If there was one dish that took everybody by surprise at BaconCamp SF, it was the Bacone. This was the creation of Christian Williams and his girlfriend Melissa and they were kind enough to do a write-up on how they made it and post it here on BaconCamp.org.

I was lucky enough to be a judge at the BaconCamp where this appeared and let’s just say the judges were totally blown away. A first I was thinking this was going to be difficult to handle, hard to eat, etc. But it wasn’t. It was perfectly formed and super easy to eat.

The Bacone is exactly what you’d think; a cone made from bacon. Inside though, they put scrambled eggs, top that with country gravy and then top that with a biscuit. Um. Yum?!

Since we judges had to take at least one bite or sip of 44 dishes that day, I told myself I would only take one bite of the Bacone. Then just one more. And well, its good; so one more can’t hurt. I stopped at four bites. I offered my Bacone (with a big ole chunk out of the side) and to my surprise several people in the audience wanted to take it from me. Hilarious.

I’ll say what I said then that I believe now; “McDonald’s should be selling this thing.”

Great work Christian and Melissa. Now, go throw your own BaconCamp and amaze us with the creations you make.

Wow. BaconCamp SF was a huge success. There was a great turn-out both in attendees and participants. People dressed up, people made amazing dishes and everybody went home with a full belly.

Huge, huge thanks go out to Karen Nguyen who got called away on a family emergency but got everything lined up for the rest of the volunteers to just knock it out. Amy (@netdiva) stepped up to MC and lead the charge day-of along lots of help from nudicow, @themassivebri, @dfltr, @juicysanchez,@oznog, & @micahsaul.

Now, who won? The format was simple, each of the presenters had 2 minutes to tell the judges and audience about their dish. The judges would try it and then give a score from 1 to 5. The judges were a panel of bacon and camp lovers: @iamcal, @arielwaldman, @micahsaul, @bacontoday, Otto Von Danger (founder of BaconFest), myself (@kveton) and Mike from BaconToday.com. We had 43 dishes come through and we had some good ones and we had some really amazing ones.

(Note: the prize winners are still a little sketchy on exactly who won. If you happened to win a prize or have a better memory than I, please leave a comment and I’ll correct. Accompanying pictures to follow of each dish as well)

The audience was also given 3 votes which they could put towards the “Best Overall” and we recognized those with “Grand Prize” and “Runner-up” trophies.

• Grand Prize: Maker’s Mark Ice Cream – @mooflyfoof
• Runner-up: Chicken-fried Bacon – mp

The judges also had a few prizes they wanted to hand out based on the dishes we all sampled:

• Judges Choice: The Bacone – Christian from Wikia
• Judges Choice Runner-up: Potato bacon tart
• Best presentation: Maple Bacon Lollipop
• Most scientific: Bacon Hyper-cube
• Most likely to tempt a veggie: Bacon hummus
• Best Soup: Bacon Pea Soup – @oznog
• Best effort, worst food: Bacon Brownies (hint: don’t mention poop during your preso)

Once again, thanks to everyone who came, donated, participated, cooked and then helped clean up. Can’t wait to do the next event soon!

Do you want this logo on a shirt on your shirt? Absolutely!!
I’m very excited to announce that we will have on site silk screening at BaconCamp this Saturday. Quinn has generously donated his time and equipment to screen a delicious strip of bacon and the San Francisco logo on any clothing item you bring. The ink is white, so designs will look best on a red or cranberry colored fabric.

All you need to take part in this fantastic activity is your own shirt (or hoodie, scarf, whatever). We’ll have a table set up for silk screening from 2pm to 4pm and we are taking donations to cover the cost of supplies. For the low low price of only $1 you can have a custom San Francisco BaconCamp tshirt. You can even watch the screening in action.

So don’t forget to bring your shirt to BaconCamp. This is an opportunity you’ll be sorry to miss out on.

Fellow bacon lover!

There’s less than 2 weeks until BaconCampSF! We’re so excited that you’re going to join us. This will be the event not to be missed that everyone will be talking about.

If you haven’t yet signed up to bring food or do a presentation, please do so today at:
http://baconcamp.pbwiki.com/Bringing-a-Dish

Not sure what to present? Short demonstrations on how to prepare your favorite bacon dish or tips on the basics – how to best prepare bacon (microwave versus campfire, etc.) or a comical what not to do when preparing bacon, how best to wrap crispy bacon around melted marshmallows (or do you wrap the bacon around the marshmallow and then put in the campfire?).

Creativity is encouraged! Can’t cook? That’s ok! Techniques, poems, interpretive dance, anything! What about an Ode to Bacon? or a Haiku?

Can’t write? That’s ok too! What about a short animation of Bacon’s delight at throwing a brunch for friends and being the center of attention? What about Bacon-inspired fabric designs – potholders or tablecloths?

You get what we mean – as long as your idea is bacon-licious we love it!

If you’d like to present – and we hope you do – please let us know by Monday, March 16, 2009 so that we can guarantee you a spot and make sure you have what you need to shine. Add your name to this list of stellar presentations.

If last minute inspiration hits, you can add your presentation the day of the event – just write your name up on the board next to an empty slot. These day-of slots are limited, though, so please sign up before the event to guarantee a piece of the bacon spotlight.

As if bacon’s not inspiration or motivation enough, another reason to bring a dish, present, or create, prizes! We’ll be awarding prizes in the following categories:

* Best Overall
* Best Dessert
* Best Drink
* Most creative use of bacon (Or Most unlikely to be good, yet actually is)
* Celebrity Judge pick (with a special prize based on the judge…)
* More prizes to be determined day of by the committee
* Audience Choice

So between now and BaconCampSF be sure to follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/baconcampsf

We look forward to tasting your creations and seeing you!

~The BaconCampSF Team

After grueling discussion, heated debate, begging and pleading, we are proud to announce the official judges for Baconcamp.

Scott Kveton
Ariel Waldman
Amy Abascal
Cal Henderson
Micah Saul
Corey James
Mike Kirsch

Their task is difficult.  We may see the limits of bacon consumption.  How much can they take?  How will they choose their favorite? Who will win the prizes? How much to bribe these judges?

Join us at BaconCamp for the answers to these life mysteries. Everyone who attends also gets a chance to pick winners for the audience favorites. If you’re bringing a dish or presenting, be sure to bring your friends to vote for you.

Don’t forget to get a ticket soon. The event is free and all donations go to the American Heart Association.

As Vanessa puts it:

A mysterious disease is spreading across America. The only way to stop it…is to risk catching it yourself. http://tr.im/b4c0n

BaconCamp is coming to San Francisco on March 21st, 2009 and in the interest of inspiring you, we bring you the Internet Bacon Meme in 60 seconds. Enjoy.

BaconCamp – The Internet Bacon Meme in 60 Seconds on Vimeo

happy valentine’s day honey by j l t

Baconcamp is happily chugging along.

We thought it would  be fun to have baconcamp stickers to give out.  Who wouldn’t be proud to sport a baconcamp sticker on their laptop?  Unfortunately, we are short on funds.  I am happy to help out with half of the cost, which leaves around $100 for the stickers.  We’re doing a giant batch order to send stickers to other baconcamps.  They are popping up all over the place!  If you’d like to help out and spread the bacon love, please contact one of us, or leave a comment below.

jason @ bacn [dot] com

aedenhensley @ gmail [dot] com

karen @ karenism [dot] com

scott @ kveton [dot] com

Don’t forget to add your dishes to the wiki!  We’re going for excess here.

How Bacon is made on Youtube

BaconCamp planning is happily chugging along. Today I looked at upcoming and there are 90+ people who say they are attending. That is fantastic! I also looked at the dish list and there are only 9 dishes.

What would BaconCamp be without excessive amounts of bacon? BaconCamp encourages everyone to participate. Not a chef? Not a problem! We would love to see anything bacon-related. Stories (best/worst experience, vegetarian converts, first encounters), crafts (how would you make a bacon scarf, anyway?), poems, cooking technique, photos, art, music, etc. etc.

Put on your thinking hats, and get out that bacon screen! Here are a few sites to help inspire:

• Bacon Today’s recipe archive
• Epicurious bacon-urious
• Accoutrements – makers of toothpicks, band aids,mints, all bacon-flavored
• Bacon stuff from Etsy

Don’t forget to add yourself to the wiki.

It’s been a long time since I’ve organized a large social gathering, and it’s wonderful to remind myself of all the lessons I’ve learned in the past. Lesson #1 popped up pretty quickly. I thought we would have 10, maybe 20 guests and I could handle the logistics largely alone. With 40+ people interested in the event (I hope they all come), constant emails, and my growing list of todo, I’ve decided to delegate delegate delegate (which I should have done from the beginning).

I’m looking for people to own chunks of this project. You would be the contact, organizer, executor.

Categories that need coordinating:

• Sponsors – be the primary contact for them, maintain a list of who they are & what they’re bringing
• Facilities & Supplies – audio equipment for preso, acquire cups & such
• Head Bacon Dish-er – create the presentation board, add dishes to the twiki as necessary, answer questions about bringing dishes
• Volunteers - coordinate anyone who wants to volunteer to help out (I will be the main contact for this)

It’s all very open and flexible. Whoever fills these rolls decides everything in that realm. The leads do not necessarily have to do everything themselves. Ok, it doesn’t make me a control freak to write out what each coordinator does, right?!

If you are interested in one of these positions EMAIL ME OR SCOTT PLEASE!!! karen [at] karenism [dot] com or scott [at] kveton [dot] com

Scott and I will remain general contacts and logistics.