Bacon! Bacon! Bacon! We're Going on a Bac-spedition

Some people say bacon has jumped the shark. We say mmmmm... shark bacon! Howard Winer is a Supervising Producer at CNN.

Thank goodness my parents never kept Kosher. Had they, I might not have discovered the joys of boiled Maine lobstuh, steamed Maryland crabs or the number one no-no - bacon. High five to you now, Mom and Dad, because these days– bacon isn’t just a side at breakfast. You can drink your bacon, have it on a burger in a whole new way, or, even better, for dessert.

If you’re ready for a Bac-spedition, start with it shaken, not stirred, in a Bakontini. All it takes is some Bakon Vodka. Or, make any day a Sunday and go for a Bakon Mary, heavy on Tabasco, please. If you’re in the mood for sweet, consider a creation from the Dionysus Restaurant & Lounge in Baltimore: the Waffle Shot. It’s one part Bakon Vodka, one part Pinnacle Whipped Vodka. [Editor's note: We in no way endorse this behavior. Because eeewwwww!]

I’m not here to drink, though. I want to chow down. Scallops wrapped in bacon seem so 1988 today. Skip ’em and use two hands on a burger prepared “The Best Way” from Atlanta’s Atkins Park Tavern. Exactly what is the “best way,” you ask? It’s a burger with bacon jam and Tallegio cheese. The “jam” has a consistency somewhere between stone ground mustard and olive tapenade, and the cheese provides the perfect flavor balance. After eating a burger “The Best Way,” having a regular old bacon cheeseburger will be plain sacrilegious.

What’s a decent Bac-spedition without a little bacon for dessert? I’ve always been a fan of yin and yang flavors, but I admit, ice cream and crushed potato chips sound too gross for my buds. On the other hand, something called a Bacon Guava cookie worked plenty fine for them. From the Super Pan Latino Sandwich Shop in Atlanta’s Poncey-Highlands neighborhood, these pigs in a bacon blanket are blessed with the right combination of cookie and crazy.

Let there be no doubt - it’s a cookie all right. Sweet and buttery, it falls somewhere on the shortbread spectrum but with a mild undertone of Porky the Pig. These little cuties stare back at you but don’t be scared, they won’t squeal as you bite into them.

I love the surprising places where bacon is popping up, although I won’t be sharing this love with my Kosher mother-in-law. She probably expects me to wind up in a hell where baked goods are cooked with shortening instead of butter. Feh! In the meantime, I just pray that nobody comes up with a sausage-chocolate combo, or I will be in serious trouble. [Editor's note: Sorry, Howard - you're doomed.]