Bacon MMMvelopes -Mailing letters has never been so tasty!

This bacon craze has gone too far. Now there are Bacon Flavored MMMvelopes. From the bacon obsessed peeps at J&D's , makers of Baconnaise and Bacon Salt, now you can get the flavor of bacon when sending your snail mail. These standard 10" envelopes look like bacon and taste like real bacon. It does not contain real bacon so there is no need for refrigeration and your vegetarian friends can enjoy the taste they miss the most. According to Gizmodo "you get the taste of bacon and a deep feeling of emptiness inside yourself." You can buy this great invention at mmmvelopes.com, $6.99 for 25. Also be sure to check out the J&D's website for their other bacon products.


Source: Serious Eats

Corn and Bacon Pasta

I have been a terrible blogger. I apologize. I have actually been cooking up a storm. I have been trying to perfect my pie technique and am proud to say, I am pretty close! But more on pie later. I just recently moved to Mammoth Lakes home of Mammoth Mountain Ski resort. Hopefully I will be working at the Westin Monache Resort but in this economy one cannot put all her chickens in a basket. I am SO bored right now as there is no snow so no work. This is the perfect chance for me to catch up on my blogging. I have so many recipes and pictures backed up from last month!

Because of the big move, money has been kind of tight and I was also trying to use some of the ingredients that wouldn't survive the 5 hour drive to Mammoth. This is another great pantry dinner. It's probably not the healthiest but I love the salty bacon with the sweet corn. It is one of my favorite flavor combinations. This is also one of my go-to-recipes when I don't feel like cooking. With a green salad, this meal is super simple and takes less than 30 minutes!


TBC's Orecchiette with Corn and Bacon
serves a generous 2 portions

4 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces.
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 TBSP butter
2 ears of corn, shucked and kernels removed or 2 cups frozen corn
8 oz. orecchiette pasta or other short pasta
2 TBSP cream
chives for garnish

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling water. Drain and reserve.

Cook bacon in a medium size saute pan over medium heat until crispy. Drain on paper towel and reserve.

Pour out bacon grease. Add the butter and wait until foam subsides. Add the chopped shallots and cook until translucent. Add the corn and cook until corn starts to make popping noises.

Combine cooked pasta with corn mixture. Add the cream and toss pasta to coat. Divide servings among bowls and add bacon and chives.

Best and Easiest way to cook Bacon

Who doesn't love bacon? I bet vegetarians who converted later on in life even miss bacon a little. I love when bacon is crispy, flat but has enough fat in it still to melt in your mouth. I hate bacon that is overly crisp, curly and burnt where the curls touch the pan, often due to too high heat. To cook bacon to perfection, the fat must be rendered out over low flame or in low heat. Baking bacon in the oven my fool proof and splatter-proof way to cook bacon. It is especially good if you are cooking large amounts of bacon.

TBC's Best Way to Cook Bacon

Line a rimmed baking sheet (half sheet pan) with foil. Fit rack on top. Line bacon up without touching each other. The bacon will shrink as it cooks so it doesn't need to be spaced out, just don't have the edges touch because they can stick together.

Place in the cold oven and turn the oven to 350˚F. The oven heating to temperature will render out the fat slowly without burning or curling. After the oven reaches 350˚F, leave the bacon in for 10 minutes more. After 10 minutes, your bacon is done and is perfectly crisp and flat.

Try these variations:

Brown Sugar Bacon: Mix 1/4 cup brown sugar with 1 tsp. freshly ground pepper. Evenly sprinkle brown sugar mixture over 1 lb. bacon and bake following the instructions above.

Sweet n' Spicy Bacon: Mix 1/4 cup brown sugar with 2 tsp. cayenne pepper. Evenly sprinkle brown sugar mixture over 1 lb. bacon and bake following the instructions above.

Super Fair!

I love the Fair. It's a strange obsession but it probably has to do with summer day camp. For 3 consecutive summers, my parents sent me a to day camp across the street from the fairgrounds. During July, the Fair would be our go-to field trip and we probably went at least 3 times per season. Every summer, excitement grew each day amongst the campers as the Ferris Wheel and the other carnival rides were constructed, their progress being carefully monitored by the watchful campers.

This year is no exception. I got a Super Pass, which gives me daily admission to the Fair. So far, I have gone 3 times and there is still one and half weeks left. I plan on going at least one more time (I'm bummed I missed the Demolition Derby night though).

In my 3 visits, I managed to eat a huge sampling of fair food, ride a variety of the crazy carnival contraptions they call rides, get incredibly sick on the Tango, not knowing that the ride went upside down,(Word of advice people, check out the ride before you decide to go on), win a prize at a carnival game, catch a Magic show, and walk through the Festival of Products.

Chicken Charlie's will fry anything. Word on the street is if you bring him a pickle, he will fry it for you. I wonder if the chocolate covered bacon could be deep fried.

The chocolate covered bacon was pretty lackluster actually. It was cold and tasted like chocolate with a strange salty burnt taste. Interesting concept, poor execution.




I love roasted corn.



More corn.



Yum.

Best thing at the Fair. The Mexican funnel cake. It is truly super sized. If that is a little much for you, try the bag of churros. For $4.50 you get a bag filled with freshly made churros. Best deal at the fair. They are warm and covered with cinnamon and sugar. I couldn't finish the whole bag (even after sharing with 3 other people) and it still tasted good the next day. They are at the Apple Fries stand by Kiddie Land. Trust me. You will thank me. Oh by the way, apple fries are apples wedges covered with cinnamon sugar and deep fried and served with whip cream.

The fried avocado was suprisingly one of my favorites. The crunchy fried exterior nicely complemented the smooth creamy avocado.


Roasted peppers filled with cheese



Freshly made chips and onion rings.



Deep fried pizza bites

Bacon in a Tube. Quite possibly the world's most perfect food?

Brought to you by the Swedes, quite possibly the world's most perfect food: Squeezable Bacon in a tube. How do you say? Well shortly after WWII, a Swedish restaurant worker came up with a new way to process bacon. He found that by pre-cooking it and blending it a certain way, he could make into a fully cooked bacon paste that can be squeezed onto anything! Due to the patented electro-mechanicial process, Squeez Bacon requires no extra additives or preservatives. With a 12-year shelve life , no refrigeration necessary, and made from 100% USA pigs, Squeez Bacon may be the world's most perfect food. One serving is equivilant to 4 slices of bacon! Each tube contains 64 slices of bacon. Squeez Bacon can be eaten warm or cold. Squeeze it onto a sandwich, pizza, soups, pastas, anything edible! Rumor has it the members of ABBA met while eating Squeez Bacon sandwiches. IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad never travels without it. Luckily for you it is now available in the United States! You can buy it for $8 at ThinkGeek.com. Think about adding Squeez Bacon to your camping kit or your emergency earthquake kit. A couple of tubes of Squeez Bacon during a "state of emergency" and you will forget about the hurricane/earthquake/tornado that tore up your house.

Source: ThinkGeek.com.