sponging syrup

the pepper passed
the salt
    hot coffee half gone, topped off

the worshipful silence broken
by brief passages from the Sunday Times
recited chapter and verse

curious bacon humor

I'm pretty sure I don't get this and yet, because it's bacon + bent objects (which I adore), I feel obligated to post it.

Fortunately Terry at Bent Objects has explicated it for us »

how 'bout a little bacon?

Because it’s still winter, g*d*it, as much as I want it to be spring. Might as well break out the bacon.

Edna Lewis’ Red Rice

• 5 to 6 slices of BACON (center cut’s good for this one -- little bit lean; whole lot tasty)


• 2/3 cup chopped onions


• 1 tsp dried thyme


• 1 green pepper ick. no. roast a poblano chile. brown paper bag it while it cools. strip off the charred parts and pull out the seeds -- but do it through plastic somehow so you don’t get that chile fire under your fingernails. ick. no.


• 2 small round hot peppers if you do this with a poblano (see above) you’re not going to need these


• 2 cups fresh tomato puree (or canned romas pureed in a hurry. after all it’s still winter: where are you gonna find good fresh tomatoes?)


• 1 tbsp brown sugar


• 2 cups cold water


• 2 cups Carolina or popcorn rice I used a fragrant basmati and it worked beautifully


• 1 cup or more small pieces cooked ham or fish (I used some of the Virginia ham that my sister sent at Christmas time, half of which I kept frozen until now. Yum. but I'm thinking smoked trout might work well in this dish too.)


• salt & fresh ground pepper (sea salt, of course. we’ve talked about this.)

Cut the bacon into 1/2 inch pieces and cook it up in a heavy-bottomed saucepan (I used a Creuset round oven which meant I didn’t have to transfer dishes later.) until crisp. Remove and set aside. Pour off half the bacon fat if you need to -- if you’re using that center-cut bacon you may not have a whole lot to work with, so save it all.

Add the onions, stir and simmer ‘til soft. Toss in the thyme and the poblanos, which by now you’ve sliced into little strips. Mix well and add the tomato puree and brown sugar. Add water and stir in the rice.

Cover and simmer on a low burner until the rice starts to cook -- add the bacon and ham. Stir it up good and set in an oven preheated to 350 degrees and cook for 45 to 60 minutes, until the rice is tender. (If you used a regular saucepan earlier you'll want to transfer it to some kind of casserole now.)

Serves 4, and doesn’t keep too well, so if you’re serving fewer make sure you’re really hungry. Dish is so tasty that overeating is readily induced.


Freely adopted from Edna Lewis’s cookbook: In Pursuit of Flavor, which I picked up a little while back at Monticello. It's loaded with classic Southern-style dishes -- simple, pure and good.


Image: That would be Francis Bacon, of course.

bacon brittle

That's right: Brittle. With bacon. And a pecan or two.

Courtesy of Ms. AnnieMcQ, who rhymes with "I love you."

You shouldn't have, doll. But I'm so glad you did.

bacon bits

with many thanks to Martin

and bacon.

Did I mention the bacon?

It's arrived, and is simply magnificent.

dante is wise, and also loves bacon.

In this, the season of gifts, I have just received a wonderful gift, and now I will share it with you: Enlightenment through Bacon »

Many thanks to Martin, for the link, and to Boing Boing, for the original post.


p.s. Re beggin' strips. My sister never misses the opportunity to remind me of the time I was babysitting a neighbor kid and rifled the kitchen for treats, coming up only with some dry jerky stashed on top of the fridge. I downed a few pieces. Thought little more of it.

Until the parents arrived home and, just before the dad gave me a lift, treated their yappy little dog to a dog treat -- the very same jerky that I had availed myself of earlier that evening.

Good times.


More on bacon »

how I know we're kin (for sure)

My sister just sent me this book (in a box which contained, among other things, chocolate and a jar of homemade chutney) which, significantly, is subtitled: In Defense of Naps, Bacon, Martinis, Profanity, and Other Indulgences.

Emphasis my own.

More on bacon »

bacon bits

It's been a while since we talked about bacon.

I've haven't tried this bacon chocolate bar. This is not an endorsement but, rather, a public service.

Also of note: Zingerman's Bacon of the Month Club. Because Christmas is coming.

Update, 10.24.07: Friends, I have tried the bacon bar, and it's everything that a bacon chocolate bar was meant to be.

setting the standard for bacon product packaging

We listened to people's concerns about traditional bacon packaging and designed the Stay-Fresh Reclosable Tray to help solve those issues.

Beth Goeddel, Senior Brand Manager for Oscar Mayer

Thank God somebody's listening to those concerns. And doing something about it.

Via Gaper's Block

More on bacon »

great expectations

They came West seeking a new life and found misery and death.

From a Park Service placard at the Donner Party Camp Site in Truckee, California.

Dang.

this just in

Received earlier today as part of a random email thread.

mmmmmmmm. bacon.

N = C + {f_b (c_m) • f_b (t_c)} + f_b (T_s) + f_c • t_a

In which:
N = force in newtons
f_b is the function of the bacon type
f_c is the function of the condiment or filling effect
T_s is the serving temperature
t_c is cooking time
t_a is the time taken to insert the condiment or filling
c_m is the cooking method
C represents the breaking strain in newtons of uncooked bacon

The formula that best describes the bacon sandwich, or "bacon butty", as devised by Researchers at Leeds University and reported in yesterday's New York Times.

According to the researchers, perfection of the bacon butty is realized through the attainment of the perfect crunch, which is understood as follows: "the amount of force in the bite, expressed in newtons, and the level of noise, expressed in decibels. … Ideally ... 0.4 newtons should be applied to crunch the sandwich, creating 0.5 decibels of noise."

miss ann's masterpiece

a found poem

Miss Ann is a woman of commanding style

She works alone at her grill
Patting each ample patty lightly
As she sets it down

Her masterpiece
Is a two-patty cheeseburger
Tricked out with bacon
That she tends closely
In the fryolator

The extreme economy of motion
The running dialogue
Of lightly sassy repartee

Miss Anne dusts
Your almost-ready patties with
“Seasoned salt”
Tinged red from cayenne

It looks like a mistake
Too much
Over the top

You get your burger
You regret [your doubts]

This is the next level of burgerhood
It just barely fits in your mouth



After trying a whole lot of burgers, Raymond Sokolov declared Miss Ann’s masterpiece, the Ghetto Burger, the best hamburger in America in last weekend’s Wall Street Journal.

Ann’s Snack Bar
1615 Memorial Dr
Atlanta, GA 30317

speaking of croutons

Mikkel at Shädy Äcres has asked that we talk about something else – quite explicitly, he’s asked that we speak of croutons.

Fair enough. I'll speak of mine sautéed in bubbling bacon, because they’re really the best way to eat croutons that I know of, and if you only do it every once in a while you’ll only be slightly closer to that eminent myocardial infarction.

Salade á l’ail
2 tablespoons Dijon
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Salt
½ cup peanut oil (olive oil will work fine too)
6 cups tasty mixed salad greens – all your favorites – if you’re in the U.S. throw in some spinach from Salinas because that market needs a kick in the pants and the World’s Best Engineer (he of the spinach harvester) will thank you for your trouble
4 oz. slab bacon, rind removed, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 large slabs of crusty bread cut into cubes
2 fat garlic cloves, minced

Create the dressing by mixing together the mustard, vinegar, oil and salt. It should be viscous: almost like mayo.

Place the bacon in a large skillet and cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat until the bacon begins to sweat off its saturated goodness. Add the bread cubes and continue to cook, stirring from time to time until both the bacon and bread cubes are browned to a crisp, about five minutes or more.

Toss the greens (which you have lovingly washed and placed in a large salad bowl) with the dressing and then top with the bacon, croutons and garlic. Serve with a few more slices of that good bread and a nice red wine (but not too much – for god’s sake we don’t want to start crying into our cup again).

Make sure that everyone in the household has a little bit of this, because that minced garlic will linger for a little while. Best to make sure everyone smells of the same stinking rose.

Freely adopted from Patricia Wells’ Bistro Cooking

petersen's mint chocolate chip & the frankencheezie

petersen's mint chocolate chip
Originally uploaded by suttonhoo.

Petersen's in Oak Park, IL has been serving up 32% butterfat ice cream since 1919, god bless 'em.

Also on the menu: The Frankencheezie, a "charbroiled quarter pound frankfurter stuffed with cheese and wrapped in bacon and served on a butter toasted bun with all the trimmings."

Only in Chicago, folks, can you buy this kind of cardiovascular disease for lunch.

(I stuck with the grilled cheese -- substituting muenster for american -- because I prefer my death on toast to take me just a little bit more slowly, thank you.)