Bring Home the Bacon
Sometimes the origin of phrases are intuitive. "Bring home the bacon," for example, makes sense as a sign of wealth from the days when meat was an expensive luxury item. A person who brought home the bacon was a person who could provide for his/her family. Makes sense. However, there are two more possible origins of the phrase which aren't quite as intuitive. The first comes from an old English custom of giving a young couple bacon if they are still happy after the first year of marriage. That's an awesome tradition. GC and I are still happy, even after 2 years of marriage. Where's our bacon? The second possible origin of "bring home the bacon" comes from greased pig competitions at county fairs, where the winner got to take home the pig he/she caught.
Nowadays, however, the phrase isn't used to convey marital bliss or one's swine-catching prowess, but refers to one's ability to provide for others, i.e., work. Because yesterday was Labor Day, a holiday to provide a rest from work, I thought it appropriate to celebrate with bacon. Plus, I love bacon. GC and I started the day with bacon and cheese-egg biscuits and ended the day with Bacon, Egg and Cheese Spaghetti. A bacon binge is decadent and depraved, I'm not going to lie, but just as you have to sacrifice something to work, you might just have to sacrifice nutrition to celebrate your ability to work. Or something like that. Anyway, here's the spaghetti recipe :
Labor Day Bring Home the Bacon SpaghettiThe Good Housekeeping Cookbook, edited by Zoe Coulson, NY, 1973
16 oz. pkg spaghetti
8 slices bacon, cut up2 med onion, coarsely chopped
4 eggs, slightly beaten
½ (8 oz.) pkg pasteurized process cheese spread, cubed, ~1 c. (can sub any cheese, shredded)~30m before serving:
Cook spaghetti as directed; drain.Meanwhile, in 12” skillet over med heat, cook bacon until crisp; with slotted spoon, remove to paper towels; set aside.
In drippings in skillet, cook onions until tender, ~5m. Add spaghetti and bacon to onion mixture and toss until well mixed; stir in eggs and cheese and heat until cheese is melted.
Serves 4.
"If there's bacon involved, I dread to imagine the depths of depravity we're going to find." - Jeremy Irons as Bishop Pucci in Casanova (2005).