April 27, 2014 Northshore Baconfest Report, and Captain Bacon

MY LIFE WITH BACON continues with the Army naming Captain Bacon, a little HufPo validation, and some bacon cookin'.

BACON IN THE NEWS some good stuff this week


THE HUFFINGTON POST CORROBORATES MY FINDING that the best way to cook bacon, about which I wrote a few weeks ago. If you recall, I tested several ways to cook the world's most coveted food, and HufPo agrees with me.  Click here to read their article.  Go back in time and look at my post of March 14, 2014 to see my method test. They call it "The Surprising, Easy Trick to Cook Perfect Bacon". Hint: it's not the Bacon Bowl.

ARMY DESIGNATES CAPTAIN BACON.  It's true.  The awesome Army Football Team has named Article here.
Geoff Bacon a co-captain of the West Point football team.  Beat Navy!

THIS WEEK'S FEATURE IS A REPORT FROM THE NORTHSHORE BACONFEST
Glenview, Illinois' Historic Wagner Farm hosted the second annual baconfest.  Proceeds went to a great organization - The Friends of Wagner Farm.  The bacon was supplied by Oscar Mayer, so you know it would be solid vittles!  You can see all nineteen participating restaurants at their website: here.

The Farm was decorated with baconalia all around.  We were greeted by the Ms. Bacon Suit (picture top right) and we later met the youthful and fun Ms. Bacon Strip.  Ms. Strip was by far the more bubbly and energetic of the two, but Ms. Suit was a joy as well.

Here are some shots of the wonderful bacon-themed food in the various rooms:

Our best find of the evening was Sweety Pies Bakery from Skokie, IL.  Believe it or not, the little piggy to the left actually has over 40 bacon chocolate truffles inside.  They were conducting a silent auction for some lucky winner to take it home with them.  I couldn't bring myself to bid, because I am sure I would eat half of it in one sitting.  Well done.


Among the other wonder baked goods by Sweety Pies was the Maple Bacon Sheet Cake below.  Vanilla cake topped with maple cream cheese frosting and candied bacon.  Ohhhh.

The other thing we found out was that the proprieters make Primal type items - now my wonderful wife (we were celebrating our 18th wedding anniversary - at a baconfest!~) now has a source for my birthday 'cake'!  They also make lots of gluten-free and non-allergen baked goods.  (By the way, the printer of the night's program has the URL wrong - it goes to a different bakery - but the link above works.)

We sampled pretty much everything.  Here are a couple of our favorites:

The "Great Dane": Applewood smoked bacon inside of artisan baked bread, American/Cheddar cheese as a grilled cheese sandwich!

Awesome.  This is a specialty of the "Toasty Cheese Mobile Eatery" out of Schaumburg, IL.  Great website here.  Very reminiscent of the "Bacon Bacon" food truck and cafe out of San Fransisco, about which I've written in the past!

Debbie and I have passed Eddie Merlot's frequently, when driving on Milwaukee Avenue.  This is apparently a new item on the menu.

The shrimp weren't "jumbo" - they were colossal!  Cooked on site to perfection, stuffed with horseradish and wrapped in bacon, they were the ultimate in flavor.  Just a little too sweet for perfect paleo, but great tasting!

My next favorite is below: bacon scoops with Cobb salad inside.  Now that's Paleo.

See you next week!