Hmmmm...bacon popcorn. I never thought of that.

please pass the marshmellow for my bacon flavored snow ball

When I was growing up bacon was on the breakfast table every Sunday (unless we had sausage instead). Now it is a forbidden treat. I basically buy it twice a year: once after cooking a turkey so we can have turkey and bacon sandwiches, and during the shad run (shad roe without bacon is nothing). Now prosciutto--that's a different matter.

here Ants (no, I'm not calling them inside)

Binkert's bacon is as good as bacon used to be.

Popcorn is the perfect food, although I add a little powdered chipotle to the butter and salt.

Bacon popcorn is available lots of places. It's good, too.

http://tinyurl.com/y8kn9wd

Anything in moderation, say once a day.

"wormy return" which will happen sooner then later if you eat too much bacon.

I nominate Brockelman for comment of the week, for supplying that link.

This may help explain the phenomenon of Bacon (from Wikipedia):
"Savoriness (Umami) is the name for the taste sensation produced by compounds such as glutamate. The compounds that generate savoriness are commonly found in fermented and aged foods. It is also described as "meatiness", "relish", or having a "rich" taste. Savoriness is considered a fundamental taste in Chinese, Japanese and Korean cooking, but is not discussed as much in Western cuisine.
Humans have taste receptors specifically for the detection of the amino acids, e.g., glutamic acid. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and are found in meats, cheese, fish, and other protein-heavy foods."

Baconophilia may be a reaction to the flavors imparted by the salts, nitrites, and nitrates they use to cure the bacon. Smithfield ham has the same effect on me as bacon does, and it's heavily salted and cured.

strunsky vision (my Polish opthamologist name)

I always bought my bacon from a small butcher shop that made their own. A thousand times better than "store bought". I haven't been to Binkert's since Lissa suggested them awhile back but I will make it sometime over the next couple of weeks.

Until recent years, bacon for me was always for breakfast or in an occasional BLT or the very occasional spinach salad with hot bacon dressing (yum!). I think the real bacon "out of the box" phenomenon came with the cooking shows.

I mean, coating bacon with brown sugar and baking it in the oven! Who'd have thought of THAT? Although, It's AMAZING! And, beginning b**f Str*gan*ff with bacon grease to cook the onions in. What a great idea.

I think that us bacon lovers have just been waiting to have more bacon recipes!

Joyce W. :
One of my holiday favs:
Angels on Horseback.
Wrap shucked oysters in a slice of bacon and broil. Serve on toast rounds. Hmmmm...bacon...

viding hadfield (my long lost feuding cousin name)

I've always loved bacon
my favorite pork
to eat with my fingers
or perhaps with a fork
stuffed between slices
of fresh toasted bread
I'll eat it for breakfast
I'll eat it in bed
I like bacon with hamburger
bacon with cheese
for pork belly bacon
I applaud the Chinese
It's bacon dear bacon
Oh bacon I cry
If the bacon don't kill me
I'll live till I die

from Tremors

I think popcorn's problem is that most of which is sold is that awful microwaveable stuff. I'm not sure if I can think of a worse snackfood than microwaveable popcorn. Oh and that smell...that horrible smell.

I'm also not a big fan of the Beggin Strips commercial, but I find the Snausages commercial to be quite delightful. Does it ever get old to say Snausages? I don't think so.

I think popcorn's problem is that ...

Fascist

Okay, you won me back with Snausages. That never gets old. I'm going to name my twins that when they are born. Their individual names will be Snapple and Scrapple.

Gosh, Owlie--how did I miss the news of this happy event? Congratulations!

Try popping popcorn in bacon fat. Unbelievable!

Try popping popcorn in bacon fat.

Marry me.

*blink* I can't believe it never occurred to me to pop popcorn in bacon fat or lard. Obviously, I have not been consuming enough chocolate!

re: Umami and glutamate

There's at least a couple of additions you can add to that list, Cleatus. Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce, nam pla. It's absolutely retched in its pure form -- but anyone who's picked up a Thai recipe or two over the years can tell you its the secret magic to most anything in Southeast Asian cuisines that make them so very good.

Plenty of sources of glutamate throughout Asian cuisines. Soy sauce. Nori. Kombu. Dashi. Miso.

The West has its own sources of glutamate, beyond bacon. The breakdown of proteins into amino acids flavors a lot of things we take for granted. Sharp cheeses. Slow-simmered stocks. Anything aged or cured.

You ever wonder why Worcestershire sauce (and its many derivatives) is so good? Anchovy -- high in glutamic acid.

Which brings us to Caesar dressing. Parmesan cheese. Marmite. Vegemite. All chock-a-block full of glutamate.

The Chinese simply thought to cut out the middleman and give those tastebuds what they crave in a distilled version, MSG.

The Chinese simply thought to cut out the middleman and give those tastebuds what they crave in a distilled version, MSG.

MSG is NOT a traditional Chinese additive. MSG was actually invented/isolated by a Japanese scientist in 1907 and subsequently patented by Ajinomoto Corporation of Japan in 1909.

Now say umami.

Come on, umami. Say it.

Umami.

Umaaaaaaaami

Say "Smithfield ham" five times fast.

Now say it slow:
Hmmmm.....Smithfield haaaaaaam...

National Fleecing (my healthcare industry lobbyist name)

Wait a minute. Caesar dressing has marmite in it? It doesn't when I make it.

The very nice folks at Mueller's Deli have been ordering Schaller & Weber double smoked bacon for me. (You can also order it online.) I think it tastes like bacon is supposed to.

Lissa - you missed the point. "When you make it" it doesn't have additives. When you buy it (sans eggs, anchovy, worchestershire, real cheese, whatever makes it good) you don't know what is in it.

I always liked that commercial, but not as much as I like a BLT.