Pork Burgers

Easy, good, done.

Hot Dogs

...cause I have a lot of hot dogs left. These are still all pork hot dogs.

Chipotle Chicken Thighs

So I made chipotle mayonnaise, and then we had sandwiches, it was quick, it was pretty good, it was super easy.

Thanksgiving

I think this went off OK. I had a few challenges here and there, but for the most part, it was a fairly familiar menu. Seems like people had a good time, lots of conversations. Objectively, I should've felt relatively accomplished. I was however exhausted into the next day. I also got to use a blowtorch, which was interesting. I think I need more practice to get the golden brown sugar color, like it should have...or get the gas that has a lower temperature. I think there may be more usage of this as time goes on. It makes me curious to get that really high heat and use it to perhaps finish something. I guess we'll see how it goes.

So who won? I'll first start of by saying, I love ham, and both hams were on a level far exceeding the hams that you would buy in the super market. There is a clear care for both the animals and the process of making the ham. I know Ethan and Crooked Gap and I've met many of his Hereford pigs. I've had a growing relationship with Jason at Lucky George, and while I haven't visited his farm, I get the impression that they are lucky Large Black pigs to be there. I've met some of the staff at Story City Locker (the processor for both farms that I prefer). So that all being said, you'd be lucky to have either ham on your table. But I'd give an edge to the Large Black pigs. I liked the fat, just a bit better (yes this is not a common thing), but it had a slightly better texture at the edge. Both hams did have a beautiful fat cap.

With a number of leftovers I made a ham soup. Using ham from both and the ham bones from both.