Going Whole Hog

Before I met Elizabeth Coblentz, back in 1990, I didn't think much about pork or where it came from.  I probably bought a package of bologna somewhere and never thought a second about it.  Soon after I met Elizabeth, however, I become acquainted with the quaint - and messy - winter Amish tradition known as "butchering day."  The whole family pitches in from the youngest to the oldest in slaughtering a hog, rendering the lard, making sausage, chops, and the like.  By the end of the day an Amish family usually has enough pork chops to last them until the next butchering day and lard to infuse dozens of pie crusts.  I remember the first time Elizabeth wrote about the tradition she did it in such vivid (um..graphic) detail that some newspapers balked at running the column (Except for the Flint Journal in Michigan...they didn't run the weekly column but the food editor...this was back when even medium-sized papers had their own food editors...saw the column somewhere and wanted to run it in his paper so people could read first-hand about butchering day....For years I tried without success to convince the editor to run the column weekly in his paper to no avail).  Anyway, these are two videos I took last year at butchering time but I don't recall ever posting them....This first video is a short one that gives a great view of fresh ground sausage and a close-up of pig brains, which some people eat. So if you are squeamish, please don't watch this one.  The final video is a short look at the lard and other pork goodies.  Take a look here.