This article was written by Ashley Bayles and can be Found Here:

So last night my (current) favorite local home decor store, Homewerx, was having its third anniversary party. I stopped by to check it out with a friend and of course tried not to let myself spend too much money. I managed to succeed for the most part except for one tiny problem… the chocolate bars. They had a table full of “exotic candy bars” basically a bunch of different flavors of chocolate bars. What did I see but one with a photo of a nice crisp piece of bacon on the front! Yes! BACON CHOCOLATE BARS! I had died and gone to heaven. Of course I bought one, a bargain at only $7.50. So they call it Mo’s Bacon Bar.. which is actually less than appetizing and many of my friends who I shared it with said the photo of the bacon on the front was a bit unappealing. Yet that is the reason I even noticed the bar to begin with. Maybe I am obsessed.

On first tasting, frankly, it was revolting. I have never doubted my love for bacon until the moment I first tried this chocolate bar. I could have cried if I hadn’t gone through the effort of putting on eyeliner that night. Everyone I shared it with were also disgusted. Until this life changing experience I had thought that bacon could do no wrong…

So today I decided to give it another shot. And while I am still not sure I fully agree with it, I must admit it is slightly more enjoyable today than it was last night. I am going to have to conduct some further testing before I can come up with a final decision. There are also recipes that you can use this chocolate in and the website also has handy instructions on how to eat chocolate (thank god, how else would i be able to eat it without 5 in-depth steps to follow). They even have a downloadable sensory wheel in case you are confused about the experience you are having. I guess it’s like losing your virginity. Practice makes perfect. I now know how to eat my chocolate the correct way for a complete sensory overload of chocolatey bacon delight. I am starting to like this stuff… maybe by the time I finish the entire bar I will be a bacon chocolate addict. It seems entirely possible.

Through this process I have discovered I must not be the only person in the world who absolutely loves bacon. There is actually a guy who made a Candied Bacon Ice Cream Recipe. Bonus points to anyone who makes it and lets me have some (my birthday is November 10 hint hint).

Final verdict by the end of the post and a few more pieces of bacon chocolate… it is actually quite tasty. I think for me the only complaint I would have is not the bacon (I could never complain about bacon) but the fact that near the end it gets just a tad bit too salty (and I love salt as well). Now I better find the Flying Chocolate Pig (with bacon inside, of course) under the Christmas tree this year!

My life is slowly becoming more complete by the day. My friend Shannon (Thank you!) actually bought me steak bandages (the store was out of bacon ones) as a graduation gift, how awesome is that? Meat on my bandages and in my chocolate! LIFE IS GOOD!

Just in time for the winter season comes a recipe that is sure to bring bacon lovers some warm holiday cheer. Turbaconducken. That’s right — a chicken stuffed in duck stuffed in a turkey, all wrapped in bacon. Otherwise known as a bacon-wrapped turducken. Just how did we create this meaty madness? Read on.

It all started with a dream…and a whole bunch of bacon. Five pounds of bacon to be exact. For some variety we used three types of bacon, including Rocco’s Country Peppered Bacon for the decorative topping.

We used a 15 pound turkey, a small duck, and a pre-cut whole chicken. We consulted the internet for a turducken recipe and hoped for the best.

We started by wrapping the chicken pieces in bacon.

Then we split the duck into two halves…

…and wrapped the duck halves in bacon.

At this point the chicken and duck started looking pretty big, so we test fit the pieces into the turkey. There wasn’t any room to spare but we managed to get all the pieces in there.

Then we wrapped the turkey in bacon and the feast was ready for the oven.

We cooked the birds in a roaster oven on low heat. Cooking took all day but the results were worth the wait.

The cooked concoction looked mouth-wateringly good after pulling it out of the oven.

Some of the bacon shifted during cooking, but overall the bacon held together quite well after an entire day in the oven.

The final product was moist and absolutely delicious. We used no seasoning whatsoever. The bacon gave the poultry just the right hint of salty goodness. The perfect holiday meal for bacon lovers everywhere!

Smaste™ rating: 45.953

Kristen and Jenny, our fabulous bacon song parody writers, have  come out of a long bacon break with a brand new parody -- this time of the holiday classic “Winter Wonderland”.

Plus, as an added bonus, BT has uneartherd the best-ever version of the song.

Happy Holidays, Everyone, from all of us at Bacon Today.

-- Mr. B

******

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlxiMSQbozk

The bacon pops, are you listening,

In the pan, pork is sizzling.

A Christmas delight ,

We’re happy tonight.

Walking in a Meaty Baconland.

Cook away till it’s real browned

Heres to all a slice of bacon

It tastes very good

just like it should,

Walking in a Meaty Baconland.

In the kitchen we will cook some breakfast, You will prepare the entire pound.

He’ll say: Are you hungry

We’ll say: “Hell yeah,”

But if you cook it

Don’t eat the whole pound.

The bacon pops, are you listening,

In the pan, pork is sizzling.

We’ll eat it galore

And then we’ll make more

Walking in a Meaty Baconland.

Cook away till it’s real browned

Heres to all a slice of bacon.

Buy the best grade,

The pork is home made,

Walking in a Meaty Baconland..

In the kitchen we will cook the bacon,

I prefer when it is slightly browned.

We’ll have lots of fun with bacon makin’, Until the other kiddies chomp it down.

When it heats, ain’t it thrilling,

Though your nose might start drippin’

We’ll fry-it all day, like Bacon Today

Walking in a Meaty Baconland.

On December 24 each year, a day-long celebration of the travels of Mary & Joseph takes place through the Ecuadorian town of Cuenca. What’s the have to do with bacon you ask? Take a look at the following photo.

Have you ever seen a pig celebrated so gloriously? Any festival, parade, or other holiday event that gives it up to mother pork with such in-your-face and colorful zest is someplace that we want to be.

See you all in Ecuador this Christmas!

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/morejon/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmoorr/

Day 12 of “The 12 Days of a Bacon-Wrapped Christmas“ brings us a bacon-wrapped chicken breasts with ham & swiss!

On the 12th day of a Bacon-Wrapped Christmas we had to come up with a recipe that would really cap off the twelve days of cooking with a fun and tasty meal. We certainly found it with bacon-wrapped chicken breasts stuffed with ham & swiss cheese. Here’s how to make this scrumptious dish yourself.

First, grab two big breasts. The bigger the better (for room to stuff in the ham & swiss you dirty-minded bacon lovers).

Split the breasts down the middle and fold open.

Get some of your favorite deli ham and slide’er on in.

Top your ham with some good swiss cheese.

Fold the chicken breasts back up.

Wrap the stuffed breasts in bacon.

Bake the chicken in the oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

When you’re done, you’ll have a meal that earns a solid Smaste™ rating of 33.47.  A great addition to any bacon chef’s book. Try variants of your own like our Twitter buddy GotKevin’s bacon-wrapped chicken.

Now get out there and make some tasty bacon-wrapped items for you & your family and celebrate your love of bacon all year long!

< Back to Day 11

Day 11 of “The 12 Days of a Bacon-Wrapped Christmas“ brings us a bacon-wrapped polenta.

Perhaps it was inspiration from the overall shape and general countenance of the Bacon Cheese Yule Log, but when we first saw the sausage-shaped tube of Sun Dried Tomato Garlic Polenta we knew we had to wrap it in bacon. To be honest, we didn’t have a clue what Polenta was, other than the package said something about “Ready to Heat & Serve” and “Alternative to Bread and Rice”.

We should have known to turn to the lords of Wikipedia prior to trying this stuff. “Boiled Cornmeal”, “Grain Mush” and “Peasant Food” are three terms used in the Wikipedia definition for Polenta. Not a good sign, but keep in mind we’re experimenting with foods here for the 12 Days of a Bacon-Wrapped Christmas and making each item day by day so we’re not editing out the bad stuff. At any rate, here’s how we made bacon-wrapped Polenta.

We started out by weaving a mat of bacon.

Grabbed our tube of Sund Dried Tomato Garlic Polenta.

Wrapped the bacon around the Polenta and baked in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

We served the dish on its own – just bacon & Polenta sliced into 1/2 inch sections. I must say we were thoroughly disappointed.

This recipe earned a dismal Smaste™ rating of 18.322. If anyone knows of a good way to prepare Polenta that would accommodate adding bacon please share it with the rest of the Bacon Today audience. Otherwise, we can only say to avoid this recipe like the Polenta, er, plague.

< Back to Day 10

Day 10 of “The 12 Days of a Bacon-Wrapped Christmas“ brings us a bacon-wrapped chicken livers. Yes, the internal organs of the baryard fowl meet the belly of a a pudgy pig. What could be better?

Grab your favorite type of bacon (bonus points if you’re lucky enough to get it on “Mananger’s Special”.)

Then, pick up a a tub of chicken livers. Don’t be scared now.

Open the tub of chicken livers and peek inside. Okay, you can be a little afraid now.

Pre-cook some bacon strips. We like to nuke ours in the microwave for a minute or two.

Slap a few of those lucious livers on a plate, and after you’re done revelling in their magnificence…

Wrap the pre-cooked bacon around the chicken livers. Secure with toothpicks and pop them in the oven on a baking sheet for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

That’s it. You’re done. Now grab a couple of your closest friends and dare them to expand their culinary horizons.

This recipe earned a wishy-washy Smaste™ rating of 25.6. You really have to love both bacon AND liver to enjoy this meal. Having said that though, I’ll readily admit I felt a sense of accomplishment and a fulfilment of some fargone traditional values when I ate the chicken livers. My great-grandmother would have been so proud.

< Back to Day 9

Day 9 of “The 12 Days of a Bacon-Wrapped Christmas“ brings us a bacon-wrapped tofu. This recipe is quick & easy and quite tasty since the tofu really takes on the flavor of the other ingredients.

Buy yourself a pack of firm tofu. We chose a non-refrigerated variety.

Take the tofu out of the pack and wrap it in some paper towels. Put a heavy book on top of the tofu block for about 10 minutes to squeeze out a lot of the moisture.

Get some soy sauce…

and some brown sugar…

and combine the two in a bowl.

Mix the soy sauce and brown sugar together to make a thin marinade.

Now, slice the tofu in cubes and trim some raw bacon strips in half to fit your cubes of tofu.

Wrap the bacon around the tofu cubes. Secure with toothpicks if necessary.

Dip each cube in the marinade. Cover the tofu/bacon cubes generously with the marinade.

Cook the cubes in a frying pan over medium heat until the bacon is as crispy as you like. You’ll probably have to turn the cubes a few times as you cook.

The final result is a pretty, great tasting treat you can use as an appetizer for nearly any meal. This recipe earns a solid Smaste™ rating of 38.92. Highly recommended!

< Back to Day 8

Day 8 of “The 12 Days of a Bacon-Wrapped Christmas“ brings us a bacon-wrapped brussels sprouts. Special thanks to Eron G. for giving us the inspiration to come up with a bacon + veggie recipe.

As always, we start with a fresh pack of hearty bacon. We chose Farmer John Old-Fashioned Maple Bacon for this recipe.

Gather up 10-12 Brussels Spouts and get ready for action.

Boil the little green monsters until they’re tender enough to easily stab with a fork.

While the sprouts are boiling, pre-cook some bacon. We cooked ours for about 2 minutes in the microwave.

Since the base for this recipe is the evil Brussels Sprout, we decided to add some honey to candy up the veggie taste.

Wrap your sprouts with the bacon, secure with toothpicks, arrange in a shallow baking dish, and drench with the honey.

Roast the sprouts in an oven at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. It’s just that easy.

Unfortunately, these little buggers only earned a Smaste™ rating of 23.79. Sorry, but you’ll have to tell the kids a bit of a fib to get them to believe these are tasty treats. Even the honey coating couldn’t disguise the fact that the heart of this meal is still brussels sprouts.

< Back to Day 7