International Bacon Day 2015

This year, Bacon Day landed on September 5th.

My cousin Stephen and brother Jimmy rented a house again for their stay this Bacon Day and was nice enough to let us have the event there. This was very much needed because as with every year the guest arrival seems to grow.

We had an awesome guest list: Me, Ric, my cousin Stephen, Wendy, Stephen’s new pups Shasta and Alice, my brother Jimmy, sister in law Robin, niece Cameron, niece Morgan, My pops (Gerald) and mom (Sandra), Aunt Linda, cousin Tommy, cousin Travis, Charlie, Rebecca, Brook, Evan, Matt, Stephen H, Laura, Jeff, Lynnette, and Alex.

Everyone showed up with various bacon goodies, packages of bacon, booze, and other supplies. Once again we were so overwhelmed with the generosity from all of our family and friends. The infamous Bacon Explosion did not make it into the festivities this year. I know! It’s a staple to the event, but we had so many wonderful things brought by guests to enjoy! The generosity of our guests was amazing and the table was always full!

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Here is the menu from Bacon Day 2015:

(Breakfast)
* Bacon Sweet Rolls (Cinnamon Rolls), By: Elle
* Maple Bacon Donuts and Chocolate Bacon Donuts, from The Donut King, Brought by: Evan and Brook
* Bacon-Wrapped Beef Filet Biscuit Sandwiches, By: Stephen

(Snacks/Appetizers)
* Jalapeno Poppers, By: Stephen and Wendy
* Smoked Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers, By: Jimmy
* Hickory Smoked Jalapeno Bacon, By: Jimmy
* Whiskey Bacon Jam/Spread, By: Jimmy
* Kona Bacon, By: Robin
* Crab and Bacon Dip, By: Linda
* Sriracha Honey Bacon, By: Matt

(Lunch/Dinner)
* Fancy Ass B.L.T., By: Ric
* Smoked Bacon-Wrapped Burnt Ends, By: Jimmy
* Bacon-Wrapped Scallops, By: Linda
* Bacon-Wrapped Butternut Squash, By: Evan and Brook
* Rouladen, By: Lynnette
* Bacon Jalapeno Cornbread Mini Muffins, By: Stephen H and Laura

(Desserts)
* Pecan Bacon Bars, By: Linda
* Bourbon Bacon Monkey Bread, By: Charlie
* Bacon and Chocolate-Covered Pretzel Sticks, By: Rebecca
* Bacon Carmelitas, By: Rebecca
* Bacon Maple Cake Balls, By: Rebecca

(Drinks/Booze)
* Breakfast Shots, By: Elle – Enjoyed first thing in the morning and then all day!
* Bourbon Whiskey – used with the Breakfast Bacon Shots, Brought by: Matt
* Bacon Pudding Shots, By: Elle – FAILED ATTEMPT

We also video-taped an important reading about Heart Attack symptoms to watch for on Bacon Day, read by: Charlie:

Unfortunately, due to the off/on rain on Bacon Day and just being overwhelmed with other events, we did not get to smash over the Bacon Pinata I had made for this year. I will be saving it for next year.

After thoughts of Elle:

Bacon Day was a blast! The day was all about full bellies, drinks in hand, swimming in the pool while it rained, and bacon stickers on our faces as if Bacon Warriors! The idea of creating a day-long event all about bacon bringing so many people together is astonishing. Being able to bring so many family members and friends together always surprises me.

Some things I want to make sure to keep in mind for next year:
1.) Find a larger place to gather (My goal is to have a PUBLIC festival one day).
2.) Organize a “Sign-In” notebook to gather who brought what. I don’t want to miss mentioning someone’s bacon treat on the write-up.
3.) Have more fun things to do and make sure to do them (i.e. Bacon Pinata).
4.) Don’t forget bacon decorations (I forgot the tablecloth and bacon runner this year).
5.) More pictures of everyone (i.e. Bacon ‘stashes).
6.) Continue the bacon strip stickers (maybe even bring makeup for face painting).

– Elle.

International Bacon Day 2014

This year, Bacon Day landed on August 30th.

I was lucky enough to have a wonderful co-worker (Megan) switch Saturdays with me this year. This meant I was able to get up early, get ready and immediately start cooking bacon.

My Bacon Day attire.

Our Bacon Day nail art.

We had an awesome guest list: My pops (Gerald) and mom (Sandra), Ric’s mom (Carolyn) and her friend David, my brother Jimmy, sister in law Robin, nieces Cameron and Morgan, cousin Stephen, Charlie, Rebecca, Autumn, Rick, Brook, Evan, Aaron, Jill, Alex, and MacKenzie.

Everyone showed up with various bacon goodies, packages of bacon, booze, and other supplies. We were so overwhelmed with the generosity from all of our family and friends. This year really showed us how much Bacon Day can be so amazing! In fact, we were so overwhelmed with food that Ric and I were unable to do a couple recipes we had on hand. One of which was Chocolate Covered Ice Cream Bacon Tacos. But don’t worry all these recipes will make it to the blog!

Here is the menu from Bacon Day 2014:

(Breakfast)
* Bacon Maple Donuts, from Nicola’s Donuts – Brought by: Rebecca & Charlie
* Breakfast Shots, By: Elle – Enjoyed all day
* Elvis Sandwiches, By: Ric

(Snacks/Appetizers)
* Sweet & Spicy Bacon Twists, By: Robin
* Bacon Wrapped Sweet Pickled Watermelon Rinds, By: Rebecca
* Crab Dip with Bacon Cups, By: Autumn (pending recipe)
* Pringles: Bacon Flavored – Brought by Jimmy/Robin/Cameron/Morgan

(Lunch/Dinner)
* Bacon Burger Sliders, By: Jimmy (pending recipe)
* Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin, By: Stephen
* Bacon Jalapeño Corn Bread, By: Charlie
* Vanilla and Corn Infused Bacon Gravy and Brioche Biscuits, By: Jill (pending recipe)
* Curry Bacon Pasta, By: Elle
* Bacon Explosion, By: Ric & Elle

(Desserts)
* Bacon Rum Cake, By: Rick (pending recipe)
* Fireball Candied Bacon, By: Autumn (pending recipe)
* Bacon Chocolate Chip Bacon Bars, By: Robin
* Bacon Wrapped Twinkies, By: Ric and Elle

(Drinks)
– Bacon Bloody Marys, By: Autumn (pending recipe)

Bacon Explosion News from Bacon Day:

* We decided to try yet another type of meat mixture for the “meat blanket” portion of the Bacon Explosion: Pork Chorizo and Breakfast Sausage from Petty’s Meats in Longwood and also some ground pork from the supermarket.

* For the bacon lattice, it came together wonderfully.

*…… then, I had the bright idea of putting a little coconut oil on it between going from the oven to the grill…. and it actually EXPLODED. But, don’t worry, we had plenty of bacon. I removed the outside lattice and the inside was cooked enough that it held together. I made another bacon lattice, wrapped it back up, and started over with the cooking. Turned out great!

And CHRISTOPHER DANIELS????

Wait. You don’t know about this? There have been some words going back and forth with Bacon in the Oven, The Read Pile and Christopher Daniels leading up to Bacon Day. To sum it up, I challenged Daniels to a Bacon-Off to take place on Bacon Day. The results to all of this turned out wonderfully! If you unfortunately missed out on all the fun through my twitter and The Read Pile’s shows, don’t despair: Elle vs Daniels.

After thoughts of Elle:

I am so happy with how Bacon Day went! We had lots of food, great company, a comical event took place, and I discovered “coconut oil bad for grill”. But as with every Bacon Day that passes, I instantly think of more ways to celebrate and immediately start thinking of next year. 🙂

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– Elle.

Creamy Curry Bacon Pasta

Ingredients:

* box of pasta, your choice (I chose vegetable farfalle)

* can of condensed cream of mushroom soup

* 1 cup of milk (or substitute – I used almond coconut milk)

* cooked chopped up bacon slices, no less than 8

* cooked peas (I chose a steam bag for convenience)

* curry powder

* pinch of salt

* garlic power

* cayenne powder

Instructions:

* Cook your pasta fully. Keep it just lightly tender. You don’t want it to be mushy. (Note: You may even want to cut a few minutes of the normal cook time. This will be a cold pasta dish, so you don’t want your pasta to break apart when you mix everything together.)

* When your pasta is done, rinse and let cool. When cooled, place in a container and set in the refrigerator to chill while you continue to prep your other ingredients.

* In a mixing bowl, whisk together your can of mushroom soup and milk. Make sure all mixture is smooth.

* Now add your spices to your liking. I was a little heavier with the curry powder, splashed the garlic, pinch of salt, and one shake of the cayenne powder. Mix well and taste. Continue to add spices as you like.

* Now remove your pasta from the refrigerator. Combine your pasta, bacon pieces, and peas. Pour your soup mixture on top and fold in to your pasta mix.

* Store your pasta dish in a container and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour to chill.

* Now serve and enjoy!

NOTES ON THE RECIPE:

* You have many opportunities to make adjustments to this recipe. You can chose to use any flavor of bacon, different condensed soups, different spices, or even different vegetables.

* I am open to any suggestions or ideas on how to improve this recipe.

– Elle.