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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.
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. 🙂
– 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.