In all the world there is none so beloved as the one they called "Bacon"

Rather than slather on apology after apology that I haven't posted in FOREVER (over two months!) I felt like I should share with you my loyal readers one of my favorite things in the whole world - Bacon!!

Perhaps the most used meat in my household (much to the bane of my cardiovascular system I'm sure), Bacon provides a versatile alternative to more expensive meats that I would normally use in Pastas, Soups, or on Sandwiches. The plus side is, I save money and eat more bacon. The bad side is - wait, is there a bad side??? My fervent love of Bacon aside, I thought I would share with you some of the more inspired ways I have used Bacon in my cooking to enhance the flavor and/or texture of my meal.

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I have only made Bacon Wrapped Asparagus once, but it was TOTALLY AMAZING!! I never thought Bacon could so completely enhance the flavor of something and really bring it to a new level! The night Cecy and I made this, it was practically all we could eat for dinner! Being a bacon lover, my ratio of asparagus to bacon was 1:1, however the recipe calls for 4:1 - but whatever makes your heart sing :).

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Fried Rice, on the other hand, is a staple in my home. This is our typical fallback meal when no one wants to go to a great length for cooking, but we still want to eat something satisfying and savory. In our household, fried rice can be most of the different things you have in your fridge, but some ingredients are key: rice (obviously), eggs, bacon, and sweet onions (fried in Bacon grease). We often have this most basic of all fried rices, however, it's nice to add green onions, carrots, water chestnuts, and those adorable baby carrots if you have them on hand. Fried rice is a very faux-Chinese dish because it's mostly comprised of very American things (like bacon). The only thing even remotely Chinese about this dish is the soy sauce you add on top and the rice. But mmmm....bacon....














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Now I will be the very first to admit that this is an acquired taste - not everyone warms to chocolate covered bacon right away. But if you give it some thought (and a thoughtful taste) you may be surprised how right it is! The bitterness of the chocolate and the saltiness of the bacon play off one another with daring subtlety, creating a taste sensation so individual and unique that- love or hate it - you can't possibly mistake it for any other. Please note that successful execution of the chocolate covered bacon requires both quality chocolate and quality bacon. If either the saltiness of the bacon or the sweetness of the chocolate are allowed to overpower the overall taste, it will be ruined. Alas, this means that (as with most culinary adventures) chocolate covered bacon is something usually best left to the experts unless you are feeling particularly adventurous or have a particularly strong stomach :).

Finally, I would like to give Kudos to comedian Jim Gaffigan who inspired this post by his monologue on Bacon from the Late Show with David Letterman embedded below. After watching this clip I realized that if he can go on national television and profess his undying love for bacon, I can certainly do the same...on the Internet...on my blog...which no one reads :).

Regardless, enjoy the clip!!

Homesickness

I received my first slow cooker at seventeen. I had just graduated from High school and was headed to college and apparently some relative of mine had the ill-conceived notion that college freshman do a lot of home cooking inside of their shoe-box sized homes. Needless to say, when I got the gift I was less than enthusiastic. I even vaguely remember being as ungrateful as to wonder aloud about the motives of the gift giver and his/her anticipation of a free meal. Karma, as they say, is a bitch – and it turned out that only a few short months later, at college I would come to realize how truly awful dorm food was and how much I missed the home cooked meals my father used to make me. In a fit of homesickness and boredom late one Sunday morning, I decided to try my hand at my first major meal: Roast. I convinced a friend to drive me to the closest Meijer where I picked up random ingredients that I vaguely remembered were part of my all-time favorite meal growing up. I had no plan, I had no recipe, and I had no experience. Just an empty stomach and the determination to eat something that made me feel comforted and safe again.

Trials and tribulations abound that afternoon, I attempted to brown the roast in the slow cooker pan on someone else’s Bunsen burner, I spent half an hour desperately searching for a masher for the potatoes and finally settled on a pencil jar, and I ended up trolling the dorm hall for supplies after I realized I had nothing to serve my feast in nor did I have any utensils; but it was all worth it when I came back to my dorm that afternoon and realized I could smell my dinner. It was the smell of celebration, the savory smell of victory.

Although I can’t remember what that roast tasted like, I do remember serving it to all of my friends and each of us sitting around my bed, listening to music, and I can remember how the whole room got silent right as we started to eat. As I looked around the bedspread at my newest and dearest friends, I saw more than one eye tearing up in the room. Finally, one of my friends uttered in a quiet voice what all of us were thinking, “it tastes like home".

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Hello New Readers!!

I just wanted to give all of my new readers a shoutout! Thanks for stopping by and leaving comments - it's great to know other people love eating (and looking at) food just as much as I do! Keep the comments coming!!

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I'm not dead!

Sorry for the complete lack of posts lately. I've been pretty busy celebrating my birthday and getting summer off to a dramatic start! Coming soon will be posts from my first annual birthday Taco Crawl and a homage to the best 'device' in my kitchen - the slow cooker :). For now, I'll leave you with some photos I grabbed off Flickr. I'm looking for inspiration to design my kitchen in my new apartment and these seem perfect! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

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Next Generation Restaurateurs

I have lost countless hours of my life to this repetitive and mind numbing game yet I still can't seem to put my mouse away. I'll share my latest obsession (okay maybe addiction) with you in the hopes that you'll get hooked on it too and maybe we can start some kind of support group.

Oh, and I highly reccomend the "Relax Mode" - wouldn't it be nice if I could do my real job as slow as possible without risk that the customers could leave? Call it a little passive-agressive roleplaying :).

May is National Burger Month!

There is nothing in the world that can make my mouth water quite like the smell of a thick, juicy, quarter-pound burger piled high with cheese, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, ketcup, and mayonaise. I've tried for over a week to write this post and nothing would come together. I had found all these beautiful photos of hamburgers and cheseburgers but no words with which I could express my admiration of, obsession with, and frankly worship of this masterful piece of meat. Finally I realized that hamburgers didn't need me to talk for them. That if I posted them here in all of their succulent, savory, tender glory - they would say more for themselves than I ever could. So feast your eyes on this:

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It's Crazy McDelicious

Today I read a really interesting post over at Grocery Eats blog. I found his post both awe inspiring and gut wrenching. On the one hand, I can almost imagine the meaty awesomeness that is this burger in all it's glory. On the other, I can feel my stomach churning at the thought of putting this steamy heap of garbage inside. If I was having such a strong and visceral reacation to this post, I couldn't even begin to imagine what other people thought, so I purveyed the comments. There were your usual "you're a terrible person for eating this" and "woah dude - awesome", but within the comments I found a particular gem that cracked me up so much, I just had to create an homage to this wonderful sandwhich and hillarious comment. Here's to you Angie :).