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This little piggy…
…went to the freezer. Two of the pigs we’ll be harvesting between now and the holidays. They’ve passed 250 pounds and the closer they are to 300, the better we like them. These are mulefoot pigs…descendants of pigs brought here by the early Spanish explorers. Their diet now should be adding some acorns from trees in this pasture. And that’s the combination that made the flavor of Spanish ham famous worldwide….at $60/pound the imported price today! I’ve already ordered my holiday pig! Have you? Spanish pork at American prices. Call Church at (214) 802-1283 or churchhh@gmail.com David
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I see bacon in our future…
It was a moment of celebration…the day pigs made their renewed appearance on Thistle Hill pastures. Nothing tops the flavor of fresh, naturally raised pork. I put it right up there with fresh off the vine tomatoes and off the stalk corn! Meat from these pigs will be available in the fall but you can reserve a half or a whole right now. More on our new residents is on our home page. Incidentally, try fresh corn sometime. Do what my wife’s farm family did years ago and carry a kettle of boiling water into the field…plop the ears right in…and have a feast. Fifteen minutes from stalk to stomach!…
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Life is a series of choices….
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Feeling down….unappreciated….
….we’re reminded by Bob Cain that there’s always……
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Another totally unnecessary….
….”enhancement” of bacon. It’s called a Swineapple roast. Pork ribs ringed by pineapple and then a crust of bacon. This suggestion is from our son, Church Matthews, website. (He’s been away from the farm too long!)
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Gilding the lily….
….for some reason, people keep coming up with new ways of preparing bacon. Why that is necessary, I don’t know. Guess it’s because they don’t have access to Thistle Hill bacon. So for you folks…. http://www.aol.com/article/2016/01/08/oven-baked-candied-whiskey-bacon/21294253/?ncid=facebookfanpageusaolc00000007 Thanks to Church Matthews for the link.
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Another bacon recipe…
…but first a confession. Growing up I had potatoes at every meal….including breakfast. That’s because Grandpa was “the potato king” of Market street in Chicago although after The Crash he was the exiled potato king. Still his devotion to potatoes held firm and now that he was out of work, he came to our house for his meals. And his daughter, my mother, knew what was required. Strangely, instead of having my fill, I still love potatoes and still need my carb fix. This recipe, then, contains two of my favorite foods: potatoes and bacon. It’s a potato-bacon-cheddar cheese tart! http://theshrug.com/he-lines-an-entire-pan-with-bacon-then-fills-it-with-this-i-cant-stop-drooling/ Thanks to SB for the tip!
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Antibiotic use on pigs….
….skyrockets! This is from Minnesota Public Radio: Sorry, bacon lovers, we’ve got some sad news about your favorite meat. To get those sizzling strips of pork on your plate each morning takes more antibiotics than it does to make a steak burrito or a chicken sausage sandwich. Pig farmers around the world, on average, use nearly four times as much antibiotics as cattle ranchers do, per pound of meat. Poultry farmers fall somewhere between the two. That’s one of the conclusions of a study published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Needless to say, Thistle Hill farm never uses antibiotics on its pigs….or cows! Oh, we…
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How good is Thistle Hill pork???
Well, modesty has not been one of my more noticeable traits. But even I had to blush reading this rave review we received about our most recent pork from Brooke Henley of Middletown, Maryland. The pork is heavenly! What an animal! And the processing is amazing too! So far we’ve sampled two cuts of bacon (definitely will be the first thing we run out of!), pork chops, and a ham steak. Photographic evidence attached! This is one of the 2″ thick chops and yes, we’ve just sliced it open. You’re looking at it from the end. One chop was enough for both of us and we had a little bit leftover.…
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Return of the Pork Pak….
….a last minute cancelation of a whole pig, makes it possible for us to sell 10-pound Pork Paks….again….briefly. The demand for our pigs has moved us to offering just halves and wholes….but for as long as they last, the 10 pound package is back and costs just $75! The Pork Pak includes 5 lbs of a variety of sausage, pork chops, hams steaks, and bacon. Yes, bacon. Like our beef, our pork is raised on pasture….is entirely drug free…and even the corn we feed is non-GMO! All this reminds me of two things: First, the picture. Our website is repeated on Facebook and on occasion someone posts something there that…