This is my new favorite meal of yours! Eric.
2 Likes
It was pretty good. I donāt get to have those appetizers at home because Kelly doesnāt like that kind of stuff. I mean I could. But why bother if Iām the only one who eats it. It was a tough menu to navigate but the GruyĆØre polenta with the blueberry was fantastic. And it was just a hit of blueberry. I asked my waitress about that. I donāt like my food swimming in a sauce.
The waitress said the Iberico Pork, The pigs anyway, are fed a diet of acorns and it gives them a great flavor. I did not know this. How would I? I asked her if the pigs liked that for their diet. She assured me they did.
3 Likes
The soup was a hit with everyone! I second guess myself a lot when I havenāt cooked something in a long time. I did have to skim a decent amount of fat off the top even after trimming the beef but I admit it tasted really good to me, too, and enough left for tomorrow. Itās gonna be a beefy visit with a pot roast coming up on Monday but then we are celebrating belated birthdays with king crab legs sometime next week!
3 Likes
Thatās something! I was attracted to what you had because everything looked perfect! The polenta looked wonderful!
The pork looks great. I used to grow peaches. I had pigs in the peach orchard. There were other fruit trees too.
I would climb up the ladder to pick the peaches and put the peaches in a milk crate on the ground.
The pigs would come and eat my picked peaches.
The point is because the pigs were in a peach Orchard, and ate a lot of peaches, their meat tasted like peaches. It did to me for sure 
The wild 
turkeys running around would eat the chili piquins and their meat definitely had a hot pepper flavor!
We are what we eat. And so are the animals.
I have a friends recipe for a blueberry reduction pork loin. Iāve never made it I will look for the recipe and send it to you.
Pic I took off of the TV. It reminded me of you. They also had a giant burger with everything in it but the peanut butter. I donāt know where their head is.
Second edit. I forgot the part about throwing peaches at the pigs to keep them out of my picked peaches. And all of this is kind of a tongue twister.
Third edit. You might not like the recipe because it might have the pork loin swimming in sauce @Dazercat
8 Likes
I saw a documentary/cooking show about those IbƩrico pigs, well one Spanish farm in particular, and they live a good life.
3 Likes
I hadnāt heard of them til tonight. She mentioned Portugal and Spain. Iām glad they are happy pigs.
Love your picking peaches with pigs story @Alisa
Looks like a great big Reuben from the Stage Deli in New York or something.
2 Likes
That sounds phenomenal!
3 Likes
Hereās an article from the Washington Post about pigs eating acorns in an orchard. The picture reminds me of my sweet pigs. If anyone wants to read this article and is unable to please let me know and I will copy and paste it. Otherwise it should be available to non subscribers as one of their 10 free articles a month.
2 Likes
Im not sure if there is a baking thread if any one knows?
Im going to attempt to make my first homemade bread today, il have pics later to post even if its not edible il share my experience.
Have a lovely sunday people
3 Likes
Enjoy making your first 
loaf! Lots of homemade bread here!
2 Likes
You must life in a beautiful place! Fruit trees and (wild)animals in your garden, Sounds like heaven to me 
4 Likes
I love this food LOOk at this perfectly cooked pork, and I love the roasted garlic with the crostini.
This could be my restaurant! Amazing food!
3 Likes
Thank you @ShadowFax , the pigs were domesticated pigs as opposed to wild pigs. Pigs raised for slaughter although I had a hard time doing that ā¦. I could pet them. They would lean into me loving getting their pets. And even though they were huge and I am not they always knew just how far they could lean without pushing me over and squishing me.
I even called a few my million dollar pigs because I kept feeding them instead of butchering for the ābacon.ā
It was fairly idyllic with them grazing in the orchard, yes, and keeping what dropped off to the ground naturally, because of birds or even thinning, cleaned up. I was fortunate that I did ( helped do) my own butchering. Cows deer pigs. Smoked hams, smoked jerky, hung bacon, and made homemade sausage. Dried link sausage, fresh link sausage, fresh pan sausage. Freezing whatever we couldnāt smoke in the smoke house. We would take the sausage casings, Which are intestines, down to a creek, a little river, and wash them in the springfed water. We would always pick the coldest week of the year, To be able to do the work outside in cold cold weather to keep the meat fresh while we home processed it.
(Also made liver sausage and blood sausage. Yuck.)
Out of all that, my favorite thing to eat was the smoked jerky which was super thick, relatively big slabs, with lime juice and cream cheese. It was wonderful.
Least favorite thing to eat and I did drink back then. But least favorite thing to eat were the chitlins. Those were intestines fried up so they were crispy. Too greasy
Again thank you. Your pics you post remind me of all that too. Loved the pic with the archway and the quote and you walking across the creek on the logs! If you were still drinking Iām sure you wouldāve just fallen in. Yay you 50 days plus sober and loving it!
I agree with what you say about his @Dazercat meal. It all just looks perfect. Not to mention the cheese. All the meals look great but this one just looks warm and cozy. Gezzelig. Yes, the garlic.
Edit. Also rendered lard. There were two kinds. One used for frying things and the other a finer lard, called the shiff ? Lard Was used in making baked goods.
Edit number two. We would take the heads of the pigs and cook them in the ground, buried and then use them to make tamales
5 Likes
That all sounds so cool. Using and processing everything of the pigs and make lovely product out of it. Did you also made crackling from the skin? I love this
I understand that it must be hard to butcher them because you get attached to them, but the had a amazing life and you use everything of it.
I used to watch The river cottage series āāEscape to river cottageāā I love it. My dream is to be a Smallholder on the countryside and be shelf sufficient. I have a long way to goā¦ first things first 
Thank you for sharing.
Yes probably I fallen in , and yet another reason to drink more. The outdoors are amazing, there is so much to see, if you know where to look.
Thank you 
2 Likes
Did Finland 
come first in ice hockey 
lol 
1 Like
Yes. We won the Olympic gold in menās ice hockey, against Russia.
4 Likes
You better watch them Russian theyāll want to invade Finland next lol 
