BACON!

Do you remember that commercial that ran on TV for a long time?  It was for Beggin Strips dog treats and the poor dog would wake up to the smell of bacon and go running around the house looking for it......

Well, I must confess that our family is a lot like that crazy dog when it comes to bacon!  We set a goal to raise 2 pigs each year.  We raise them humanely and feed them bread, kitchen & garden scraps, eggs, whey, and fresh goat's milk. 

*As a side note*....We also do all of our own butchering.  It is difficult work both physically and emotionally, but it keeps us grounded....and in my opinion, more humane (the animals are not traumatized by being loaded and/or transported to a strange place, with strange people...people who may not be as respectful as us).  For the most part, our animals are either born here or come here as very tiny babies....they live their lives here....and then they are killed as instantly and humanely as possible.

 Today I finished slicing and packaging the bacon we made from our pig.  A couple of the slabs were really nice, and therefore I wrapped them up for Christmas baskets.  Of course we save all ends, pieces, and scraps and vac seal them for seasoning beans....But to make really pretty slices of bacon you need to start with the slab, cut the edges straight......and keep it all COLD!  REALLY COLD! And cut against the grain of the meat always.

We cut the bacon nice and thick... 

These are the really pretty slices, we've wrapped them up for Christmas baskets...

We made Lamb bacon also....more on that later....