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!

July 8, 2009 by Marianne

July 8, 2009 • Filed Under: Bacon Reviews , Bacon, Paradise Island Popcorn

I have to start this post with two apologies. First, I apologize to the Paradise Island Gourmet Popcorn company. We were remiss in sampling your product. Second, I apologize to our readers, for not getting the word out sooner about this delicious treat! I hope this review will earn us a measure of forgiveness.

Naseem and I were both pretty excited about Paradise Island popcorn when they first contacted us. They thought we might like to try their bacon popcorn, and a few other intriguing flavors, such as strawberry, pineapple and cinnamon. Last weekend we were finally able to get together with friends to get some varied and objective feedback. We purposely included one Doubting Thomas just to get all perspectives, but once we started tasting there could be no doubt. We all loved this popcorn! The ranking of flavors was almost unanimous.

#1 - MMMM…BACON. We think we liked this flavor best because it was salty, which is what you expect in popcorn. The aroma was smoky and reminiscent of really well-done bacon; some thought bacon bits. The flavor was salty, smoky, and almost cheesy. Once someone said “cheese” we all started to think of it as smoked cheese popcorn. This bag was gone long before we had finished discussing its nuances.

#2 - CINNAMON TWIST. This was a totally surprise favorite. The aroma reminded us of a warm, fresh churro, and the flavor backed that up. Sweet, but not overwhelming. Yum.

#3 - PINEAPPLE DELIGHT. This was the sweetest of the flavors. It reminded me of pineapple upside-down cake; others tasted notes of other tropical fruits like mango.

#4 STRAWBERRY FIELDS. Although this flavor ranked number 4, the margin was very slight. This one reminded us of Frankenberry cereal, and I mean that in the best way possible.

Paradise’s CEO, Steve Cantin, tells me that everyone (including lovers of bacon) is really excited about their new flavor, Jamaican BBQ, which I’m sure to be trying soon.

We were all thrilled to discover how much we enjoyed this popcorn. We hadn’t actually planned to try all four flavors in one go, but once we got started we just couldn’t stop. (See the stack of empty bags above.) The most exciting thing about these microwaveable wonders is that they’re sugar free (except Strawberry Fields, which has a small amount), contain no trans-fats and are made without hydrogenated oils. They would make a great sweet snack for someone trying to cut sugar and fat out of their diets…and with this in mind my parents will be receiving a variety pack in the very near future.

And now for the best news of all: RBS readers can get this funfood for 15% off! Just click through from the RBS Bacon Store, and use the coupon code RBS15 at check-out. Happy Snacking!