Pig Parts?

Right now I am in Minnesota while Ethan is at home with the 2 older kids. I stole away to help some dear friends who are getting ready to adopt 2 girls from Ethiopia. Since I have a couple free minutes, I thought I would throw out a question.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of talking with a customer who purchased some of our pork, who also happens to be a chef. He was interested in having us save pork shanks and hoofs. Although we have had requests to save jowls and lard, this is a new request for us. So my question is . . . do any of you cook with any out of the ordinary pig parts - things that you wouldn't see at your typical meat counter? If you do, how do you prepare them?

I look forward to hearing responses, and hopefully I can toss up some pictures once I get back home. (We are in the process of setting up a new computer since our home one has pretty much officially died after months of squeezing every last bit of life out.)

Personalized Plaque Giveaway - Winner!!

Out of 43 eligible responses, random.org picked number 28. So the winner is . . . Suzy!

Congratulations, Suzy! You can check out her blog, Life at the Big Red Barn. Thanks to everyone for being a part. :)

I'd like to thank all of my faithful readers for continuing to check in this winter. And for checking in this week, I have a great giveaway that you can take part in! CSN stores has offered to give away a garden or house plaque to one of my US or Canadian readers.

For this giveaway, CSN has offered your choice of a personalized plaque - which is up to a $75 value. You can either chose the tractor plaque (9.25" H x 15.75" W ) or the chickadee plaque which comes with steaks (10.75" H x 16.125" W ) shown below. These plaques can be personalized with your family name, farm name, house numbers, or even a favorite phrase.
All you have to do is leave a comment with a valid e-mail address so I can contact you if you win. To protect from spam, you are welcome to leave it in the "johndoe at email dot com" format. I will also delete all comments after the giveaway.

All comments with e-mails left until January 18th will be placed in the giveway. Comments must be left on this post and not sent to my e-mail. Multiple comments from the same reader will disqualify the reader. I will use random.org to pick the winner and will announce the lucky reader shortly afterward.

Remember, you must have a US or Canadian mailing address to enter, and be sure to leave your e-mail address in your comment. :)

Thanks again for stopping by!