Pig Pickin'

October 29th, well we finally made it to my sisters for the Pig Pickin’ / Fall Fest last night. We got there latter than intended and by the time I finished talking to William and Wanda, down from Fredericksburg, the pig was done and chopped into Que. The party involved the whole neighborhood and was really refreshing to see a whole community come together for an event such as this. Everyone brought a side and dessert item so there was plenty of good food to eat. Most of the children came dressed in costume, they had a pumpkin carving contest and hay ride latter in the evening. The day was nice and sunny but the wind was whipping off the James River. It got chilly real quick when the sun went down. Ray, the fellow who cooked the hog did a very good job. The skin was cooked to perfection so you could eat the cracklin’ without breaking your teeth. Ray told me he rubbed the carcass down with Adolph’s all natural meat tenderizer and used a mop sauce of apple cider vinegar and red pepper flakes. We got a preview of the meat as there were a few ribs and the spine left on the smoker. I made my Blue Cheese Slaw thinking it would work well with my California Hot Wings, be more substantial than blue cheese dressing and a nice change of pace. I found it to leave a funky aftertaste in my mouth. The rest of the family and friends said it worked well. Maybe it was a reaction to the diet drink I had. Much to my surprise, however, it worked very well with the Carolina Que on a bun. I think I found a keeper. I want to apologize for not getting any pictures, the day was nice and I got caught up in conversation with folks I don’t see often enough and let the day slip away.