I was talking bacon (of all things) with my friend Cathleen over the weekend, and she told me she makes sure to bring along extra bacon every year when she goes to Burning Man. The festival works almost completely on a barter system, and bacon apparently tops the list of items including pancakes, Otter Pops and... tuna. (You'd have to be there).

Cathleen thinks bacon's status has something to do with the heat at the festival, which is usually held in late summer, and participants' craving for salt (and a little tasty protein). She said bacon works so well that when she and some friends were waiting in a very, very long line for pancakes at this year's festival, she mentioned that she had bacon. Just like that, front of the line.

It makes me think. In these unsteady times, with the economy and our stomachs doing circus backflips, maybe we should turn to something a little more certain. And comforting. Like bacon.

So, the latest entry on the quest to find 1,001 things to do with bacon.

No. 10: Currency

-- Noelle Carter

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