Step Aside “Buffalo Wings;” BACON is KING!

I remember the first time I heard the words, "Buffalo Wing." It was about 25 years ago, and my boyfriend asked me if I would make him some "Buffalo Wings." At the time, I had never heard of a "Buffalo Wing." I had no idea what part of the buffalo he wanted me to cook for him, or how he wanted it cooked, but I didn't want to appear ignorant, so I just told him I was out of some of the ingredients. Good save, huh?

Well, it wasn't long after that, that we were out to eat and he ordered "Buffalo Wings." OHHHH! Chicken wings drowned in hot sauce! I still had no idea, until years later, why they called them "Buffalo Wings."

Anyway, after that, it seemed the whole world went coo coo for "Buffalo Wings." It seemed as if almost every restaurant and bar featured them as their "specialty," and restaurants, such as, Buffalo Wild Wings, Hooters, Duff's Famous Wings, and others built their reputations and their clientele based entirely on their wings!

The lowly chicken wing, that I never even bothered to fry, was now the "IT" food. What I had once bought for $.29 per pound to boil for stock, was now selling for $2.29 per pound and was celebrated as a culinary delight all across the nation! They weren't just appetizers either; they were the main event! While "Buffalo Wings" are still flying high, for everything, there is a season!

Enter BACON!

I fell in food-love with bacon as a child smelling the heavenly aroma of my papaw's homemade smokehouse bacon sizzling up in my grandmother's iron skillet. It was breakfast food, and sometimes on a BLT for lunch.

Then, one fine day, a culinary genius came up with a new way to enjoy this crispy slice of smoked heaven by adding a couple of slices atop a hamburger, and it was good!

After that, it was on! Bacon began showing up in salads, wrapped around filet mignons, wrapped around scallops, shrimp, chicken, pretzels, and hotdogs. Suddenly it was topping our baked potatoes, in quiches, in club sandwiches and on and on until bacon became as commonly used in recipes as salt.

And it didn't stop there. Bacon Mania suddenly knew no bounds. Somehow, Bacon found its way into milkshakes, vodka, tequila, martinis, cookies, cheese, cotton candy, salad dressings, potato chips, popcorn, chewing gum, bacon flavored salt, bacon bits, candied bacon, and we even found a way to flavor our sweet little cupcakes with bacon! The whole world is being sucked up into an F5 Baconado!

And, if that wasn't enough, non-food became inundated with bacon themes. We can now use a bacon flavored lip balm to enhance our kisses, use bacon flavored toothpaste, use bacon flavored toothpicks, smell bacon cooking when our bacon alarm clocks goes off, use bacon shaped bandages on our boo boos, wear bacon themed clothes, use toilet paper printed with bacon images, and wash our hands with bacon scented soap! Too far? Maybe. Maybe it's only the beginning!

Presently, there are over 80,000 item listings on EBay for BACON!

Like the chicken wing, with demand comes higher supply prices! A few short years ago I was paying about $2.00 per pound for a good premium grocery store bacon. Today, if I want a good thick sliced pound of premium bacon, I will have to fork over $4.50 to $7.00 per pound. Also, a few years ago, grocery stores carried only 3 or 4 brands of bacon, and it was just bacon. Now, there are bacons that cost as much as high priced steak. Bac'n brand (bacn.com) offers a Hickory Smoked Peppered Bacon that is hand rubbed and dry cured, and sells for $20.00 for a 14 oz. package. Bac'n is a specialty brand produced on a family run farm in Kentucky.

Today, selecting a package of bacon to bring home is not as simple as it once was.There are so many different brands and types of bacon in today's market that it's almost like shopping on the cereal isle. There's peppered bacon, maple flavored bacon, low-salt bacon (really?), turkey bacon, beef bacon, pre-cooked bacon, thick sliced, thin sliced, hickory smoked, Canadian Bacon, Irish Bacon, Pancetta (Italian Bacon). You can buy Slab Bacon, Cured Bacon, Fresh Bacon, and Smoked Bacon (my favorite!).

Our dogs have BACON MANIA too. Beggin' Strips are bacon shaped, bacon flavored dog treats, and according to the commercials, dogs are Daffy Duck crazy for them!

While Bacon is currently sweeping the runways of food trends everywhere, food trends are as fickle as fashion. I remember when TV Dinners were all the rage, when Fondue was the belle of the ball, The Fat Free 80s, Fried Cheese Sticks, Lean Cuisine, Starbucks, Whole Grains, and the list goes on, and on.

The point is, like fashion trends, food also trends, and today, Bacon is in the number one spot.

Am I complaining? Heck no! I'm making the most of this whirling, swirling Baconado! I ordered some of that primo $20.00 bacon last week (Don't judge me, I had a Birthday Visa Gift Card). I have Bacon printed on my pajama pants, and I had a BLT for lunch today.

BACON RULES!