The spaghetti sauce competition. From the left to the right, Phil’s, Dana’s, the noodles, Stacy’s and Mindi’s. My spaghetti sauce for tonight’s cook-off featured my California brother’s recipe and I also added cilantro.
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BACON DAY
On December 30th each year, bacon lovers celebrate one of nature’s favored gifts on Bacon Day!
Everything is better with bacon. Someone said that once. And our research shows very little to dispute this assertion.
In the United States and Canada, bacon is made from the pork belly. Elsewhere in the world, the side and back cuts of pork are used. The meat is cured in either a salt brine or in a salt pack. It is then either dried, boiled, or smoked.
Bacon is a very popular food in the USA. You can find many items also flavored or scented with bacon, including popcorn, soap, candles, air fresheners, and much more. While these uses are options, we suggest cooking with bacon.
It’s not just for breakfast anymore, either. Bacon improves everything from beverages to dessert. Some cocktails such as the Bloody Mary and Caesar add bacon to the olives, pickles, and other assorted ingredients. Bacon improves the flavor of many appetizers, sandwiches, and soups. Incorporate bacon into salads as a topping or mix it into the dressing. When it comes to dessert, bacon pairs well with maple frosting or maple ice cream. Thanks to the salty, smoky flavor of bacon, it compliments sweet quite well. The possibilities are endless.
HOW TO OBSERVE #BaconDay
According to the founders of Bacon Day, we are encouraged to eat a variety of bacon while watching Kevin Bacon movies, or movies with bacon in the title. Since Bacon Day was created before the Discovery Channel show How It’s Made debuted, it’s safe to say, we can eat our bacon and watch those, too. Giving and receiving gifts of bacon is also recommended. Other suggested traditions such as bacon toasts and kissing under pork fat mistletoe are mentioned as well. Use #BaconDay to post on social media.
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LANSING — Asking for the recipe for Weston’s Kewpee Burger’s olive sauce is like asking for nuclear codes.
You’re not going to get an answer.
The mayonnaise-and-green-olive concoction has been a staple of the family-run joint in downtown Lansing since the 1920s, when current owner Autumn Weston’s great-grandmother first wrote down the recipe. It’s the same version they use today.
“Olives are one of those things: People love them or hate them,” Weston said. “Some people, it takes convincing. But, once you do, they’re really surprised by how much they enjoy it.”
Michigan is a state filled with Midwestern delicacies. There are Vernors floats and Rice Krispies treats. Flint and Detroit have their coney dogs with their respective dry and soupy chili sauces. Traverse City has cherries. Mackinac Island has fudge.
If mid-Michigan has a culinary staple, it’s the olive burger, a unique iteration of the hamburger made up of a beef patty topped with a mixture of mayonnaise, chopped olives and often olive brine. While the burger’s origins are a bit mysterious, over time it’s become a Lansing staple, cropping up on the menus at dive bars and trendy eateries alike.
