My Life With Bacon

MY LIFE WITH BACON continues with a visit to a great neighborhood restaurant, and testing Hormel Natural Choice bacon. FIRST, BACON IN THE NEWS. This one falls into the category of "why didn't I think of that?"  Someone has come up with an app, including hardware,: that makes your smartphone send out a puff of bacon scent as a notification (such as when your loved one texts you).  This is amazing, and incredibly silly.  Apparently, there are actual business uses for this accessory - samples of scents for perfume, or cooking samples.  Go here to read the engadget article plus a video!  Remember " smell-o-vision "??  This was a technology that released smells during a movie!  It was a cool idea, obviously well before its time.  Smell-O-Vision had its one and only public use for a movie appropriately called "The Scent of Mystery," in 1960.  Read the article and also learn that a competitive technology, called "AromaRama" appeared around the...

MY LIFE WITH BACON continues with a review of a famous Chicago butcher's in-store cured bacon, and some Bacon In The News. THE NEWS THIS WEEK was pretty cool:  Hormel sponsored a video contest - who can produce the best short video on the subject of bacon?  They call it the 2013 International Bacon Film Festival, and the YouTube playlist can be found here .  The winner shouldn't have won, in my opinion. A young man with a banjo sings a hokey song about bacon, and waxes thickly about his bacon fantasies.  Make up your own mind, however.  BBDO did the work for Hormel, and they said it was a very efficient way to grab attention, declining to say how much the campaign cost.  A very cool banner image. AN INTERESTING SITE CALLED FOODSPIN reports on a scientific study that concludes: bacon improves everything except pasta and desert.  They call it the "Ultimate Ingredient". The study can be found here , but it's one of those "I knew that" kinds ...

MY LIFE WITH BACON continues today with a Smithfield bacon cook-fest.  We try three varieties of Smithfield, sold locally here at Jewel Osco supermarkets .  Jewel has to be happy these days, because the owners of  Dominicks have decided to exit the Chicago market . BACON IN THE NEWS - Consumer Reports comes out with a report on the best bacon, and you can read a synopsis of it here .  Amazingly, they agree with me that Oscar Mayer is one of the best!  They disagree, however, in saying that Kirkland's bacon is #1 in taste.  I really think Oscar beats Costco every time, although the Kirkland brand is very, very good. Read my previous post on both Kirkland as well as Oscar, buy them both, and make your own decision! ON TO THE COOKING AND TASTE TEST! I'm cooking up three varietals (using the wine terminology with nose pointed in the air) of Smithfield Bacon.  they are all Hickory Smoked, and it appears that the only difference is the thickness. ...

MY LIFE WITH BACON CONTINUES with an awesome brunch with two of my favorite ladies, a taste of Black Earth Bacon, and some Bacon news!  What's not to like? BACON IN THE NEWS . PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS WHINING about bacon.  OK, I get it, there's a certain fad element to people who love bacon.  It's a cool, current thing to talk and write about.  There's been an explosion of bacon products in the market - both edible and inedible.  It's all good fun.  But this guy is taking it too far.  He says "I don't get it."  His article, however has a redeeming quality - it traces the roots of the bacon-maina to two '80's films and the 80's themselves.  Now this is a decade that I loved (but not more than today!)  My wonderful wife Debbie rolls her eyes when our 14-year-old son Jack and I, listening to XM Radio's "80's on 8" make comments like "that wasn't Hall & Oates best" or rock to "Dream Police."  When...