Bacon In The Sun

My parents recently returned from a cruise 'round the Caribbean. This served as a vacation as well as my mom's first venture out into public with a Christmas present that she gave herself -- her first digital camera. I received this photo/caption via e-mail a few days after their return:

Bacon Challenge '08 participant -- there's lots of bacon available on a cruise!

During a discussion of the photo we had via e-mail, this comment was returned, "Some nerve wearing a 2 piece suit."

Clearly there was no mix-up at the hospital. We share the same genetic material. At least when it comes to fat jokes and bacon appreciation.

So eat your bacon, but keep the activity up to burn it off. Summer is just around the corner and that means you're going to probably have to squeeze into a bathing suit and you don't want to look like that overstuffed vacationer. And you certainly don't want to wind up the subject of jokes on some blog about bacon.

Thanks, mom.

And why doesn't someone else blog something? Anything. I'm starting to feel like a bloghog.

Risotto (sort of)

As we all know, bacon isn't only for breakfast so I thought I would share this recipe with you that I made Monday night. It's easy (once you find the bulgur) and a nice way to stretch your bacon into multiple servings. Plus it could even be viewed as healthy since there is spinach involved. Enjoy!:

Bulgur Risotto with Spinach and Bacon
Recipe courtesy Gourmet Magazine via FoodNetwork.com
Show: Cooking Live
Episode: Foods Of the World: Global Grains
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

2 medium onions, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 cups coarse bulgur
4 cups chicken broth
3-1/2 cups water
1/2 pound sliced bacon, chopped
12 cups baby spinach (8 ounces), trimmed
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Cook onion in oil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until softened. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 30 seconds.

Add bulgur, broth, and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until bulgur is tender and creamy (like risotto), about 20 minutes.

While bulgur is simmering, cook bacon in a skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until crisp, then drain on paper towels.

Stir spinach into bulgur until wilted, then stir in Parmesan, half of bacon, and salt and pepper, to taste. Serve "risotto" sprinkled with remaining bacon.

It's even tasty as leftovers. It travels well, heats up fast and the flavors fuse together quite nicely. Proof -- lunch at work the day after:

Week 4: Standings

This list might not be as awesome as it normally is because I'm just a substitute poster for this week, as Jess is very busy (and I'm sure very stressed out). Nevertheless, here is the latest in bacon consumption:

Bob - 52
Tedd - 48
WJR - 43
Tom - 41
Tracey - 41
Christine - 36
Meg - 35
Jess - 34
Lori - 32
Michelle - 30
Paul - 29
Mike - 29
Matt - 22
Destiny - 22
Dave - 11
Andrew - 10
Gary - 9
Michael - 9
Ball - 9
Christopher - 7

I'll Stick To The Real Thing

I had a strange feeling that there was no good reason to freshen my breath with bacon and now my suspicions have been proven true: Bacon Mints Taste Test

High School Girls and Bacon

Does it get any better than that?

Good or Gross?

Fellow Bacon Challenge '08 participant Mike sent me this link the other day: http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/03/post_135.

Why he didn't post this himself is beyond me. He does have the administrative privileges to do so, but you know how he gets. Maybe it's because he is all about the now and that link is from almost one year ago. Or maybe because some might think that would be a better fit for a hot dog challenge instead of a bacon challenge.

Either way, I think this recipe might be a bit overboard, but still it's worth mentioning. Especially because I hope someone makes this and I get to try it.

Week 3: Standings

I would just like to point out that, since the Bacon Challenge began, I have lost 5 pounds. Should I lose 10 more, I will be writing a book entitled, "The Bacon Diet: You Aren't Always What You Eat," and if anyone would like to contribute, I can't promise you any royalties, but you will get a thanks or something. Maybe in the back of the book, in small print.

Tracey 41
Bob 40
Tedd 39
WJR 35
Meg 32
Jess 28
Mike 25
Christine 24
Michelle 24
Paul 23
Lori 22
Tom 21
Matt 18
Destiny 18
Lozo 11
Andrew 10
Michael 9
Christopher 7
Ball 5
Gary 1

Thicker Than Average

This is pretty far after the fact, but since I finally got around to finding my camera (which has been M.I.A. for quite some time) and since nobody is posting anything around here, I figured I would share.

Check out this bacon I got from the West Side Market in Cleveland:

This is the stuff I made and ate on the first day of the Bacon Challenge '08. I ate five strips. For the record, five strips of this equals a half pound. In comparison, the standard packs of bacon you get in the grocery store? 12 strips equals a half pound.

That's some thick (delicious) bacon.

Week 2: Standings

I know it's not technically a competition, but I still want to win. Clearly I need to step up my game.

Tracey 26
Tedd 25
Bob 24
Tom 21
Michelle 20
Jess 20
Meg 19
Christine 18
Mike 18
WJR 17
Lozo 11
Paul 10
Andrew 10
Michael 9
Lori 9
Christopher 7
Matt 6
Ball 4
Gary 1

Bump That 15 Minutes Up To 30

Welcome! You've Got Mail Bacon!

AOL is also in on the bacon action.

Our 15 minutes...

... of Internet fame!

Also, I had a bacon and peanut butter sandwich for breakfast. Delicious!

The wonders of modern technology

It has finally happened!

Some genius has invented a bacon-dispensing machine!

LOOKY!






(photo courtesy of the shmifter)

I Have Hit the Bacon Wall

Not a wall made of bacon. More of a metaphorical kind. If the wall was made of bacon, cooked bacon, that'd be a sweet wall to run into.

Anyway, I started off hot in 2008. New Year's Day -- bam! -- three pieces. Jan. 2 -- bam! -- eight delicious slices. However, it's been nearly a week since I've had my last piece. It's like that commercial where the guys are running on the beach, and the one guy flies past the other guy, only later on, the other guy catches and passes the guy who was sprinting. I think it's for mutual funds or gay sex. Perhaps both.

The moral here is that with mutual funds, bacon, and gay sex, you don't want to go too hard, too fast. I pledge to get a little more consistent with my bacon eating.

If Only It Was 2005 Again

"As tumbleweeds of bacon ... "
at 00:21

Week 1: Standings

WJR and I were just chatting, and decided it would be a good idea to post weekly standings. I originally had the idea when I was in the lead for bacon consumption, and calling myself Her Baconess and the Duchess of Pork, the latter of which was a nickname of mine for other reasons entirely, but we won't talk about that. Anywho, here's where everyone stands on ingesting nitrates:

Tracey 18
Bob 15
Jess 11
Lozo 11
Tedd 11 (Completely unrelated. I went to college with Tedd, and thought "Tedd" was a funny mispelling, and then I just found out it's actually a real thing, which isn't funny at all now.)
WJR 11
Meg 10
Andrew 10
Christine 9
Christopher 7
Lori 7
Mike 7
Michael 6
Paul 6
Ball 4
Gary 1

So the first Bacon Challenge poll has concluded. With 91 votes, one can conclude that the Bacon Challenge is much more exciting than what is going on in the New Hampshire presidential primary. The poll is coming down, so for documenting sake I'm posting the results here:

Should turkey bacon be counted the same as "regular" bacon?

Yes -- Bacon is bacon: 10 votes (10%)

No -- Bacon is made from pigs, period: 58 votes (63%)

It should be counted the same, but will be cause for ridicule and possibly violence: 21 votes (23%)

Not sure: 2 votes (2%)

So, people like their bacon made from pigs. But you non-pig eaters need not worry. You can Bacon Challenge your own way.

Lori and I put together a tasty dish together on Thursday:



Check this link for the basic recipe. As much as I like bacon fried up in a pan, you gotta mix it up every now and again, so show some bacon diversity, peoples!

i might be winning (and losing)

It is now January 3rd and I have so far consumed seven pieces of bacon. Now, I am no good at math, but I am pretty sure that puts me on pace to eat 4,000,007 pieces of bacon this year.

On New Year's Day, I had this conversation with a waitress.

Me: I'll have the Waterstreet omelet with bacon. (note: your choices are bacon or ham)
Waitress: OK.
Me: How many pieces of bacon do they put in that omelet?
Waitress: A lot.
Me: Well, I kind of need to know. It's important.
Waitress: Four.
Me: Excellent.

Today, I went down to the deli in my office building for some breakfast. I ordered something that I think is called the Bonjour sandwich. I felt like a douche placing that order. Anyway, it's got ham, egg and Swiss cheese, only I got it with bacon instead of ham. Looking back, I should have manned up and got bacon in addition to ham. But anyway.

After about an hour, I was telling Bill about how it is a great sandwich (oh, it's on a croissant which is why it's called the Bonjour... it's all French and shit). About twenty minutes after that, I wanted to vomit. This deli, Al's Deli, has been known to make me ganked in the past. (Ganked is a word my friend made up. It's when you are on the toilet and you don't know if you need to vomit or take a shit. It often accompanies a hangover.) Yet, because it is the only eating establishment in my building, I sometimes go there. It's cold outside and I don't want to walk across the street. And they have bacon.

Anyway, the sandwich made me ganked today. However, I realized I could not vomit, because that would put my bacon total back down to four. I couldn't take that chance.

I doubt I will finish this challenge. I have a not so great heart and eating this much bacon is dumb. But it is really good. I once blogged about how much I love the smell of bacon. It was soon after that where I found out about my bad ticker. I guess I could blame bacon. But I'd rather blame genetics. I will blame the grandfather I never met. I can't stay mad at bacon.

Epilogue

As I was adding some HTML all up in this shit, I went to add the target=blank code, which makes links that you click on pop up in a new window. I accidentally first typed in target=bacon.

Happy New Year!

You know what's good for a hangover?



A tad undercooked for my taste, but I'm guessing that the cooks at Johnny Mack's were hungover, too.

Bring It

So 2008 is here. Register. Eat some bacon. Log your slices.