One thing this blog has been good for is keeping tabs on my everchanging obsessions. It's chronicled my late-in-life discovery of peanut butter (extra crunchy, if you please), borne witness to a hundred carnitas tacos if it was one, and made my mother's crazy, uncontrollable lust for chocolate seem as nonchalant as a greaser lighting up another smoke. It's kept up as I swooned over Manresa once...twice...thrice; ate jumbo pieces of cinnamon toast for days on end; made a big batch of cookies and ate an obscene amount all by my lonesome. And this is just within the past year.
But before you call me fickle, I'll have you know that each new desperate love affair does not take the place of an old one -- it just joins the party. I guess I'm more of an adulterer, as it were. Or a polygamist. Ahem.
What's the latest everyday foodstuff to assault my plate? you ask. The humble BLT. I had some Niman Ranch applewood smoked bacon leftover from my weekend dinner party and had just been told by Mr. Food Musings that he wouldn't be home from work in time for Sunday lunch. (Yes, working on Sunday. Advertising is an ugly little world.)
So what did I do? Did I pout and stomp my feet and cry? No. (Well, maybe I pouted a bit.) But then I got my game face back on and slapped together a BLT as my reward. Whole wheat bread? Check. Tomatoes? Check, and ripe ones, too. Mayo? Got it. Lettuce? Hmm...spinach will have to do.
Since that first bite of crisp, crunchy bacon, sweet tomatoes, properly toasted, er, toast, and all those yummy salty flavors mingling in my mouth, I've eaten one pretty much every day, not including the Thanksgiving holiday. The bad news is that the bacon is officially all gone (and none of my pants will button up all the way, but that's why God invented safety pins!) The good news? There's more bacon where that came from.
Count me in as a big bacon fan here, extra crispy. I bought a great cookbook all about bacon over the summer and have been working my way through it. For Thanksgiving, I make a Cranberry Broccoli Salad, complete with crispy bacon ... mmmmm, yummy. And healthy, right? With broccoli? I figure it cancels out the negative aspects of the bacon. ;)
Posted by: Sweetnicks | November 30, 2005 at 07:55 AM
Bacon...the food of gods! If I could have just one food for the rest of my life the Big B would have to be it. When you need a litle change from the normal BLT, try a BAvocadoT or BLAT. MMMM!
Posted by: Tracy | November 30, 2005 at 08:57 AM
Sweetnicks -- I like the way you think -- broccoli v. bacon!
Tracy -- good call, avocado does make a great addition to a BLT. I never seem to have any on hand, though...could it be because Mr. FM eats them straight from the skin with just a dash of salt and pepper? Ah yes, that could be it...
Posted by: Catherine | November 30, 2005 at 10:21 AM
Niman Ranch is basically a local purveyor for you, right? So it counts as "eating local." And tomatoes are still ripe and yummy in NorCal at the end of Nov? Wow!
Posted by: LisaSD | November 30, 2005 at 10:53 AM
i know it may sound gross, but as a kid, i used to toast a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich and add bacon to it.
it's gooey, it's rich, and believe it or not (i tempt you to try it!) it tastes awesome.
Posted by: little sister | November 30, 2005 at 12:47 PM
LisaSD -- yes, they are local. The tomatoes were not local or the lush red of summer fruit, but given proper time to ripen the Romas did a sufficient job!
Little Sis -- God, I'd forgotten those! Heaven!
Posted by: Catherine | November 30, 2005 at 12:55 PM
Ditto on the PBJ & bacon---makes a GREAT breakfast along with a glass of milk (skim, of course!). Just a reminder: the Southern BLT is always made with white bread, but I'm sure you know that. Bacon is in a class by itself all right! It makes almost everything taste better (tho I have yet to try it with chocolate--just give me time!).
Posted by: Mom | November 30, 2005 at 01:29 PM
Mom -- I have a recipe for peanut butter chocolate truffles. Yell if you want it...!
Posted by: Catherine | November 30, 2005 at 03:54 PM
Mmmmmm..... cured pork.
Want to make *anything* taste good? Just one word: lardons. Cubed bacon does fine too. It's how I got my husband to eat brussels sprouts.
:-)
Posted by: Robyn | November 30, 2005 at 05:13 PM
WHOOEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! I'm yelling!
Posted by: Mom | November 30, 2005 at 06:07 PM
Robyn -- love that combination myself. I've often thought it probably IS the cure for Brussels sprouts' terrible reputation.
Mom -- okay, I'll email it to you, or maybe make some at Christmastime?
Posted by: Catherine | November 30, 2005 at 07:02 PM
oooh!
BLT :)
We had it the other day and are in the midst of a bacon love affair too :)
Posted by: clare eats | December 02, 2005 at 07:17 AM
Clare -- lots of people have said that!!! It must be seasonal (?) Or in the air. Or something!
Posted by: Catherine | December 02, 2005 at 08:39 AM