My husband and I try to maintain a healthy diet and set good standards for our two small children. That means lots of fresh fruit & vegetables, whole grains, beans, limited fatty/processed meats, and limited sugar. Dessert is a rare treat instead of an expected part of dinner, and I don't keep junk food in the house. Despite this seemingly strict dietary policy, I do not feel that it is necessary to eliminate anything completely. I do strongly believe that everything in moderation is the best policy, and that very restrictive rules will simply backfire in time. An occasional indulgence in something perfectly decadent is the best way to keep on the straight-and-narrow.

In defiance of gender stereotypes, my husband is much more restrictive than I am with diet. He does not eat anything with refined sugar or refined flour, and has a strict no 'goo' policy. Goo is defined as anything rich and creamy like mayo, sour cream, cheese, or egg/cream-based sauces. He is surprisingly good about this. However once a year, near the height of tomato season, he breaks several of his rules and requests BLT night.

BLT night means white bread, lightly toasted, plenty of real mayonnaise, high-quality bacon (none of that turkey crap or low-fat substitute garbage), and fresh from the garden lettuce and tomatoes, lightly salted. It is quite simply, summer perfection.

I was talking to a friend about how excited I was for BLT night and she complained about the mess and danger of cooking bacon when you have small children in the house. The hot bacon grease splattering and inquisitive little hands reaching up to discover what smells so gosh-darn yummy make cooking bacon a bit scary. I hadn't even realized that many people don't know how to cook bacon like we typically do in restaurants. This is a great thing to do if you are cooking bacon for a lot of people, or if you just want to avoid the safety issues of sizzling it in a skillet.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat mat, or even aluminum foil. Lay the bacon out flat and bake at 375 if you have a convection oven or 400 degrees if you don't, for approximately 12 minutes. There is no splattering and your bacon comes out flat. This makes it much easier to layer in sandwiches like BLTs. Safety issues averted, and cleanup is a breeze.

Before & After Bacon: