I had lunch with an old friend of Katy's and mine, that we knew from the unfortunately named Startups.com, where we all worked. We caught up on one another's lives (we have a baby now, he got an MBA, new jobs and no jobs, and so on). We also talked about his and his wife's new business venture: a bacon of the month club called The Pig Next Door.

At first, I wasn't sure how serious they were about this. But we ended up having a long conversation about the various challenges of running a startup small business that involves premium bacon. It turns out there's a whole world of bacon knowledge I had no inkling of: processing, preparation, pig breeds, types of wood smoke used for curing, salt levels and types, and so on. I can't actually remember the last time I cooked bacon.

Even if you have no interest in upping your monthly premium bacon intake, the site itself is worth browsing. JJ, our friend, is a quirky and entertaining writer:

Enjoy a different artisan bacon delivered right to your door every month. You'll also receive a welcome kit from The Pig Next Door, tasting notes and recipes on each shipment of bacon you receive, a coffee mug that expertly holds whatever tasty and warm beverage you wish to consume with your bacon, yummy munchies and other random bacon-related goodies guaranteed to put a smile on your bacon-loving face.

If you'd asked me yesterday, I would have laid good odds against ever seeing the phrase "artisan bacon" in print.