Bacon.  I admit it – I’m in love with the stuff.  That perfect combination of salty, smoky, and slightly fatty at just the right thickness is something I can’t get enough of.  For breakfast, lunch and/or dinner, there’s always a place for bacon.

When I was younger, and even more spoiled than I am now, my grandmother would fry bacon until I stopped eating it.  I’m not sure she understood just how much of it I could eat at one sitting.  As I got older I liked frying it myself because my mother always fried it “crisp”.  That completely leaves out the wonderful greasy fatty flavor.  It’s like ordering a great steak well done.  And I should know because she always cooked steaks well done.  But that’s another story for another time.  Back to the bacon.

What is it about bacon that we all love?  It touches three of the elements of taste perception, and any food that hits multiple elements is more satisfying.  It has different textures, crunchy and chewy, making it more interesting.  It literally makes anything taste better.  Brussel sprouts for instance.  Who in their right mind would eat those without bacon?  Things that are good for you become much more appetizing when it’s cooked in bacon grease or sprinkled with bacon.  Salad for instance. My mother-in-law keeps her bacon grease in a plastic tub to use when she fries eggs.  How can that be wrong?

The fact that bacon comes from such a funky looking animal is the ultimate irony.  Big pink bodies with flat snouts and little pincurl tails. Pigs who bury their noses in slop and like rolling around in the mud producing some of the greatest meat products ever.  As one of my favorite chefs, Emeril Lagasse says, “pork fat rules”.  So true.

This morning I met a friend for breakfast and of course, had bacon.  It’s the perfect side for something sweet like Belgium waffles or french toast with syrup.  A few bites of sweet, a few bits of salty/savory.  Simple and satisfying.  I’m pretty sure my friends laugh inside when we go out together for breakfast because I tend to order the same thing.  Why mess with a good thing?

Dinner tonight was a fend for yourself kind of night with lots of leftovers, but that’s not what I was craving.   I made a bacon and tomato sandwich paired with a sweet coleslaw, savory baked beans and salty chips.  Again, the bacon made the meal.  I know I do a lot of talking about food on this blog, but seriously, life is short.  If you can’t enjoy your food as well as sustain your body, what’s the point?

I have a sign in my room that says “I Love You More Than…” and then lists things like chocolate, winning, cupcakes, sunny days, monkeys like bananas  – and bacon.  I had to really think about that before I bought it because I wasn’t sure it was true.  Just kidding Doug : ) Maybe.