Mmm...bacon!

Lucas enjoys bacon now and then... and is sure to munch on his fair share (and more) when its offered.   A few days ago my parents were visiting and I did a survey of the kitchen, in search of a quick lunch idea.  Catherine, Eliot, Noah, and Clare had been away and in their absence, their bountiful tomato garden had filled our window sill with many ripe ones.   Lucas had been recently introduced to the classic Toasted Tomato Sandwich and loved it-- that seemed like an easy solution to fill our plates.  Then I thought about how to ramp it up a notch.  I was pretty sure we had some bacon in the freezer... from who knows when...?  Surely the fat and salt content would mask any freezer burn?  (only the best for my parents;)!  That quickly morphed into BLTs-- and an explanation to Lucas about the B. and the L. and the T.  (Important Lucas trivia question:  what do you call it if you add cheese?)...

As I indulged in the first bite of my BLT, I thought out loud, 'Mike would have loooooved this sandwich'...'Ooo, this is a mean sammy!'.  I often think about what Mike would be enjoying along with us.  We talked about Daddy liking bacon as Lucas and Emily nibbled away (Emily took some convincing, initially insisting:  'I don't like bacon!').

Talking about Mike and bacon naturally led to a few other stories.
Years ago, when Mike and I would visit Barrie together, my parents would make an big effort for breakfast.  Without visitors, they routinely keep things pretty simple by sipping coffee and munching on bagels.  But with Mike visiting, things would suddenly ramp up to include a table set complete with orange juice, eggs (How do you want them?  - 'Smashed, please'), toast, and BACON.  For a number of years Mike actually believed my parents ate this way every morning.  He thought they must really love bacon.

This was also around the same time Mike lived with 'King Bacon'-- more commonly known as 'Depu' or formally known as Darren.  Mike thought Darren cooked more bacon than the average guy and periodically referred to Darren as 'King Bacon'.  A few years after Darren and Mike graduated and no longer lived together, Mike and I discovered a product at the grocery store that made us laugh and instantly think of Darren:  pre-cooked, ready-to-heat-and-eat bacon.  It was a disturbing notion.  We always intended to send Darren a package in the mail, but never got around to it.   In hindsight, it may have bit of an insult to the King.

Bacon also makes me think of the Nault Caesar Salad.  As Dave mentioned, this salad has many special ingredients.  One key component is the bacon.  The trick is freezing the bacon and then, with a really sharp knife, cutting the bacon perpendicular to the frozen slices... voila!- instant bacon bits!   Add the bread cubes to some of the residual bacon fat in the frying pan and you've reached crouton nirvana.

My final bacon tale comes by way of my friend Amanda, a life-long vegetarian.  Natasha, my Meat-Loving friend, felt Amanda was missing out without bacon in her life (!?)...  and convinced her to at least try smoked gouda to get as close as possible to the taste of bacon.  We fondly refer to this culinary twist as 'bacon cheese'. 

Mmm... bacon.  Lucas will continue to enjoy bacon, on its rare appearance in our house.  And we'll continue to think of Mike relishing another one of life's simple (slightly guilty) pleasures.