Lauryn Williams Loves Bacon

Published
by
Jason Mosley
on August 18, 2008
in Bacon
. 3 Comments

It seems that the bacon community is represented well at the 2008 Olympics. I first reported that Michael Phelps could eat 20 BLTs in one day. The bacon community cheered. Well this weekend I was watching the track and field events and found there was another bacon lover on the US team.

Lauryn Williams was interviewed on the track after one of her races this weekend. The interviewer asked her what food she missed while training. Lauryn replied without hesitation, “Bacon… I can eat a whole pack of bacon in one sitting”. It’s nice to know that even athletes can be bacon lovers.

I looked on YouTube to see if someone posted it but sadly no one did. If you find it let me know.

Be more productive, cook bacon at your desk

Published
by
Jason Mosley
on August 14, 2008
in Bacon and Technology
. 4 Comments

Today I was having a hard time sitting at my desk at work. I don’t know what it was, but I just couldn’t get satisfied. First I wanted a cup of coffee, then a bag of chips, then a paper towel, then a glass of water… the list goes on and on.

I wasn’t being very productive, so I started to brainstorm ways I could make my desk the place I want to be. It didn’t take long for me to remember that they make a USB George Foreman Grill, called the iGrill.

If I were to have an iGrill, I could cook bacon right at my desk! There is nothing better then a freshly made BLT, just ask Michael Phelps. Since I would need a drink with my BLT, I will also get a USB fridge, it keeps one can of pop (or beer) cold. With these desk upgrades, I shouldn’t have many reasons so wander away from my work.

If you know any other neat additions I can add to my desk, let me know via comments. They don’t all have to be USB devices.

How many BLTs could Michael Phelps eat?

Published
by
Jason Mosley
on August 12, 2008
in Bacon
. 5 Comments

Last night I was watching the Olympics and saw a segment they did about Michael Phelps. During it they said Michael needs about 8,000-10,000 calories per day when training. Since I am a bacon lover I tried to think about that in terms of bacon. How much bacon could Michel eat and still be less than 10,000 calories?

I did a little bit of research and found out that the average full slice of bacon is about 40-50 calories. So I divide 10,000 by 50 and got 200 slices of bacon. A pound of bacon usually contains 16-20 slices. That means Micheal can eat 10 lbs (precooked) of bacon every day.

Realistically, I don’t think anyone would just eat 10 pounds of bacon in one day. I could see someone eating a lot of BLTs, though. Then I did some research to find out how many BLT’s Micheal could eat.

We already know that bacon is about 50 calories per slice. I use 5 slices per BLT, so that’s 250 calories from bacon. Now for everything else, two slices of white bread are 140, the lettuce and tomato are about 10, and the mayo is 90 (1 TBSP), that makes the rest of the sandwich around 240 calories. If my rough math is correct, that means an average BLT is about 490 calories. If I was a bigger fan of mayo it would probably be more.

Anyway, that means that Michael Phelps could eat 20 BLTs in one day and still be under the 10,000 calorie mark. I am not saying that would be the healthiest choice, but I think if I was in Michael’s position I would at least try to do it for one day.

If you come up with other calculations for how much food Michael can eat, please share via comments.

Five pieces of technology I could not live without

Published
by
Jason Mosley
on August 8, 2008
in Technology
. 12 Comments

It seems the more technology advances, the more we become dependent on it. I am no exception. Just the other day I was thinking, “If I was about to lose everything (not people but tangible goods) and could only save five things, what would they be”? Well, here is the list I came up with.

Macbook – Without my computer I would not be able to make a living, this would be the first thing I would grab. It has most of my information and software I use on a daily basis.

Smart Phone (Centro) – We live in a world where it’s important to always be connected. On days I leave my phone at home, I feel naked and lost all day. Once you get a smart phone you never want to go back to a normal one. If you haven’t made the plunge yet, don’t. It’s like a drug; you just keep checking your email and twitter every second of the day.

Wii – I would grab this because sometimes you just need to unwind from a rough day and play some Mario Galaxy. I don’t know if I would want to live in a world without Mario.

Sirius Radio – Terrestrial radio sucks compared to satellite radio. Sirius actually plays new music and there is a station dedicated to indie/college rock. Even the News/Sports talk radio is better. My radio was out of commission for a few weeks and I was losing my mind listening to the local stations. I need my Sirius.

Dodge Neon – Okay, before you make fun of me about my car I would just like to say that they were the only dealership in Pittsburgh that would sell me a car. It’s not the car I want, but it was the only thing I could get at the time. The reason I would take it is because without it everything would be more difficult. My car is the largest piece of technology I own.

Feel free to share some of technology you couldn’t live without and the reasons why. I am really interested in what in people say.

Attention slow drivers: I hate you!

Published
by
Jason Mosley
on August 6, 2008
in Rant
. 7 Comments

On Monday I woke up a little late for work. Everything started off as planned for me to only be 5 minuets late. I took a fast shower, skipped packing my lunch, and didn’t check my email before running out the door. These were things I sacrificed to save time and my ass.

Once on the road, I was making record time. It was like the traffic lights knew I needed their help, they all turned green as I approached. At 9:00 am. I wasn’t worried, I had 7 more minutes to go until I had to be at my desk.

Everything changed when I noticed that I had caught up to the car ahead me a little to quickly. At that point I checked my speed and saw I had slowed down to 30 MPH. The posted speed limit was 45 MPH. I looked through their back window to see if I saw any sign of trouble. The driver looked calm and the car seemed to run fine.

After my close inspection of the car and driver, I noticed a speed limit sign ahead. I thought at this point they would notice the sign, check their speed, and correct their error. That didn’t happen.

The traffic behind me began to beep their horns and ride my ass. Me, being a peace-loving bacon-lover, I didn’t join in. Well…then again maybe I did ride their ass and point angrily at every speed limit sign we passed (we passed 4). I was pissed.

Finally, after my dream of only being 5 minutes late were shattered, we came to a light. Thankfully, they headed for the turning lane and cleared my path. When I passed them, I was sure to give them a few hateful looks.

Long story short, I was 20 minutes late for work because some ass couldn’t read a speed limit sign. I still can’t figure out why someone would drive like that. Did they really not know it was a 45 MPH zone? Also, if they were broke down, why didn’t they turn on their flashers and move to the shoulder? The only reason you have to drive under the speed limit is weather related. Other than that, you have no excuse.

At this time, I would like to point out that the car in the picture above is not the car I was stuck behind. If I would have been stuck behind a bacon car, this would have be a totally different post.

How do I cook a bacon chop

Published
by
Jason Mosley
on August 4, 2008
in Bacon
. 4 Comments

Recently I got an email from Brooks, one the the originators of Bacon Fest, asking me about bacon chops.

“Have you ever had one? I read about it in Food and Wine and am trying to see if a local butcher can get me some.”

Sadly, I had to tell him that I never had one. Even thought it’s a popular Irish dish I never noticed it on any menus. It could also be the fact that I haven’t been to many Irish restaurants.

Me being a lover of all things bacon, I feel I need to find a bacon chop and eat it right away. So I started my search on Google, but to my surprise it really didn’t come up with a lot information.

Luckily, Heather from Bacon Unwrapped emailed her suggestions for finding a bacon chop. She says that I would have a good chance, if I find a butcher that specializes in pork. Pittsburgh does have some nice markets and butch shops so that should not be a problem.

Heather also says:

“The Irish version of bacon typically comes from the shoulder or loin, so I’m pretty sure a Bacon Chop isn’t actually cut from the belly like American bacon.”

This means that its going to be more like a thick cut of back bacon and most likely not smoked. I have also seen a bacon chop pictured with a bone on one side, so then again maybe its more like a pork chop. I guess I will only know the answer to that after I have one myself.

I need your help! I need to find a recipe for a bacon chop that I can make at home. Also since Google failed me please share any information about bacon chops via comments.

Blue Monster gets his own bacon pants

Published
by
Jason Mosley
on August 1, 2008
in Webcomic
. 0 Comments

After the 4th of July I introduced you all to Blue Monster, a character from a web comic I started. Well, it’s been less than a month a lot has changed.

The first thing you should notice is the drawing has improved, that’s because Matt Gondek now does the pencil drawings and I just add the color. Doing a project with a friend is a lot of fun and more productive.

Since the strip stars Mr. Baconpants, I will be featuring a few of the strips here. If you like what you see I hope you head over to BlueMonsterFire.com and check out the archives.