November 30, 2009 by Marianne

November 30, 2009 • Filed Under: Bacon Video , Bacon, Canada, Daily Show, Jon Stewart, Thanksgiving, Tom Green

For those of you just tuning in, we here in America just celebrated Thanksgiving; a day of feasting, fun and family where we celebrate how a long time ago, the Native Americans saved our asses. Or something along those lines. It reminds me of how I once got in a debate with a Canadian about what Thanksgiving is really all about. In Canada, they celebrate the fact that Martin Forbisher, some old-timey explorer, found his way to the Pacific and back. And get this, they celebrate on a MONDAY in OCTOBER! Weird, right? Eh? Hoser? This Canadian also schooled me about how basketball was invented in Ontario. Whatever. We invented Michael Jordan.

Anyhow, I’ve never met a Canadian I didn’t like. In fact, they’re often the funniest people in any room. But since the Canadians are so fond of correcting us, here’s a really old clip (1999) of Tom Green bringing Jon Stewart up to speed on bacon. Canadian bacon.

December 1, 2008 by Marianne

December 1, 2008 • Filed Under: Bacon Reviews , Bacon, cinnamon rolls, Thanksgiving

Wow, Thanksgiving was fun. What I remember of it, at least. It certainly was a day of indulgence, and enjoying good friends. My gang of merry revelers all pitched in to make it a day of joy-filled memories (and black-outs.)

As Naseem mentioned in her Thursday post, she brought me the cutest bacons ever made. Adorned in a pilgrim hat and native head dress, these Thanksgiving guardians stood proudly by the beautiful centerpiece (until we lit the candle), also made by Naseem with succulent clippings from her garden. It took me a few minutes to get through the, “I can’t believe you made thats” and, “Aaw, you really shouldn’t haves” before we could get down to the business of baking. But eventually our hunger got the best of us and it was time for a late breakfast.

For months now I’ve been planning to make the famous Bacon Cinnamon Rolls. I’m not always the biggest fan of mixing my salty and sweet, but these things really did look good to me, and since Thanksgiving is the one day of the year that I indulge in Pillsbury products, I figured, what the heck? We used Trader Joe’s thick-cut, applewood-smoked bacon for this recipe, and a basic can of Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls. Turned out the rolls either never were “rolled” or had been in the can so long they could not longer be taken apart. At any rate, we used a knife to “unroll” them, and rolled each back up with a slice of bacon. I had pre-cooked the bacon to about half done in the oven.

We ended up securing each roll with a toothpick so they wouldn’t unravel, and baked for about 13 minutes. (I think my oven’s thermometer may be off…the can only called for 10 minutes.) We let them cool about 5 minutes, and then frosted those beautiful babies with the can of glaze provided. We held off as long as we could, but finally they had to be tasted. And they were…DELICIOUS! Oh my gosh, I am so going to make these again. We each ate two with a chilly mimosa and forced ourselves to stop eating so we could keep doing other dinner prep. But dang, I could have gone for a third.

The rest of the food was pretty standard holiday fare and mostly non-bacony except the green beans. The stuffing was jam-packed with spicy and sweet Italian pork sausage, which was pretty awesome. And this was funny: right before serving dinner, I announced, “Oh wait, I need to make the salad. Do you guys want salad?” The unanimous answer was, “no!” And so, yet another saladless Thanksgiving was had.

I’m sad to report that the turkey and gravy were both demolished! Not a leftover in sight. Which means…Thanksgiving part II next weekend when the husband gets back in town. It’ll be tough to stuff myself with all that delicious food again, but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. Big thanks to Naseem for being my “right hand man,” and to all my guests for sharing the day with me. I’m thankful for each and every one of you.

November 27, 2008 by Naseem

November 27, 2008 • Filed Under: Bacon Gifts , Bacon, Holidays, Thanksgiving

So after years of Marianne raving about Thanksgiving at her house, I am finally going to be attending her feast today.  I was so excited yesterday (and still am today!) that I spent the evening creating a gift for Marianne  to thank her for being such a great friend and for cooking Thanksgiving dinner for about a dozen Santa Barbara orphans.

Duh - of course it was a bacon gift!!! I sewed up these two little munchkins you see in the pic above with felt, stuffing, pipe cleaners, a glass of wine, and two kittens who discovered pipe cleaners are their new favorite toy.  They have removable hats so I can make them Santa hats and devil horns for future holidays, or just leave them in their naked bacon glory.  They’re about 10 inches tall and wonderfully plush and bendy.  I get the feeling these will either end up in Marianne’s nephew’s grubby little hands or in Brutus’ bacon-loving mouth today. I can’t wait!

Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone!

November 27, 2008 by Marianne

November 27, 2008 • Filed Under: Bacon Cartoons , Bacon, harvest, Thanksgiving

In celebration of the season, Brutus offers his vision of a perfect harvest…something he could be truly thankful for. Hope you’re all enjoying a wonderful holiday!

November 19, 2008 by Marianne

November 19, 2008 • Filed Under: Bacon Cartoons , Bacon, Thanksgiving

If you don’t know the work of Dan Goodsell yet, then you are in for a world of goodness. An Imaginary World, no less. In the Imaginary World, you can follow the adventures of Mr. Toast and his many friends. Like Lemonhead. And an egg. And a strip of bacon. Check out the archive of comics, especially the many holiday themed features. Super fun. Today we’re celebrating the harvest season with this friendly reminder of our Native American friends who made survival in the New World possible.

One fall semester many moons ago, I read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. I got pretty angry about the lies and omissions I had been fed for years about America’s treatment of the natives, and especially about the Thanksgiving myths I’d been taught since Kindergarten. That year I protested the celebration of Thanksgiving by refusing to take part in my family’s holiday traditions. Eventually I came to terms with this ugly part of our past and made the holiday my own with a more personal take on giving thanks. But I still like to take the time to reflect on the kindness and unflagging trust that the Native Americans showed to those who arrived on their shores, and to give special thanks for those people who extend a hand of kindness to me each and every day. Despite its historic roots, the idea of a holiday to give thanks is a wonderful thing, something I’d like to celebrate every day.