Monday, November 16, 2009

Aging with a side of bacon

Ever hear the one about the vegetarian who attended a bacon party? No? Yeah, me neither. But I've lived it. This weekend, Mr. Dog and I attended his friend's annual bacon bash. It's kind of a bacon cook off complete with judging and prizes. Guests bring bacon themed food and compete for the honor of receiving bacon themed prizes. Not something most vegetarians would be keen to get in on, but I'm competitive so any challenge is, well, a challenge. After lots of talk, Mr. Dog didn't make a dish, but I brought two. Bacon brittle (think peanut brittle but replace the peanuts with crispy bacon) and smoky salted bacon caramels. I'm a fan of the sweet and salty combo, and more recently I've become a big fan of cooking foods I don't eat and can't taste while preparing. It's kind of a perverse challenge and like I said, I have a thing about challenges. So I served up my food and waited for the verdict. Seriously there wasn't much else I could do because all of the food and a good portion of the beverages contained trimmed bits of hog.
In the end, neither of my dishes won awards, but they did seem to be well received by those who tasted them. The people who kicked my pig fat dishes in the dessert category were really nice and Mr. Dog assured me that their dish was actually really tasty so I didn't just lose out because the plate had been garnished with an adorable pig carved from an orange. I don't take defeat easily, but it stings less when you know the opponent was worthy.
This morning Big Dog asked how I fared in the competition. When I told him I'd lost, he told me "Well, you may have lost at the bacon party, but you're the winner in this house!" then demanded a bacon caramel. It's nice to be loved.
On a side note, as I replayed the evening in my mind this morning I realized despite leaving the kids at home with a sitter and attending this party as an honest to goodness grown up, most of my conversations were about the kids or the chickens. Either my social skills are really really rusty, or the parties I attend have changed dramatically from the parties of my youth.

3 comments:

chihuahua5 said...

um....anymore of those bacon caramels or bacon brittles for me? i'll be over this wednesday...if you guys are game for company.

followthatdog said...

You know I do Auntie Chihuahua. We only wish you'd been in town for the bacon party. You'd have been in heaven.

geekymummy said...

I was thinking of you too, Chihuahua. Now we know what to get you for Christmas!

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