Last week I was flipping through a small notebook and found some notes for the idea of making a bacon straw. Finding ourselves with bacon in the house last weekend we decided to try it.



We cooked them on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet to allow the fat to drain. 325 for about 15 minutes.

The original idea was to make an accordianed tin foil tube to wrap the bacon around (think: fast food drinking straw wrapper). I made a few of these formed around the handle of a spoon. Unfortunately when pulled to release the diameter of the foil grew just enough to break the bacon.



Scott discovered the best way to remove the foil was to grasp both ends and twist, like you are wringing out a wet towel. The diameter of the foil got smaller and was easy to slip out of the bacon after that.

Unfortunately, the tubed bacon did not cook evenly, leaving the middle and underside chewy while the ends were crisp, we found the textures unappetizing (let along the appearance of a worm (thanks, Scott) to be kinda gross). The one bacon straw I made barely made it through foil removal, but was fun to eat. Scott looked at that one and declared it made him think of the book How To Eat Fried Worms, so I had it all to myself.



The bacon curls worked quite nicely though! They cooked pretty evenly and made the foil removal a bit easier. I made curls from both standard slices of bacon and one I had cut lengthwise to create very narrow bacon strips. They were fun to eat, and would look lovely next to some waffles.

Also see the bacon curl garnish at How Stuff Works.

Today is Repeal Day, so pop out and have a drink tonight to celebrate the anniversary of the day the United States repealed the Eighteenth Amendment and gave Americans the constitutional ability to consume alcohol.

Today's deal at Delight.com is the real, actual Sun Jar. I made one of my own which is undoubtedly not as pretty, instructions are here if you're interested.

When I'm sick I sip orange juice with sparkling water or Shirley Temples out of a cocktail glass, gather my tissues and warm but ugly sweater and play computer games. The game play keeps my mind off my leaking nose and overall achiness really nicely. Also, being zoned out on cold medicine gives me a focus I normally don't have, when I'm feeling just fine I can rarely sit still long enough to get through a level or two of a computer game.
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We made homemade sun jars as gifts this year, and it took a little trial and error to find the right solar lights to go inside. So much so that I kept notes so, should you want to make one, you don't have the same troubles I did. Go see: homemade sun jar.

I posted this over at Readymade but I like it a lot so I'm going to post it here too. Mr. McGroovy's Box Rivets allow you to construct sturdy play structures from large appliance boxes and he offers really great plans for castles, fire engines, trains, a princess carriage and even Santa's sleigh. Take a look at these examples sent in by happy customers and tell me your inner third grader isn't jealous you didn't have that. Found via Cool Tools.

Yesterday I attempted to make a DIY sun jar using these teriffic instructions by Cre8tor at Instructables. Go read those and come back here. Ok? So, I went out and found some reasonably priced solar garden lights and when I opened the box I was pleased to find they were unassembled, which allowed me to get to the wire bits more easily.


The parts came unassembled.


All I have to do is unscrew the bottom panel.

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One of my recent finds during a trip to Daiso was this ice ball mold:



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