Birthday Bacon

Today was my birthday. Rapidly approaching the 2/3 of a century mark, but that's ok. So, how was it? Quite good, is how. Got a couple of new suits, and some nice ties to go with them. Maybe not too exciting for you, but they are my first suits of the 21st century. Got a new little garage air compressor to replace my 30-year old one that failed recently. And finally, my kids got me a membership the the Bacon Club from The Pig Next Door. Yup, there really is such a thing. It's gonna be awesome. Check it out at http://www.thepignextdoor.com/.

More on the bacon when it starts arriving. Also planning another Bacon Explosion soon.

AC-DC, or Is the Library Great or What?

A few weeks ago, I went to the Humble Rodeo, which, by the way, isn't a rodeo at all, with sons, daughters-in-law and grandkids. The boys got a sweet gig there - judges in the BBQ cookoff. Anyway, we wandered around, went to the petting zoo, got some kettle corn, fried turkey leg, sausage on a stick, funnel cakes, you get the idea. One of the local businesses had some tables set up and said it was fine for us to sit a while. They even brought us some complimentary beers! Really nice folks - D&D Collision. They had some decidedly non-rodeo music on. I think it was our classic rock station. While we sat there, they played a block of AC-DC. Kind of got me in the mood to listen to a little more.

Where do you go when you want to listen to a little AC-DC if you don't have the CDs or anything on you iPod? The library, of course. You order up aCD, check it out, take it home, and listen. When it's due, you take it back. While I was checking out the catalog for AC-DC, I found another engineering dork AC-DC item. Is there such a thing? You bet. Here they are.

On the right is AC-DC's Black Ice CD. On the left, AC/DC. I'm just starting this one. It's the first real standards war - the bitterly fought struggle between the proponents of alternating and direct current to see which would be our electricity standard. Beta vs VHS or BluRay vs HD was nothing compared to this. Just thought the similar titles and cover appearance with one being screaming rock and the other being a standard war fought in the 1870s was sort of interesting, at least to an old engineer who likes old rock and old engineering stuff.

In the Spring . . .

A man's fancy turns to thoughts of . . . Well, I don't know about the rest of y'all, but for me, it's BACON. Yup, that's right. By now, everyone on this planet with an internet connection has seen the Bacon Explosion. We thought it was one of the most intriguing foods to come along for a while, and had planned to try one over Spring Break in another week or so. However, my bride was out of town this weekend, and I did get several chores done, and therefore thought a little fun would be in order. So I tried one.

Here's the deal. They're really easy to do. And, I think I learned a couple of things that will help on the "real" one in a week or so. You start with a woven bacon mat. Sprinkle it with whatever rub or spices you like. I used some Tony C's.

By the way, while you're weaving the bacon, you can be frying the remainder of the 2 lbs you started with. Make it crisp, 'cause you're gonna have to crumble it. Then you form your sausage into a big patty that covers the bacon. It's good to separate the sausage from the bacon with a sheet of waxed paper at this point, because the sausage is rolled separately. Then you sprinkle some more of your rub on the sausage, put on the bbq sauce, and then put on the crumbled bacon. I used Owens sausage - one pound of regular and one pound of hot. BBQ sauce was a basic honey hickory smoke sauce. The sweet sauces make a shinier glaze. Tip - actually press the crumbled bacon into the sausage - helps when you roll it up. I shoulda used more bbq sauce, too. When you think you've got about the right amount on, add about 50% more.

Then you roll up the sausage / crumbled bacon layer, seal the edges, and then roll that up in the bacon mat. Coat the whole thing with more bbq sauce and put it on the smoker. I had to use the little smoker box on my grill - it'll be better on a real smoker - but this worked. Just keep the heat low, and get a bit of smoke working. I used apple.

Two to three hours later, you get this glazed, smoked beauty. Cut into it and enjoy. It's disgustingly good. Lessons learned - use more bbq sauce, press the crumbled bacon into the sausage, and it'll be better on a smoker. A grill runs a little hotter, and the bottom got pretty crispy. Not burned, but close.

I've got a friend, using a very loose interpretation of that word, who believes eating these is a good plan. With the economy the way it is now, if you eat these regularly, you probably won't have to worry about not having money for retirement. You really won't last that long.

That's all for now. Gotta run out for Lipitor.

Born to Party

New Year's Eve. THE party night. Some people avoid parties and major celebrations on New Year's Eve, terming it amateur night. You know, the night when the relatively inexperienced party wannabes get all out of control and crazy. Others, however, who really know partying have a great time on New Year's Eve. Noise, food, drinks, etc.

Personally, I prefer to do my New Year's partying pretty close to home. There are a lot of people on the road who probably shouldn't be. So that's what we did this year - entertained at home. We got a couple of photos while the party was at its peak. Here's one of them:

One of the keys to a great party is to have a variety of guests who have different interests and viewpoints. Ours, as you can see, spanned the generations with attendees from both the 20th and 21st centuries. We were also a multi-species party, which, of course, added to the fun. It sort of ceased being fun for one of the guests when some fireworks were set off nearby in the neighborhood. She spent the rest of the evening under the bed. The rest were undaunted, however, and partied on into the wee hours, as you can see by the clock on the wall.

After a party this intense, the guests found themselves a bit too tired to drive home, so they spent the night, and actually hung out a good part of New Year's Day as well. We rang in 2009 and got it off to a good start.