“Friends are the bacon bits in the salad bowl of life”

“Friends are the bacon bits in the salad bowl of life” is a jocular friendship saying that has been printed on many images. The saying was posted on the newsgroup alt.autos.acura on November 27, 1999. Authorship is unknown.
   
The character Homer Simpson of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons was credited with the saying on Twitter on March 23, 2012. However, quotations from The Simpsons are easily documented and the saying is from 1999, so it is unlikely that the saying originated with the show.
         
       
Google Groups: alt.autos.acura
2 ALL THE BABES OF WATFORD!!!
WATFORD WOMAN
11/27/99
(...)
>>> >  “Friends are the Bacon Bits in the Salad Bowl of Life.”
 
8 March 2000, Austin (TX) American Statesman, “A masterpiece made out of tofu” by Kitty Crider, pg. D1:
* E-MAIL REMINDER: “Friends are the Bacon Bits in the Salad Bowl of Life.”
   
Google Groups: alt.soulmates
Consummating Eliot
peanut
4/6/00
(...)
Friends are the Bacon Bits in the Salad Bowl of Life
 
27 September 2001, Kinmundy (IL) Express, pg. 4, col. 7:
Friends are bacon bits in the salad bowl of life.—Anonymous
   
27 March 2003, Pembroke (ON) Observer, “Drop-In Centre news” by Joy Mirault, pg. 7:
Thought for Today: Strangers are just friends waiting to happen, and friends are the bacon bits in the salad bowl of life.
   
Twitter   
Natalie‏
@socalnat
“Friends are the bacon bits in the salad bowl of life.”
- Anon
1:02 PM - 19 Nov 2008
 
Twitter
StellaMercedesGraham‏
@StellaMercedesG
Friends are the bacon bits in the salad bowl of life ~ Homer Simpson
10:28 AM - 23 Mar 2012
 
Twitter
Men’s Humor‏
@MensHumor
“Friends are the bacon bits in the salad bowl of life.” -Homer Simpson
5:20 PM - 1 May 2013
   
Funny Status
“Friends are the bacon bits in the salad bowl of life.”…
May 1, 2013 Facebook Quotes
“Friends are the bacon bits in the salad bowl of life.” -Homer Simpson
 
Google Books
Back Online
By Laura Dower
New York, NY: Open Road Integrated Media
2016
Pg. ?:
It reminded Madison of a T-shirt Eileen had worn at the clinic: New Friends Are Like Bacon Bits in the Salad Bowl of Life.
   
Reddit—IndianPeopleFacebook
Friends are the bacon bits in the salad bowl of life” (i.redd.it)
submitted April 13, 2017 by A121s
 
Twitter
Bill Murray‏
@BiIIMurray
“Friends are the bacon bits in the salad bowl of life.” -Homer Simpson
12:30 PM - 8 Aug 2017