National Hamburger Month

May is national hamburger month and it is also Barbecue month.

The term hamburger originally derives from Hamburg, Germany, from which many people emigrated to the United States. Hamburger, in the German language, is the demonym of Hamburg. Similar to frankfurter and wiener, names for other meat-based foods, being demonyms of the cities of Frankfurt and Vienna (Wien), respectively. A hamburger is typically made with ground beef. White Castle traces the origin of the hamburger to Hamburg, Germany with its invention by Otto Kuase. Many others have claimed to be the first in the US to make hamburgers.

The term "burger" is generic and may refer to sandwiches that have ground meat, chicken, fish, or vegetarian fillings other than a beef patty, but share the characteristic round bun. Other "burgers" are usually referred to as "chicken burgers", "fish burgers", etc.  Some fast food places more accurately call them "chicken sandwiches", "fish sandwiches", etc. An infinite number of fillings and toppings can be found in many locations around the block and around the world.

A veggie burger, garden burger, or tofu burger uses a meat substitute such as tofu, TVP, wheat gluten, beans, grains, or an assortment of vegetables, ground up and mashed into patties. This really stretches the definition of 'burger'.

Another variety of hamburger is the slider, which is a very small hamburger patty served on an equally small bun. This is the kind of hamburger has been popularized by White Castle. The name comes from their size (and sometimes greasiness) and are considered to slide down your throat in one or two bites.

A cheeseburger is a hamburger accompanied with melted cheese. The term itself is a portmanteau of the words "cheese" and "hamburger." The cheese is usually sliced, then added a short time before the hamburger finishes cooking, to allow it to melt.

In the US Upper Midwest, particularly Wisconsin, burgers are often made with a buttered bun, butter as one of the ingredients of the patty, or with a pat of butter on top of the burger patty, and called a "Butter Burger."

In Alberta, Canada a kubie burger is a hamburger made with a pressed Ukrainian garlic sausage, kubasa.
In Toronto the local eatery Dangerous Dan's Diner offers the Colossal Colon Clogger, 24oz burger served with a quarter pound of cheese, a quarter pound of bacon, and 2 fried eggs.

A slugburger is a traditional southern delicacy found in northeast Mississippi, US. It is a patty made from a mixture of meat or pork and an inexpensive extender such as soybeans and deep fried in canola oil.

My favorite is the Bacon Cheese Bomb, a cheeseburger with cheese inside the meat patty rather than on top. A thick chunk of sharp cheddar cheese is surrounded by the meat, which is a mixture of ground beef mixed half and half with finely chopped bacon. The smoky bacony flavor with a molten core of cheese within the patty is ooey gooey heavenly bacony food for the gods.

Did You Know?

Center-cut bacon has only 25 calories per slice. . . and usually causes human faces to break into a smile.

Great American Bacon 5k

 If you are looking for something to do on April 5, why not go down to the Great American Bacon 5k in Miami. Sounds like a fun time.

The truth About Egg Yolk Color

Americans eggs tend to have bright yellow yolks, because of what they feed feed the hens. Egg yolk color is almost entirely influenced by its diet. If you feed yellow corn it shows and if you feed birds white corn, the egg yolks are more white. In South America, hens that peck at red annatto seeds lay eggs with yolks ranging from pink to orange to deep reddish.

The yellow color in egg yolks, as well yellowish chicken skin and fat, comes from pigments found in plants.

In most parts of the world, diners prefer their yolks with a bit more color so commercial feeds often contain lutein as an additive, although yellow maize, soybeans, carrots, and alfafa powder will also add the color.

Many egg eaters assume that darker yolks are a sign of higher nutritional value. That is not true. Although chicken feed does influence the nutritional value of birds and their eggs, researchers say yolk color does not tell you anything about nutritional value. When it comes to taste, slap a few eggs next to a huge hunk of bacon and the taste becomes awesome, regardless of yolk color.

What's in a Name, Kummerspeck

This German word means excess weight gained from emotional overeating. Literally, 'grief bacon'. Seems to me, putting those two words together must be an oxymoron.

Goodness of Bacon

Traditional pork bacon has many good points. It is high in protein, vitamins, and minerals, including B6, B12, niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, iron, magnesium, potassium and zinc, as well as choline, a nutrient which helps improve cognitive performance, memory, mood and mental alertness. Bacon has about 30 calories per regular slice.

Bacon flavored salt is low in sodium, zero calories and fat, kosher and vegetarian. It allows bacon lovers to enjoy all the flavor of their beloved treat without a side of guilt. Sprinkle it over eggs, potatoes, meats, baked beans, soups, salads and sandwiches.

Six Cooking Tips from HGTV

When you deep-fry, hold each piece of food with long tongs as you add it to the oil. Hold it just below the oil's surface for five seconds before releasing it. This will seal the exterior and stop it from sticking to the pot or the other food.

If you need more oil in the pan when sautéing, add it in a stream along the edges of the pan so that by the time the oil reaches the ingredient being cooked, it will be heated.

Do not use oil in the water when boiling pasta, because it will keep the sauce from sticking to the cooked pasta. Also, After you drain pasta, while it's still hot, grate some fresh Parmesan on top before tossing it with your sauce to give the sauce something to stick to.

When making burgers, add in a bit (or a lot) of bacon bits or pork bits while mixing for added flavor.

When making mashed potatoes, after you drain the potatoes, return them to the hot pan, cover tightly and let steam for 5 minutes. This allows the potatoes to mash with a beautiful texture and soak up the butter and cream more easily.

International Bacon Day

Bacon Day is an official observance held on the Saturday before Labor Day in the United States. (Labor Day is traditionally the first Monday of September). This year is it celebrated August 31. The first Annual Bacon Day was held about 2005. It's celebrated by having a bacon party and eating bacon in every way imaginable.

Did you know that bacon is a cut of meat taken from the sides, belly, or back of a pig, then cured, smoked, or both? Meat from other animals, such as cow, lamb, chicken, goat, or turkey, may also be cut, cured, or otherwise prepared to resemble bacon, and may even be referred to as "bacon" too, although this is just wrong.

Wikipedia says "Bacon Day is the traditional day on which bacon lovers express bacon mania. This is typically exhibited during social gatherings during which participants create and consume creative dishes containing bacon, including breakfasts, lunches, dinners and desserts. All are welcome at a standard Bacon Day celebration, even vegetarians, with consumption of soy bacon or turkey bacon encouraged for inclusiveness."

Last year Bacon Day was celebrated in the US, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Switzerland, the UK, and more.

Biggest and Smallest Eggs

The Ostrich lays the smallest egg for its size. Although the Ostrich egg is the largest single cell in nature, it is less than one and a half per cent of the weight of the mother. A wren’s egg, by comparison, is 13 per cent of its weight.

The largest egg in comparison with the size of the bird is that of the Little Spotted Kiwi. Its egg accounts for 26 per cent of its own weight. That would be the equivalent of a woman giving birth to a six-year-old child.

An ostrich egg weighs as much as twenty-four hen’s eggs. Can you imagine how much bacon it would take to go with an Ostrich egg omelet?

My Two Favorite Foods Combined

Two of nature's most perfect foods combined into one. Hard to believe it took this long to come up with this treat for the ages.

Bacon flavored potato chips. It makes for a Happy Friday!

Wordology, Meme

The vast expanse of the internet makes communication around the world immediate, and with it copying and sharing of interesting (and not so interesting) information. The neologism (a new word or phrase) 'meme' (rhymes with team) has reached widespread use to describe the viral spread of jokes, ideas, and more via the internet.

“Meme” was coined by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins before the web was in use, in his 1976 book, The Selfish Gene. He stated, "We need a name for the new replicator, a noun that conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation. ‘Mimeme’ comes from a suitable Greek root, but I want a monosyllable that sounds a bit like ‘gene’. I hope my classicist friends will forgive me if I abbreviate mimeme to meme. If it is any consolation, it could alternatively be thought of as being related to ‘memory’, or to the French word même."

The French word même means “same” or “alike.” The Greek word “mimeme” he takes “meme” from comes from the Ancient Greek meaning “that which is imitated” / “something imitated” / “something copied”.

Dawkins was hoping that the word would be used as a unit of human cultural transmission, such as a melody, fashion, or catch-phrase. People refine memes as they sometimes alter the information when they transmit it to another human. Bacon, while being still being delicious has also become a meme.

Bacon or Ham

The difference between bacon and salted pork or ham is primarily the composition of the brine that is used to cure it.  Brine for bacon often includes sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate, and saltpeter (for curing the meat); sodium ascorbate (for setting the color, as well as speeding up the curing process); and brown or maple sugar (for flavor), among other ingredients.  Brine for ham tends to have a significantly higher concentration of sugar. Incidentally, the USDA defines “bacon” as “the cured belly of a swine carcass”

Potato Facts

One of the ingredients of almost all Thanksgiving and other holiday meals is the potato. The starchy, edible tuber was introduced to the world around 400 years ago from regions around the Andes. Originally they were grown almost 10,000 years ago in Peru and Bolivia and are now found growing in most countries around the world, although the Andes continues have major production.

Currently potatoes are the fourth largest food crop in the world and there are more than a thousand different types. They are versatile and can be enjoyed baked, boiled, or fried. They can be mashed, sliced, chopped, diced or eaten whole. They can be eaten cold or hot, raw or cooked. I will need some chips to hold me over until next Thursday and mashed potatoes with cheese and bacon. Mmm!
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Vanilla Truth

Vanilla comes from a special species of orchid. Consuming natural vanilla causes the body to release catecholamines, including adrenalin and for this reason it is considered to be mildly addictive.


When vanilla plants were first exported from Mexico to other tropical climes, they flowered, but wouldn’t produce vanilla pods. It was discovered that a bee native to Mexico was the only creature that could pollinate vanilla flowers.


Attempts to move the bee to other countries failed and it was not until a slave boy discovered a method of artificial pollination that Mexico lost its monopoly on vanilla. As well as being mildly addictive, vanilla has also been found to block bacterial infections. Ice cream with real flecks of vanilla beans (and maybe some bacon bits) is probably doubly addictive.

Bacon Barter

They have finally done it.  Driving across country with no money and no credit cards. Josh Sankey is freeloading his way across the US armed with nothing more than a truckload of bacon.

Oscar Mayer supplied enough bricks of Butcher Thick Cut Bacon fill his refrigerated truck.

Sankey is literally hauling a trailer full of 3,000 pounds of bacon from New York to L.A., going coast to coast with zero cash, cards, or checks. He is relying only on the goodness of Americans and the goodness of bacon. He offers bacon to finagle whatever he wants from whomever he wants and so far it's working.

Sankey kicked off the cross-country adventure at the Jets' opener, crashing the tailgate party with a red wagon load of bacon. His goal was to get tickets to the game by trading bacon. He stacked his odds with Camille Burford, host of The Movie Show. They scored two seats. He went on to Maryland, and is now through Charleston. I imagine when he needs a snack, he just throws a few rashers on the engine block to heat them up.

Double Bacon Corn Dog

This year the Iowa State Fair has a new treat. The Campbell’s Concessions’ Double Bacon Corn Dog makes its debut.

The recipe - Wrap a hot dog in bacon, deep-fry it, dip it in 'bacon-bit-enriched' batter and deep fry it again. Mmmm!

Bacon Maple Coffee

Now you can get all your morning goodness with your cup of coffee and without getting out the frying pan.

Bacon Olive Oil

If bacon coffee is not enough, how about some bacon flavored olive oil. It is vegan, but has the rich smoky flavor. great for cooking or dunking.

Chicken Fried Bacon Creator

The creator of chicken fried bacon, Frank Sodolak has passed away. Thirty years ago Frank Sodolak borrowed a few hundred dollars and made his idea a reality in a small restaurant (Sodolak's Original Country Inn" in Snook Texas, population about 500. It is about 80 miles from Houston. His bacon delight has been featured in Maxim Magazine, Discovery Channel, Travel Channel and more. Some call it Sodalak's saturated succulence.

“People hear about chicken fried bacon and they're like huh? But when they eat it, they're like Wow!" explains son Curtis Sodolak.

"He left us a mini-empire, and we have to keep it going, and that's my promise to him, and who knows, maybe one day, I'll pass it on to my kids," said his son, Curtis.

PS - Even Emeril has come up with a Pecan-Praline candied bacon. Seems everyone wants in on the act. Not sure why. Bacon does not need toppings to be good.

Bacon Fat

Almost half of bacon fat is monounsaturated, just like what is found in olive oil. It can actually lower your bad cholesterol.