(Jamie Ford, on my Kindle). A poignant story about a Chinese-American, growing up in Seattle at the beginning of World War II. Henry falls in love with a young Japanese girl before her family is interned in a relocation camp. It a very secretive relationship because his parents would highly disapprove. The story goes back to the 40’s and forward to the 1980’s when Henry is in his 50’s and his wife (not the Japanese woman) has just died of cancer. The story pulls you in from the first page, especially when some artifacts are found in the basement of an old hotel which contain personal belongings from several Japanese families who were suddenly taken away back in 1942. You can see where it’s going, can’t you? I heard criticism of this book that it was just a little bit contrived. Halfway through I’m enjoying it very much.
(Kathryn Stockett on my Kindle); if you haven’t heard about this book, you should! It’s a novel written from the voice of the black servants and some of the people they work for, all residents of Jackson, Mississippi. In the 1950’s. The maids generally are disrespected, still have to ride in the back of the bus, and some are prevented from using the bathroom in the houses where they work. The story is about a young woman (daughter of one of the society ladies) who decides to write a book about the stories of the maids. Anonymously. But not quite, of course. So it’s not only the stories themselves, but about the society-ladies’ relationships, and about the stealth required to interview the maids and write the book. And the repercussions when it’s published. A fantastic read.
by Jetta Carleton (Kindle edition); 
by Susan Richards (Kindle edition); 
by Sally Gunning (Kindle edition)
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(Mario Batali & Gweneth Paltrow); 
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Last summer we purchased a quarter of a 4-H pig. We have a friend whose children, when they were young, used to raise pigs every year, and since the children have sprouted wings and left the nest, she still allows other 4-H kids to board pigs on her ranch. Over the years, we’ve purchased a quarter of a pig several times – mostly ones raised on her ranch. They’re raised with natural products, no hormones, and with lots and lots of TLC. Only once were we disappointed in the flavor of the meat. This last summer’s pig is the best ever. We ended up buying a quarter of the prized blue-ribbon 4-H pig of the season at auction at the Orange County Fair. She was bigger than most and sold for more than many of them, but we got a bit more meat than usual. We have to pay extra for the slaughtering and butchering, and one of us (the group of 3-4 who have purchased the whole pig) has to drive about 40 miles to pick it up, all packaged and frozen. We order what we want – more or less chops, roasts, ground pork, sausage, one ham roast, per family, etc. and they package it up per our instructions. Now I really need to get busy because the next Fair is in July.
When you buy a 4-H pig, you pay for all the poundage, even though a good percentage of it is discarded, or the butcher uses it for other products. I decline the hooves, skin, fat, organ meat, neck bones, bones in general. In some cultures, I know, those odd pieces are prized. Once I visited an Hispanic market and there were whole pig/hog heads for sale. Eek. Not my cup of pig broth. You may want to read my original story about Petunia, our first 4-H pig.
So I’d been trying to use up other meat things in the freezer, and we hadn’t eaten any of ’08’s pig. We heard that the loin chops from this pig were sensational. Oh, indeed, they were. They’re huge. Bigger than any pork chops I’ve ever seen at a butcher store. After defrosting them I used some of Michael Chiarello’s Citrus Rosemary Sea Salt on them and they went onto the barbecue. My DH has this lesson down pat – he grilled them about 4 minutes per side, then put them on a rack, on a small cookie sheet (I’d covered the whole thing with foil) and roasted them off the direct heat at about 350 inside the grill, until the internal meat temp reached 150. We tented the meat with foil for about 5 minutes, while I finished the rest of the meal (snow peas sauteed with garlic, and a salad of field greens and radishes). I also made my favorite mango salsa with cilantro to go with the pork. I used frozen mango chunks (from Trader Joe’s), some red bell pepper, some diced green chiles and a splash of rice wine vinegar.
Oh, my goodness. Were those chops ever good. So juicy. Unbelievably tender meat. Now, I know, you can’t go to the corner market and buy 4-H pig loin chops. Neither can I. But, you can contact somebody in 4-H in your area and see if you could buy a part of one. I recommend it.
What I posted a year ago today: Vermont Cheddar Cheese Bread
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