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 15, 2009 by Marianne

September 15, 2009 • Filed Under: Bacon Recipes , bacon cookies, Genesis West, International Bacon Day

By far the most popular items at Bacon Day were the sweets. We linked to the recipe Naseem used for Bacon Caramels, which were amazing. Although I have not traditionally been a fan of mixing my sweets and savories, I believe I’m being won over. Between the caramels and the chocolate fountain, I’m starting to sing a different tune. And let us not forget the cookies!

Maurie, the director of Genesis West (the theatre company for which Bacon Day raised funds), volunteered to help out by making some bacon-themed cookies for the event. His doll of a mother, Holly, also jumped in with a fury and came up with TWO new recipes. Three very different cookies, all equally enjoyed by our guests.

Maurie’s Elvis Bars were a tweak on Ina Garten’s Peanut Butter & Jelly bars. Simply substitute chopped bacon for the peanuts! You may remember that last year our friends Chrissy & Smiley made peanut butter & jelly sandwiches with bacon…these cookies partially made up for Chrissy & Smiley’s absence at this year’s event.

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups (18 ounces) creamy peanut butter (recommended: Skippy)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups (18 ounces) raspberry jam or other jam
2/3 cups crisp, crumbled bacon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch cake pan. Line it with parchment paper, then grease and flour the pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until all ingredients are combined.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined.

Spread 2/3 of the dough into the prepared cake pan and spread over the bottom with a knife or offset spatula. Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly over the jam. Don’t worry if all the jam isn’t covered; it will spread in the oven. Sprinkle with crumbled bacon and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and cut into squares.

Holly’s Chewy Bacon Chocolate Chunk Cookies make me drool just thinking about them.

2 cups + 2 tablespoons unsifted, bleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking solda
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 bars dark chocolate, broken into chunks
1 1/2 cups chopped crisp bacon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Mix flour, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl; set aside.

Mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended - mixture should become almost caramel like in color and texture. Mix in whole egg, yolk and vanilla until thoroughly blended. Mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks and crumbled bacon.

Using tablespoon, drop dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake 12-14 minutes, reversing sheet position halfway through baking time. Cookies should be light brown with outer edges beginning to harden while centers are still soft and puffy. Cool on sheets until set, transfer to cooling racks to finish until chocolate begins to set. Yields 32 cookies.

And finally, Holly’s Bacon Breakfast Cookies. The secret ingredient is Rice Krispies! They make the cookie airier than normal oatmeal cookies.

1 cup Bacon Grease
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1 cup Light Brown Sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
½ teaspoon Baking Powder
½ teaspoon Salt
2 cups Plain Flour
2 cups Oatmeal
2 cups Rice Krispies
1 cup Chopped Pecans
1 cup Chopped Crisp Bacon

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Cream grease and sugars. Add eggs, vanilla and sifted dry ingredients. Mix well. Add aatmeal, Rice Krispies, pecans and bacon. Batter will be very stiff. Drop by teaspoons onto lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake 25-30 minutes. Yields 5 dozen.

So there you go, bacon cookie recipes galore! I can personally recommend them all; enjoy!

September 8, 2009 by Marianne

September 8, 2009 • Filed Under: International Bacon Day , Bacon Day 09, Genesis West, Nicolaysen Winery

What can I say about International Bacon Day 2009? It was so fun. It was muy delicioso! I am too exhausted to really even think about it. I CAN tell you that no fewer than 43 pounds of bacon went into the event, and no one left with an empty belly. I will tease you with a few photos here, but a more full and informative report will be forthcoming. Likely over the course of many days.

These bacon caramels made by Naseem were the #1 hit of the day. There have been a ton of hits to this page since the event…everyone wanted the recipe. They melted slowly in the heat of the day, but that didn’t make them any less scrumptious.

The bacon goat cheese lollipops got mixed reviews. What did I learn while making them? Grinding bacon, toasted pecans and fresh basil together makes your whole house smell like heaven.

Finally, the chocolate fountain. You simply cannot go wrong with a bubbling fountain of warm, semi-sweet chocolate. And yes, chocolate-dipped bacon is delicious. The big debate was this: Does that prove that everything tastes better with bacon? Or that anything tastes good dipped in chocolate? There was much disagreement.

I hardly know where to start with my thank yous. Wendy was my hero, my champion, my getter of all needful things. Thank you, Wendy. This event would have been a disaster without you. My co-conspirator Naseem. Thank you for planning and shopping and cooking and designing all the t-shirts and signage and EVERYTHING! Your work really took the event up a notch or fifty. The Genesis West team, Maurie and Holly. Thank you for inventing and baking the amazing array of bacon cookies (more to follow…you’ll want these recipes!) And of course our army of volunteers who manned the door and the bar and helped with set-up and tear-down: Cameron, Parry, Sarah, Sheri, Krista, Julia, Brian, Natalia, Ryan and my brother Matt. You were like a dream come true.

Last but not least, thank you to all those who attended! It was great to meet you and share the beautiful day. And for those who didn’t get to RSVP before it sold out, mark your calendars for next year: September 4, 2010. I’m already in talks with Nicolaysen Winery about their potential involvement…I promise you, you will NOT want to miss it!