Hot Chicks Eat Bacon

Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks is mad for bacon—chocolate covered bacon to be exact—according to Esquire. A woman after my own heart, she orders a soup with both pancetta and guanciale and exclaims “I know my pork!” She goes on to extol the wonderful uses of having a deep fryer. Is there anything sexier than a hot woman who just loves to eat?

Next month, I will be going a Mad Men-era cocktail party filled with hot women who love to eat. So what do I bring for these drunk, hungry bitches? When I think of 1960s entertaining, I think: canapes! And wouldn’t baconmarmalade be a beautiful (and yummy) topping for a canape?! But... I’m not exactly prepared to share that much of my stash. Instead, I whipped out my trusty Bacon Cookbook and found a french cheese & bacon puff recipe that looks amazing. I then googled 1960s canapes and found a recipe for “baconettes” which sounds more theme appropriate. Which would you rather enjoy while knocking back a gimlet or two?

French Cheese & Bacon Puffs

1 cup water

1 stick butter, cut into pieces

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup flour

4 large eggs

1/2 lb slab bacon, diced

1 cup shredded Gruyére

Combine water, butter & salt in a heavy saucepan & bring to a boil. Reduce heat, add flour & beat w/ a wooden spoon until a ball of dough forms. Transfer to a mixing bowl & add eggs one at a time, beating with an electric mixer on high until the batter holds soft peaks. Cover with plastic wrap & chill briefly.

Fry bacon until crisp & drain. Preheat oven to 375° & Butter a large baking sheet. Fold the cheese & bacon into batter & drop by tablespoon onto the baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, turn heat off & let stand until golden & crisp, about 10 minutes.

OR

Baconettes

bacon

peanut butter

large apple & toothpicks

Spread slices of bacon with peanut butter. Roll tight & fasten with toothpicks (soaked in water). Toast under broiler until bacon is done. Serve by sticking the toothpicks into a large apple.

Bacon Hits the Spot... or Marks the Page??

I personally have found plane tickets, metrocards, receipts, photos, postcards—even a clover—in second hand books. Never have I been so lucky as to find a slice of bacon! Artist Dan Thompson has been finding and collecting all kinds of odd and interesting things used as a bookmark in library books. They are now on display in Worthing’s main library. The bacon itself is not in the showcase, however, you can download your very own bacon bookmark here (minus the inevitable mess).

Thanks for the link Karen!

My New Bible

Very soon you’ll be seeing more and more bacon recipes featured (and not just cookies)! Eventually, anyway. Summer had me wanting to be out and eat out all the time. However, this book may be just the thing to inspire me to finally get back to the kitchen. The Bacon Cookbook was sent to me by baconista follower Justin of justcook nyc who is currently working with this author on a cookbook filled with all Southern-style pig recipes out next spring. Very exciting...

To weigh in on which recipe I should make first, vote in the poll to the right.

Bacon Association

An excerpt from the book I was reading on my commute this morning (the author’s father had suffered a stroke):

“What do you call this, Daddy?” I held up a fork. He mimed eating with his good hand. “That’s right. You eat with it, but what’s it’s name?”... His eyes tilted up as if he were searching for the right word. Meanwhile, in my own skull I leaned hard on the right word—fork fork fork—like a mantra. His eyes flashed. The good side of his mouth warped up in a half smile. “Bacon!”

Eating equals bacon for me too. From Mary Karr’s “The Liar’s Club.”

From Bacon Explosion to Book Deal

Jason Day and Aaron Chronister created a huge bacon buzz for their blog with the Bacon Explosion. They have now signed a 6 figure book deal! Eatmedaily.com reports that “Barbecue Makes Everything Better” will actually NOT include the famous bacon recipe that got these guys so much attention in the first place. 

Good for them, but if you ask me—bacon makes everything better. Now, if only blogging about bacon could get me somewhere...

Seduce Me

And this is the way to do it:

Seduced by Bacon by Joanna Pruess is filled with irresistible bacon recipes. Tempt your loved one with the come-hither smell of bacon this Valentine’s Day. You can see a few of the recipes here. Photographs by Liesa Cole are indeed seductive. Even shots of skillets and non-bacon ingredients look damn sexy.

The King of Fat

Someone please get me this book! Or better yet, someone just make me a few of the recipes in it! Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient (who wouldn't want to read this?!) argues that the quest for health has gone way too far. I agree! McLagan describes pork fat as the king of fat. I would like to believe that bacon fat in particular currently reigns! Recipes include a smoky bacon & squash soup and a slow-roasted pork belly. And she also answers my question with her spice cookie recipe that calls for bacon fat rather than butter. Fat is a beautiful thing...

Thanks to Pete LaCock for sending me the Times review.