Wow this thread certainly changed its focus. I refrained from responding earlier as I am a blaspheming vegetarian who loves vegetarian bacon. I was raised never to eat pig or other meat of the cloven hoof. Until I married a man who ate a pound of bacon at one sitting every weekend morning. I learned to love bacon AND shrimp and lobster, which I had never eaten as a child, although my mom did once buy some other-animal-bacon-substitute. Years later however, when I became a vegetarian my husband (current, not the first) did not believe I could maintain vegetarianism because he knew how much I loved bacon & shrimp. Yet here I am, 17 years later and still do not eat meat, fowl or fish with only one exception; I will occasionally have a Caesar salad with real Caesar dressing.
I do love my vegetarian bacon, though. Just as much as I used to love the real stuff. And my son tells me it tastes amazingly real to him and smells real to him, too. I don't think it smells the same, so I think maybe his sniffer is off. But whenever I visit he always says yes when I make myself a vegetarian bacon, tomato & arugula sandwich.
As far as jello, no I don't eat it. It has marrow & collagen in it. I was never fond of jello, not even when my mom made that weird carrots in jello salad thing at holidays. Yuck it had raisins in it too, which I really don't like. Granted bone marrow makes for a very nice thickener for gravy and soups, which I have made many of in my long life, but I choose not to consume it anymore.
