Sunday, August 16, 2009

The Birth of the Bacon


Welcome to the First Annual Bacon Blog Hop Bacony goodness

I wonder how many of us, as we cool down with our Sunday Morning Orange Sherbet with Bacon Sundae, really know the history and origin of the tasty Bacon we take for granted.

Our story begins in Medieval Wisconsin, back around the time beer was invented. Along the shores of Lake Michigan, outside of the Milwaukee villages, endless was the bounty of nature, and the cheese grew wild in the fields. But, as many a villager learned the hard way, the countryside outside of the safety of the village was no place for a careless frolic through the fields of ripening cheddar. For the land outside of the medieval Milwaukee village was ruled by hordes of ruthless Vegetarians. They would stop at nothing to capture and indoctrinate the hapless villager who would venture out into the countryside alone, and never again would he know the taste of meat. The vegetarians would gather nightly in the sacred apple groves to intone their pagan paeans to broccoli and sauerkraut, force-feeding the captives into green submission.

The vegetarians' apple-grove revels were usually short-lived. For the stench of the rotting cruciferous vegetables would attract herds of feral hogs, which would over-run the groves, scattering the vegetarians back into the woods. The hogs would root through the sauerkraut, scratch their backs against the sacred trees of the apple grove, and then go their way until the next time.

This went on for hundreds of years until one day, a brave soul, Patrick Cudahy went out into the cheddar fields for some cheesy activity with his lady fair. The vegetarians, true to their unsociable behavior, came yipping and squealing through the field, and Patrick lost his concentration. So angered was Patrick by the vegetarians' interruption of his frolic in the field that he set fire to one of their sacred apple trees. The vegetarians had never seen fire before, and they all scattered at the seeming divine intervention. It was a dry season, and many more of the sacred apple trees went down in a smoky haze. Confused, one of the feral hogs charged into the apple-wood conflagration. The next morning, Patrick Cudahy and his lady fair were poking through the ashes of the burnt apple grove. They came upon the charred remains of the feral hog. In that great moment, not only was Patrick Cudahy Sweet Applewood bacon discovered, but thus also began the tradition of the Sunday morning all-you-can-eat brunch.

And what more fitting addition to your Sunday brunch than two pieces of crispy brown toast, smothered with peanut butter while still hot, so the peanut butter melts, and topped with strips of crispy bacon. Simple, yet extravagent. Yum!

And now, for more Bacon-y goodness, follow this link to the Lisa Page Page. Usually full of art and craft ideas, today's edition involves BACON.

Lisa Page http://pagepeople.blogspot.com/

Thanks for listening and contributing. For up-to-the-minute thoughts, come on over to twitter.com I'm @dimbulb52

7 comments:

Lisa Page said...

Hi Gary! You are WONDERFUL writer! Can I be you when I grow up?

I am really loving the diversity of these bacon blogs so far. I think the readers will know more about bacon then they ever have.

Thanks for sharing and linking me!

Leslie Hanna said...

Ah, the now-famous cheese fields of Wisconsin.

PB & bacon? Never tried it, but it sounds intriguing. :-)

And no tapir?! :-)

Lydia Fiedler said...

hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa - OMG I'M LMAO!!

You need to write the entire history of Wisconsin in a book and publish it. I totally would have paid attention in school if I'd been taught these things!!!

Dreena said...

This is amazing! Patrick and his lady are lucky that the apple tree conflageration didn't melt the cheddar cheese fields! They'd have scalded by rivers hot hot ooey gooey melty cheddar cheese! Which coincidentally do go very well in a sandwich with bacon....hmmm...is there a part 2 to this story?

Wonderful post!

rhonda said...

Bacon sundae? I don't know about that one :) Thanks for sharing, great post!

paperbatty said...

Peanut butter and bacon! Why have I not thought of that? And the history was a scream; you always make me laugh.

ackstay said...

I want to go to the cheddar fields! Bacon + Cheddar = Yum! Glad to have had the opportunity to Bacon Blog hop with you!
Sara