My friend Jodi Oleen (Twitter @jodioleen) recently had an update that pointed out October was National Pork Month. Hmmm…. that sounds like every month for me but I’m guessing they have to put a date on it just to have a point of celebration. I mean otherwise, it would be like having your birthday everyday. 🙂

So let me take a minute to bask in all of the porky goodness!

Bacon

Need I say more? Just the word gets me. It is one of the proteins I’ve been eating for breakfast. Not sure how I had ever gotten away from that habit of breakfast, but having bacon as a part of it is pretty sure to make sure I don’t go to work without breakfast very often! I love bacon so much that I wrote a post about showing bacon love through some cool gifts (great things to consider with the holidays on the horizon) and some great sources of information too. You decide, would you rather have a bacon lip balm or read what a butcher has to say? Why choose, go for both!

Pork Chops

Well, I have to say one of my favorite cuts of pork for lunch or dinner is a thick cut porkchop! Especially the big smoked ones that Jeana makes! But really I have gotten the lean ones too for breakfast on occasion. Another option in that protein early in the day category.

Memphis Barbecue

It’s probably pulled pork that I miss the most by not living in Memphis or Mississippi any more. I’ve had some good barbecue in Missouri, but it is just not the same. When I go home, one of the “must haves” is barbecue at my favorite spot. For me, that’s Memphis’ Central BBQ that I’ve posted about several times — saying goodbye to good friends and I’ve asked you your thoughts about barbecue in a poll.

A Christmas Ham

My family knows that while I enjoy turkey at the holidays, a good baked ham is my first pick. (Well, it may have met its match with the cajun fried turkeys Steve makes for Thanksgiving.) I still remember the Christmas holidays several years ago because as my family was happily enjoying our ham, a hog farming friend of mine was braving blizzard conditions to go back and forth to the barns.

Other Ways

For my lasagna I made for friends recently, I slipped a bit of sausage into the sauce. 🙂 Have a tenderloin in there to cook up. And I have some other sausage to put in red beans and rice too!

Remembering Where Pork Comes From

This year marked my first visit to a pig farm where I learned quite a bit about piglets, pigs and hogs. I also got an upclose sniff of the pig farm…. something I’m not sure I was looking forward to but I found out it was ok!

How do you celebrate National Pork Month?