Homemade Bacon Bits

My last 5 lb box of Smithfield bacon ends was over 1/3 large chunks of pork bellies, and the rest was bacon meat and fat. A real deal as trendy as pork bellies are now.

The last 2lb needed to be used or frozen so I decided to try what an Austin guy does. He's so frugal he makes me look like an amateur.

He put his whole package through a meat grinder. This produces a gross pile of mostly fat, kind of like that wagon of chicken fat Oprah pulled onstage.

One thing that looks worse than ground bacon ends is food processor bacon ends. Didn't expect this at all. It looked like tuna fish but I forged ahead and fried it all.

Fabulous! I've sprinkled it on salads, I've spread it on bread with mayo and topped it with sliced tomatoes. My next box of bacon ends will go this way from the first, after I pull out the pork bellies.

I realize a lot of those crispy bits are fried fat but after straining and draining here's what didn't go in my body. The next morning, of course, this was a solid block of white fat. I can't believe my mother saved all this and put it in fresh food she prepared. Ah, the Fifties.