Everything’s Better With Bacon

It was an unlikely scene. There I was, stooped over hot gray coals with a pair of tongs, gently placing them under and on top of my cast iron beast, trying to calculate the heat needed to cook the gooey goodness that lay within while groups of cyclists flew past me on the road leading into the woods at the end of the campground to the sound of cheers and cowbells. They were racing the Fossil Flats trail at Devil’s Den, a trail strewn with rocks, roots and places known by names like the “gravity cavity” and “racer’s hill” and the “outlaw loop”. I was making the Devil’s Food: Petit Jean Meats Bacon.

If there’s one smell that immediately makes me think of camping, it’s not the scent of pine or wet leaves. It’s not the smell of a moldy old tent that’s seen better days or the smell of an oft used sleeping bag. It’s the smell of bacon. We like to have bacon at least once when we’re camping. We don’t eat it a lot at home but while camping, my family considers it a necessity. Not just because it’s the best camp food ever, or because it annoys everyone in a campground if they aren’t having bacon, it’s also a versatile staple to keep on hand for quick or not so quick meals around the campfire. Bacon and Eggs, BLTs, Mac and Cheese with Bacon Bits… I am the Forrest Gump of bacon dishes. And bacon is fun to share. Our friends Kelly and Alyssa came all the way from the other side of the campground to score a “Good Morning” and a couple of crispy pieces while I was cooking up bacon and eggs for breakfast/pre-race fuel for the man.

But wait, there’s still more bacon! My plan was to test a Dutch Oven Recipe my friend Ashley posted for Foodie Friday on Arkansas Women Bloggers. She’d been telling me about it and it sounded like something my crew would love. So that’s how I came to be stooped over hot coals, cooking bacon, onion and potatoes while cyclists whizzed by. I wanted it to be ready for post race chow down AND I wanted to head out to the trails myself for a run before the day got too far away from me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Finished Product

The only change I made to the recipe was 2 fewer eggs and a little more potato since we were having it for lunch instead of breakfast. It was so tasty that we ate the leftovers (yes there were leftovers) for breakfast, making sure that the smell of bacon would once again be  wafting across the campground, annoying the non bacon havers and inviting our friends to come say “Good Morning”.

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