Mmm, bacon

The only thing better than bacon for breakfast is bacon for two days straight. So imagine the porky possibilities at San Jose’s Bacon Festival of America, set for July 4 and 5 at Plaza de Cesar Chavez. The bash includes bacon food booths, a bacon bank and bacon souvenirs. Also, bacon. Plus food trucks, live entertainment and a Michael Jackson dance party — and fireworks on the Fourth.

The patriotic element makes perfect sense. Surely, Thomas Jefferson was referring to bacon when he put that part in the Declaration of Independence about “the pursuit of happiness.” Find details — and tickets, at $10 to $12 — at www.sjbacon.com.

S’mores?

We’re classic s’mores peeps ourselves, but if your tastes veer in a more Peeps-ish direction, a certain candy company has an idea for your Fourth of July celebration. Yes, Peeps S’mores, made with their new vanilla creme-flavored, vaguely eagle-shaped confections. We’re slightly unnerved by the idea of barbecuing our national bird, even in marshmallow form — oh, wait, maybe they’re chicks. It’s hard to tell.

Éclair, I declare

Cupcake domination may never falter, but we thoroughly enjoy the efforts to compete in this game of pastry thrones, whether it’s macarons (swoon) or the new full-scale cakes from Kara’s Cupcakes (the tropical cake with passion fruit curd and coconut icing is worth a double swoon). Now comes news that celebrity pastry chef and “Top Chef: Just Desserts” judge Johnny Iuzzini has teamed up with Le Méridien Hotels on a “global éclair program.”

The hotels will be serving classic coffee, chocolate and vanilla éclairs, plus a series of seasonal, locally inspired riffs unveiled via Iuzzini’s “Éclair Diaries.” He’s already announced a maple-bacon éclair for Dallas, a dulce de leche éclair in Panama and a savory éclair with goat cheese, cranberry and pumpernickel crumbs in Munich. San Francisco gets the Iuzzini treatment next month. He will be zipping around the city by motorcycle on July 10 and unveiling the new flavor on the 29th.

A sourdough éclair with Dungeness crab? Or perhaps something Tcho-chocolatey and Blue Bottle-coffee-y?

— J. Burrell, Staff