Bacon! April 5, 2012March 27, 2017 RELIGION Tamara Hendrickson (responding to yesterday’s post): “My mom has a bumper sticker that says ‘Proud Member of the Religious Left.’ I’ve always loved it.” ☞ Blessed are the meek. Turn the other cheek. Love thy neighbor. Judge not lest ye be judged. Cut taxes on billionaires. Cut Medicaid. Bomb Iraq. Increase corporate power. Religion confuses me. All I know for sure is that the market is closed tomorrow for Good Friday. BRAVE NEW WORLD . . . I mean really — have you seen the video at the end of this piece about Google’s still-in-development glasses? I suppose they could become the next Segway — not quite the revolution that was planned. Maybe people will prefer to wait for the implant: Google Brain. And maybe the glasses won’t interact with us as effortlessly as the video suggests — certainly Siri on my iPhone is nothing if not erratic in her flashes of comprehension. But can you watch the demo and not be intrigued? And excited? (And perhaps a little exhausted?) What a time to be alive. We have hot water! And soon, maybe, these. . . . IF ONLY WE CAN SUSTAIN IT The thing is, with all the dazzle and comfort and luxury so many of us enjoy (electricity! zippers!) — many of them all but unimaginable until the last few generations — there’s also the growing risk we will hurtle off the rails. Here’s one cautionary analysis: MIT researchers predict ‘global economic collapse’ by 2030. We’re not on a sustainable path. As a species, we need to take control of our future and make sensible decisions. Our friends on the right who believe that the free market — unburdened by taxes and regulation, unguided by broad long-term goals — will solve all . . . or who believe that The Rapture is coming, so what difference does it make anyway? . . . and who increasingly distrust science . . . are not the ones to lead the way forward. BACON! So I mentioned the amazing carmelized bacon hors d’oeuvres a friend serves (“death on a platter,” as I called them), and one of you, generously describing himself as “my biggest fan,” wrote asking for the recipe. I refused. “Why on earth would I want to kill off my biggest fan?” I wrote back. “The truth is, I have no idea how to make them – just really thick bacon squares baked (I guess) in loads of brown sugar. Truly evil.” He then went and found the recipe (thanks, Bill!): Carmelized Bacon via Paula Deen Ingredients: 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar 2 teaspoons chili powder 8 slices thick-cut bacon Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Set a cooling rack inside the prepared pan and set aside. In a shallow dish, combine the brown sugar and chili powder. Dredge the bacon slices in the brown sugar mixture and arrange the bacon on the rack. Bake in the preheated oven until crisp, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a serving plate and serve. Another of you sent this amazing recipe for bacon taco shells (thanks Kevin). And yet another of you found this article on bacon coffins (thanks, Mark). Which – seeing their $2,995 price tag – reminded me that I had been meaning to offer you this sad money-saving tip: THE FRUGAL EXIT Aka: “If the bacon squares do kill you.” We are conditioned to feel guilty caring whether a casket costs $4,500 or $995; an urn, $350 or $129. And look: I don’t begrudge funeral home workers a good living — this can’t be easy work. Still, it’s probably tougher on the owners than the employees, and I’ll bet they get more of the markup. In any case, bestpricecaskets.com is open 24/7 and advises: Do Not Tell The Funeral Home About Purchasing Our Casket Before You Get Their Itemized Funeral Price List. Call Us Before Talking to ANY Funeral Home, Because Everything You Tell the Funeral Home Affects Your Funeral Pricing. We will tell you what to say. It Is Federal Law: Funeral Homes MUST receive our caskets and NOT charge you any extra fees! This cuts your funeral cost by up to 80%. We supply funeral homes and we also sell directly to you! Same Price. Buy Direct. All because you ate too many bacon taco shells.