Porkapalooza 2009

We trekked it out to Laytonville this weekend and partied with all the little ones of the krewe. Believe it or not, a hog had been slaughtered and there was a pork-filled weekend planned that piqued a curious excitement among the menfolk. Sam and Ave headed up with Lilah, Ivy and Nick flew in from NOLA, and Brent broke out of jail and brought his adorable son Elliott up for the weekend. We descended on the Laytonville farmhouse (and Mat, Erin, Ryder, Clay and Sarah,) and had a wonderful time despite the weather.

Griffin was finally old enough to play with the big boys. Ryder will be two in April and Elliott is nearing three, but Griffin was doing a good job of keeping up. I also noticed (much to my elation) that the "two-kitten" theory of parenting becomes functional at about 14 months- two toddlers can actually occupy each other and you get to relax a little. I may indeed have another child. As long as one or two trusted adults were watching the little troupe of boys, the rest of us could chit chat or eat pork unmolested. We passed cute l'il Lilah around and the boys all played with toys near each other or splashed in the yard.


The pig in question (appropriately named "Carnitas") had been put down with a bullet between the eyes (after enjoying a whisky-filled melon and some fresh hay) before we'd arrived (thankfully.) While the guys began furiously making sausage, we went the femme route and Ivy bought six (count them, six) trashy celebrity magazines and we watched the collector's edition of Twilight while reading about Brangelina and OctoMom.

It was a genuine Pork-a-palooza with a new pork product being debuted from the kitchen every two hours. We ate sausage, boudin, pate, pork tacos, chorizo and (some folks even ate) blood sausage and head cheese. The feasting and community part was lovely, but encountering a flaming pig's head and later finding the decapitated head in the sink awaiting whatever foul things you do to make head cheese caught me a little off-guard. Luckily I like zombie movies so the pig head was less traumatizing once I put it in context.

Please do not watch this next video if you are squeamish or vegan. It has no babies in it, only Mat torching a pig's head (apparently necessary for head cheese.) I chose not to upload the video that describes giving the pig whisky while Clay does a dramatization of the incident and I turn around just in time to see Griffin unloading beer bottles from the recycling bin. Look for that one on Facebook. If it's your cup of tea.


Apparently it's soooo gross, you have to click on the play button to get the visuals.