What can be said about a certain strip of salty meatiness that hasn't at this point? Bacon now regularly appears inside foods that had nothing to do with bacon even a half decade ago: Gumballs, lollipops, popcorn, chocolates. It wraps other meats, like hot dogs, and is served next to sauces for dipping, a phenomenon that's relatively new in the baconverse. Long-running blogs sing its salt-crusted praises and memes spring up devoted to its red-and-white-stripe-i-ness. But, judge bacon not for being everywhere, for it has not outstayed its welcome on the national food-trend stage. On the contrary, new blogs and new events and new paeans of love continually well up, showing us that, once and for all, bacon is king.

And certainly in Sacramento, where a full week of strip-laden bacon-a-tude'll be thrown on a sizzling pan from Sunday, Jan. 20 through Sunday, Jan. 27. It is indeed called the Sacramento Bacon Fest, and a number of eateries around our capital will be taking a side of pork and adding it to a lot of different dishes (as well as a few Bloody Marys and cocktails, another bacon-y phenom).

Click here for more details on the Sacto Bacon Fest!