December 2, 2009 by Marianne

December 2, 2009 • Filed Under: Bacon Gifts , Bacon, Bacon Freak, bacon store

I know people keep trying to say the bacon craze is over. I know there are some people out there who don’t want to hear, see, or think about bacon anymore. If any of those people are reading this now…well, why would they be? It’s a bacon blog. So I’ll just pretend they don’t exist.

Although I experienced a lull in my bacon enthusiasm after Bacon Day ‘09, Thanksgiving really helped re-kindle my love. I mean, you just can’t have green beans without bacon. And one thing leads to another…

Our friends and sponsors over at baconfreak.com have provided us with a list of their top 10 bacon related products this year. And what do you know…they’re all available for your gift giving pleasure!

# 10 - Boss Hog’s Bacon Chocolate Sueyts

Bacon and chocolate; it’s one of the few salty/sweet flavor combinations I actually enjoy. And they were wise enough to use dark chocolate instead of milk. As I discovered with our Bacon Day chocolate fountain, bacon is the best thing to happen to chocolate since peanut butter. Oooh, bacon peanut butter cup. Someone should totally steal that idea.

# 9 - Bacon Freak Maple Bacon Pancake Mix

Whether you stick this in someone’s stocking or have some ready for Christmas morning, these pancakes are a great idea. With chunks of bacon and maple mixed right into the batter, it’s an entire breakfast ready to go. Finally a pancake mix that is bold enough to say eat me!

# 8 - Bacon Pillow

Direct from Bacon Today comes a unique, hand-made, limited production item that is a must-have for the bacon lover in your life. Bacon throw pillows! Measuring approximately 13″ x 23″, this soft slice of bacon is made of fuzzy red & white fleece. The outer cover even has a zipper so you can slip the inner pillow out and clean the bacon’s shell.

# 7 - Swine and Wine Gift Box

This gift set includes everything you need to throw a Swine and Wine Party! You can take your pick from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Chardonnay paired with a selection of Boss Hog Hickory Smoked Bacon. And just in time for your next big holiday party, they’ll throw in a one pound chunk of their Smoked Mozzarella Cheese. Oh yeah, your order includes a t-shirt that says, “Swine and Wine - Two of my favorite things” - that should help start your party off right. Oh, and based on our results from Bacon Day ‘08, I’d recommend the Cab.

# 6 - Boss Hog’s Bacon Cheese Straws

Now I’ve never been to the South, but I hear cheese straws are a true southern treat. These crunchy guys are sprinkled with Boss Hog’s Bacon Seasoning, so they have the added benefit of tasting like…you guessed it, bacon.

# 5 - Bacon is Meat Candy T-shirts, Hoodies and apparel

BaconFreak has more than a dozen bacon related t-shirts boasting their trademarked label - Bacon is Meat Candy!

# 4 - Bacon Gift Wrap

Don’t forget to wrap your gift in the wrapping paper that is perfect for the pork lover in your life.

# 3 - Boss Hog Sampler Deluxe Gift Basket

This Gift Box is for the loved one who loves bacon. You get two pounds of Bacon Freak Bacon, one bag of Boss Hog’s Maple Bacon Pancakes, and of course Boss Hog’s Bacon Seasoning to make everything taste like bacon! Shipping is included in the price.

# 2 - Bacon Freak Bacon Jerky

Love bacon, but can’t always be at home, slaving away at the stove? Then Bacon Jerky is your ultimate snack! This is for the bacon lover on the go. *Pets love them, too!

*Brutus tested, Brutus approved

# 1 - Bacon Freak Bacon

When plain old bacon just won’t do. Bacon Freak is serious about creating amazing flavor combinations. Our readers really enjoyed the sun-dried tomato and jalapeno flavors, but there are another 20 flavors to choose from, including chipotle, cajun, hickory, honey bbq and more.

And don’t forget, the RBS Bacon Store has a mind-boggling number of other products to choose from. From stocking stuffers to gifts that give all year long…don’t delay! Your holiday shopping days are numbered.

September 22, 2009 by Marianne

September 22, 2009 • Filed Under: International Bacon Day , Bacon Freak, Bacon Unwrapped, Genesis West, International Bacon Day, Paradise Island Popcorn, The Soapier

Wow, it is really taking me forever to finish writing about Bacon Day. It was just SUCH a day!

We had a number of very generous donors who helped us make this event a success. First and foremost was Rocco at Bacon Freak. He sent us 12 pounds of his delicious, uniquely flavored bacons. Without exception our guests enjoyed them…I don’t think we received a single negative review. Rocco’s bacons are dry-aged, so they have a texture that’s different from most bacons you’ve eaten. And the flavors! We were fortunate to sample Boss Hogg’s Hickory Smoked Maple , Rocco’s Private Reserve Sun-Dried Tomato (a big hit from Bacon Day 08), Bourbon Street Cajun Style, and the most popular, Coastal Caliente Smoked Jalapeno. You can find all these flavors and more at Rocco’s Bacon Store. Thanks, Rocco, for your never-ending support!

Next, we had a new sponsor in Paradise Island Popcorn. They sent us a split case of their Mmm…Bacon popcorn, and their popular Jamaican BBQ. We had enough popcorn for everyone to sample at the event, and several people won a box to take home. Thanks Steve! We’re customers for life!

Our raffle was jam-packed with awesome prizes. Blogtastic Heather Lauer of Bacon Unwrapped sent us two signed copies of her book, Bacon: A Love Story. John at The Soapier provided us with three beautiful bars of bacon soap (bacon in looks only…smelled divine.) There were swag boxes from Bacon Freak, theatre tickets from Genesis West, t-shirts, bacon novelties…there were moments when I thought the raffle would never end!

Congratulations to our raffle winners, and thanks a million times over to those who supported the cause. It was a huge help in our fundraising efforts, and really made for a fun day. And for those of you who didn’t win…you’ll just have to come back next year and try again!

September 18, 2008 by Marianne

September 18, 2008 • Filed Under: Bacon Reviews , Bacon, Bacon Freak, Bacon Recipes, Breakfast

As I mentioned during the Bacon Day posts, Rocco from BaconFreak gave us A LOT of bacon. We had already purchased many pounds of bacon ourselves, so were not able to use it all on Bacon Day. Fortunately, this means that we get to sample it at our leisure and tell you about each one individually.

Last week my husband and I busted out the Coastal Caliente Smoked Jalapeno Bacon. This appealled to my husband immediately because he loves everything to be spicy. The bacon is rubbed with a dry spice mix and dry cured. The spice mixture was pleasant and not too spicy, but then again we eat a lot of hot foods at our house. For those with a more sensitive palate, it might seem muy caliente. I tend to be boring when it comes to bacon, avoiding even maple flavoring and sticking with just a strong smoke flavor. My husband, however, loved this spicy new taste and was more than happy to snag the last slice in the pan.

A few days later, we made some white bean chili. I usually start my chilis (and almost everything I make) with a few slices of bacon, so we decided to try it with the jalapeno variety. It was fabulous! I usually put lots of chili powder and cumin and other spices in the mix, but the bacon took care of all that. A little black pepper and crushed chili flakes and the flavor was perfect. My husband called it the best we’ve ever made. So there you have it: from the breakfast table to the stock pot, jalapeno bacon is a great way to add some spice to your life!

September 11, 2008 by Marianne

September 11, 2008 • Filed Under: Bacon Reviews , Bacon Freak, Bacon Jerky

Lest ye think that my devotion to this blog is insincere, I’ll tell you about my waking thoughts today: Bacon Jell-O. That’s what I was dreaming about when I woke up, and I thought, “Yes! Perfect! I’m sure I can find a photo of a perfectly molded Jell-O ring with strips of bacon in it.” Such is my delusional devotion to the pork belly that I believed this dream could come true. Alas, I will have to make it myself. Which, now that the sleep has been rubbed from my brain, I doubt I will do anytime soon.

On a brighter note, BaconFreak recently got FDA approval for their new line of Bacon Jerkys. I was fortunate to get a sneak preview of a few of these new releases, so I’ve got the inside scoop for you. I was able to sample both the Honey BBQ and “BLT” (sun-dried tomato) flavors. Right off the bat you notice that, unlike beef or turkey jerky, bacon jerky retains a lot of moisture, presumably because there’s so much fat in the cut. The fatty parts are relatively soft, and make for a totally unique texture experience. I liked it! The strips are thick cut but, since bacon is cut against the grain, you don’t have to gnaw your way through any long, stringy parts. And, depending on what you like about jerky, that could be either a bonus or a drawback. As with all the BaconFreak products I’ve tried, the spices used to flavor the meat were great, especially the Honey BBQ.

I also sampled the Cajun Ham Jerky. While the flavor was very good, for my money the slice was too thick. It was great for a piece of dry-cured meat, but didn’t fit my definition of jerky. With that in mind, it would be an awesome backpacking item for you campfire cooks because it’s sealed airtight with an extensive shelf life. It’s a great way to put some delicious protein into soups or breakfast recipes without having to tote less enduring meat products in an already full pack.

So there you have it. From Bacon Jell-O to Bacon Jerky…I wonder what we’ll dream up next.

September 1, 2008 by Marianne

September 1, 2008 • Filed Under: Bacon Reviews, International Bacon Day , Bacon Freak, Bacon Grease, Bacon Reviews, International Bacon Day

Okay, so it was our first Bacon Day ever. That doesn’t make it any less spectacular. The Royal Bacon Society hosted a backyard party that will take me a good week to fully cover. It was a ton of fun and ridiculously delicious. We prepared seven pounds of bacon in various forms and recipes, and I’m here to tell you…there was no bacon left at the end of the day.

The centerpiece of the event was a bacon and wine tasting. We offered three wines and four bacons, asking our guests to try each bacon with each wine and rate the pairings from 1 to 5. Wines included a local Zinfandel blend, a Petite Sirah, and a Pinot Grigio. To begin with, the two reds were a toss up in terms of guest ratings. They both went well with bacon, but I imagine a nice bold Syrah would probably have beaten them both. The Pinot Grigio was the least pairable, but that was no surprise. Even a buttery Chardonnay probably couldn’t have held up to the strength and smokiness of any decent bacon. It was overwhelmingly confirmed: bacon is a red wine meat.

We had a delicious array of bacons. First was Daily’s Hardwood Smoked Peppered Bacon. This was a thick-sliced bacon with plenty of course-ground pepper and about a 50% ratio of fat to lean. The texture was somewhat typical, and I didn’t notice anything overwhelming about the smoke. But it was a great bacon and consistently got the highest ratings in terms of pairing, particularly with the Zin blend.

Next was Trader Joe’s Uncured Apple Smoked Bacon (couldn’t find a link.) Again, a thick cut bacon with a pretty even blend of meat and fat. The bacon was absolutely delicious, and the fat had a much softer consistency than traditional cured bacons, which I found delightful. This may become my new every day breakfast meat. In terms of pairing, it ranked second of the four.

Third we had Farmer John’s Old-Fashioned Maple Bacon, which was a pleasant surprise. You could truly taste the maple syrup with each bite. I’m not sure I would want a BLT with this one, but it was great to eat on its own. This product was standard cut with average fat content. Although it tied for third in pairings with our last bacon, it was the only one that could even approach a decent flavor with the Pinot Grigio.

Finally, we had a late entry with Rocco’s Sun-Dried Tomato Bacon. This is one of BaconFreak.com’s Bacon of the Month Club offerings, generously contributed for the event. (Thanks, Rocco!) This bacon is standard cut with a high fat content, which made it a bit softer than the other bacons (similar to Trader Joe’s). It tied for third in terms of pairing, but I think this was the big favorite of the day for texture and sheer deliciousness of bacon. Every time I turned around someone was asking me what it was and where I got it. I’m anxious to try Rocco’s other flavors over the coming month.

I have to say this party was just a blast. I’ll fill you in throughout the week about other recipes we tried, more product ratings, and the most recent verdict on the Bacon Bourbon. I have to give MAJOR THANKS to Naseem and Cameron for handling all of the set-up and cooking all the bacon for the tasting! This party would not have been possible without you two rock stars. And thanks to everyone who came out and partied with us and ate no less than 5 slices of bacon each. I hope your arteries will forgive us and that we’ll see you next year…the countdown to Bacon Day 2009 has already begun!

More than 20 ounces of grease was produced on Bacon Day 2008