Bacon salt. Bacon chocolate. Bacon cocktails. Bacon ice cream. Bacon T-shirts. Bacon-wrapped anything. Of all the food trends that have emerged in the 21st century, bacon has the most star power, and, shockingly enough, both gourmands and common folk would agree.

Whether they’re apple smoked, double smoked or thick cut, these delicate strips of pork belly are so hot right now. Bacon worship and evangelism are on the rise, perhaps as a backlash to health nut hysteria. Nowadays, you can find your standard bacon-loaded burgers, from Wendy’s Baconator to McDonald’s Bacon and Cheese Angus Third Pounders.

But it doesn’t stop there. Food blogs and baconovores have been wetting themselves over smoky-sweet bacon desserts, like maple bacon cupcakes, bacon candy bards, bacon salted brownies and bacon muffins. And then there’s the massive amounts of new bacon paraphernalia, my favorite being a bacon alarm clock, which cooks bacon when it’s time to wake up. So to all the skinny bitches out there — I’m sorry, but bacon is back.

Homer: I’ll have the smiley face breakfast special. Uh, but could you add a bacon nose? Plus bacon hair, bacon mustache, five o’clock shadow made of bacon bits and a bacon body?

Waitress: How about I just shove a pig down your throat??

Homer looks excited.

Waitress: I was kidding.