Did you know that for the past three years, we have had a strip club on Tybee? Wait a minute, I must explain, its a bacon strip club.
Yeah…I know, like you needed one more reason to fall in love with Tybee.
Our good friends Tyler and Brenda started the Tybee Bacon club. They used to have a club chapter in Kansas City before moving here and thought it would be a good addition to the social and culinary tastes for the islanders.
Meetings happen sporadically every 2-3 months. Whoever states “It’s time for another bacon club meeting” is the one who usually hosts the next gathering.
There is one basic rule and that is when you come, you bring a dish prepared with at least one pound of bacon.
The smorgasbord includes everything from breakfast fare of quiches and casseroles, to chocolate covered bacon, bacon brownies, bacon praline ice cream… The menu goes on and on. Each meeting you never quite know what you will get, but for bacon lovers it never disappoints and if you leave hungry, it’s your own darn fault.
Beverages served are coffee and orange juice and usually make your own Bloody Mary fixins are laid out. Especially now that we have Jeremy Diehl’s very own Savannah Bloody Mary Mix. (Watch this video Sean made of Jeremy making the best Bloody Mary!)
One time we found maple bacon vodka and another time a member attempted to make bacon moonshine. As you can tell, anything goes when it comes to the bacon club.
Yesterday morning I was up early making my bacon offering of Maple Caramel Bacon Crack. I came across pictures on Pinterest and it looked so delicious, I followed the recipe from food blogger The Domestic Rebel. But, when I tried to make this sweet crunchy bacon treat, I wrestled with sticky crescent roll dough that wouldn’t do what I needed it to. After hurling a few unnecessary curse words at it, I finally got it layered in the pan and in the oven. Twenty minutes later I ended up with Maple Bacon Gooey instead of Maple Carmel Bacon Crack. It still tasted good, but I added it to my list of Pinterest FAIL! I’m glad other people are talented at cooking!
The club has grown over the past three years, from our first gathering of about a dozen people to over thirty in attendance. I have met some really nice people at bacon club that I would not gotten to know otherwise. This weekend we had the pleasure of having food writer Tim Rutherford of The Hungryman’s Guide join us. I enjoyed talking to him about photography, travel, writing and of course… food! If you get a chance, you should check out his website.
If you are looking for a way to expand your social network, start a new bacon club chapter in your neighborhood. It’s a great way to gather friends and neighbors for a fun Saturday morning.