Is Food-Porn Overtaking Porn-porn As Our New Favorite Pastime?

Apparently "sex" is the theme of the week here at BaConc (I just made that up! Coffee on an empty belly is wheee!!!!). I suppose it's only natural--food and sex go hand in hand. Both are essential for the continued existence of mankind; good food and good sex require you to be present, and focused on all your senses to full appreciate the experience; and both involve open flame and a hearty dose of bacon fat in our household.

Mal, over at the hilarious SWTCTW, sent me a link to this Daily Beast post today. Despite what PurAsia has to say about how cooking has made its way into the annals of "The Art of Scammin' On Chicks" (everyone knows that frozen curry products magically dissolve clothing upon ingestion), Gael Green laments the fall of the "Rock Star" chef, and worries that cooking now takes up valuable...sexing...time in our busy lives.

So now we have our continuum--on one end, cooking is largely a form of foreplay (and to that I say, be careful with those eggshells) and on the other end, cooking is a libido-busting pastime where we are all too busy blogging, and tweeting, and obsessing over herbs to focus on the dirty, dirty. And that sounds an awful lot like....life. Most people are passionate about something, and intense focus and emotion (and sweat) are very, very sexy. And then sometimes that passion becomes all consuming, to the exclusion of romance and sex.

Let's not do that, okay? I've already promised to cook more in my skivvies. (I actually have the same outfit as this guy--maybe it'll wear it to inaugurate the first meal in the new apartment?) I also promise that I'll try to keep my food porn obsession from overtaking my..um..you get it. If you feel up to it, post anonymously (or as yourself, if you're brave) about what you plan on doing to keep our more personal and solitary cooking and/or blogging pursuits from interrupting our recreational pursuits, and good luck!

Every Vote Counts!

Hey all, please please please take a second to vote in my little survey. Even if you are a first time reader, go ahead and weigh in.

Because guess what? If you don't, I'll sit right down right now and post about my myriad of health problems of late, and yoga poses, and yoga instructors, and hell maybe even my new yoga ball and the health benefits of drinking coconut water, and trying to keep my calcium up so I don't cramp, and then you'll reeeeeeeeeeeeeally regret not voting.

Also, I google-imaged "bacon" and "yoga," together and came up with the picture on the left. I guess it just goes to show ya' that yoga can't cure everything.

SOS Please Someone Help Me: Cookie Cake Recipes

Now that I have Rhianna's song stuck in your head, I thought I'd put out an APB (SOS, APB? Am I an air traffic controller?) for recipes, ideas, or advice. It's time for me to start planning and practicing for this year's Holiday Dessert Contest. This year I wanted to make something a little less...architectural than my last year's winning entry. My current idea, inspired by my office breakfasts of late, is to make several GIANT Girl Scout Cookies. For presentation points, I'll probably also make a giant cookie box in some bright primary color, and I'll paste my co-workers' heads onto Girl Scout bodies for that signature look. I'm going to update this post with any progress I make on developing recipes, but here's what I'm looking for:

Thin Mint Cookie Cake: I'm thinking of a sort of crunchy, cookie brownie for this. Any tips or recipes for that sort of thing? What about the best way to incorporate mint flavor into a baked item? I'd also like to make it sort of dimpled and chocolate-covered, like a thin mint, but that may just take some practice.

Samoa Cookie Cake: I want that chocolate-covered vanilla cookie bottom, with a really chewy, dense coconut caramel top. This may be difficult, because I'll need a 4 inch "chewy" layer. Maybe the secret is to make the coconut element more to scale? Like, instead of flakes, I make coconut bars, and toss that in caramel? Any ideas?

Tagalong or Do-Si-Do Cookie Cake: The final challenge. I don't want to make a Tagalong, because it'll just be a flattened chocolate-covered peanut butter dome on a chocolate base. I already have a chocolate-covered cookie in the Thin Mint, and I want to have some fun. The alternative is to make two giant crunchy peanut butter cookies, and layer them with a peanut butter cream. Is it possible to make a giant peanut butter cookie that's cooked long enough to make it crispy w/out burning it? Ideas welcome.