Porkfest 2013

Porkfest 2013 happened on Saturday night.  The first Porkfest happened in 2010 - during the Blizzard we had - snowmageddon.  Sherry and Rose came over, walking through the snow to enjoy pork - the meal was recreated a couple of weeks late to include Joan and Megan.  So began Porkfest.

Every fall, I buy 1/2 hog from Farmer Allan.  This year he used a new butcher so I didn't quite get the variety I have had in the past.  This year, it was sausage links, bacon, bulk sausage, ground pork, pork loin roasts (bone in) and fresh ham roasts.  Also a couple of packages of ribs, 3 containers of lard and the pigs feet.

For this year's fest, I tried to make pork and chili stew but it came out as shredded pork.  I used a Martha Stewart recipe found here.  Sean let me use his slow cooker and added some spices such as chili powder, ancho powder and cumin seeds. I only used 1 jalapeno pepper and it was plenty hot.  Cooked for 12 hours, let sit in the fridge for another day and then shredded the pork.  Not pretty but this is what it looked like before it started cooking

I made the Silver Palate macaroni and cheese recipe, King Arthur Baking book Maple cornbread (baked into muffins), salad and my homemade pickles.  The award winning dilly beans and a pungent zucchini pickle made with lime.  The cobbler recipe is from Cook's Illustrated.

Joan - excited about pork

The girls - Emma, Rose and Megan

Enjoying the meal.  Brian was with us, you can see the splash of red of his T-shirt to the right of Megan.

The meal!

Berry Cobbler - blueberries, sour cherries, blackberries, all picked last summer.

Emma and Sherry, enjoying cobbler