Food. How it can make you feel good in your soul.

Sadly - due to a mix up on my part with my awesome butcher (He really is tops!), I don't have a pork belly to document for my first food post.  BUT - fret not, I will in about 2 weeks.  However - I have one of those things I promised in the magna carta - ruminations on food and how it can bring people together and just make you feel great.

Just a quick snap of some of the stuff that is in this place - I love it.

Nothing tastes better than a dish that I know has been prepared with attention to detail and care.  This weekend, I got to re-visit one of my all-time favorite restaurants.  This place has been around in one form or another since the 1940s in Harrisonburg, VA - home of my Alma mater, James Madison University.  The Little Grill Collective has been a worker owned corporation since 2002, with Ron Copeland leading then charge since he purchased the Little Grill in 1992.

Anyhow - what makes me love this place so much?  Almost everything is made from scratch, with a focus on sourcing sustainable and local food.  They have a focus on vegetarian and vegan meals - but their menu welcomes all with grass fed burgers and local free range chicken.  You walk into the LGC and it just smells great and feels welcoming.  The walls have years of mementos from it's varied past and everything has that feeling that it's durable and lasting and is meant to be.  The worker-owners are extremely friendly and helpful.  The prices for food are in whole or half dollar amounts and already include tax (Cash only!).  It's simple and it works.

Once you get to a table (there can be a serious wait sometimes, but it's worth it!), you can start quizzing your dining partners with the provided Trivial Pursuit cards and peruse the menu of amazing dishes to try.

The fun and quirky menu. Try the Blue Monkey pancakes.  Awesome.  (Tried to get a kids blue monkey shirt for our friends' daughter but they were all out)

Back to the food - it takes a while to get it - but that's because it's prepared from scratch every time and a lot of effort has gone into making it filling, tasty and soul warming.

My wife enjoying the fluffiest, from scratch blueberry pancakes either of us have seen or had in a looonggg time!

That's the second time I've mentioned "soul" in reference to food - that's because to me, once you've put all this thought, care and effort into creating a dish to feed and nourish someone else - it just makes you feel good deep down as a creator and also as a consumer as you work your way though your meal.  Not only have the cooks gone through the effort of making the dish, they've also developed the recipe to actually feed you, not fill you up.  The restaurant has sourced excellent ingredients and in this case with a mind towards the earth and environment.  I'm not advocating all organic, or all vegan, etc - it's just that this amount of thought really lends itself to a wonderful dining experience.  This same amount of thought goes into most dishes when I prepare them for family and friends, I research multiple recipes, I find the best ingredients I can (while staying in a budget) and spend hours working on components of the dish sometimes.  All so I can properly feed and nourish you while we all come closer together through time spent interacting.  Food brings people together, be it a pizza night, a dinner party, a holiday meal or Sunday dinner.  It provides time from our hectic schedules, our always connected lives and allows us to spend time with one another while nourishing not just our bodies but our minds and soul.  This might sound "hippy-ish" to you, or too touchy feely - but humans are social animals - we strive for contact, for a sense of connection with one another.  And food is an amazing mechanism to achieve that.

So - the next time you have a slice of pizza or gnosh on a some knishes with someone you care about or are friends with - remember it's not only an opportunity to enjoy their cooking, but to talk with them and have dialogue.  Food has allowed this to happen.  Some may argue that you can go camping, go shopping, go hiking, go walking or just sit down and talk while you have a glass of water - but I say different strokes for different folks.  Food is my primary conduit for bringing folks together because it's what I know best from experiences growing up.

Go out and feel good in your soul this week - make something from scratch for folks you care about and bring them all together to share in the experience.

Yum,
-Cracklin'

What the frick is a french pig? (A Food Magna Carta)

Who Am I?  What is this all about?  Why are you choosing such a ridiculous name?

Well - I love cooking.  I love chopping, cutting, dicing, slicing, rendering, baking, frying (yum!), grilling, smoking, grinding, stuffing (I think you get the picture)....all kinds of food.  I especially like making my own preserved and smoked meats: sausage, prosciutto, salami, jerky, pulled pork (*gasp* there the first porcine reference!), etc...

So - in an effort to start chronicling my adventures down the culinary rabbit hole that I call my free time (when it exists) - I've started a blog and named it after a venture that I hope to one day have.  The name is a creation of myself and a good friend who also loves to cook.

I'll warn you - sometimes it's going to be just about cooking, other times it might be ruminations on food, food prep, food use and occasionally, rarely about life.  Then again, maybe I shouldn't limit the life aspect - after all, food is interwoven into our lives - it feeds us, nourishes us and also brings people together.

As my dad always tries to do when we travel "Do you want to get a pastry??", sadly, No Dad, I don't want the pastry (I've been on a mission to lose weight and be in better shape for the last 6 or 7 months, so far 40+ pounds lost and I fit into clothes that I used to wear 6 years ago when I was still another 20+ pounds lighter - so I think it's working - all while enjoying the food I love).  But I'll take a coffee and sit and talk with you over some hot joe as you tear into that sugary delight, washed down with your own cuppa joe - it just helps folks come together.  How many occasions are centered around a big meal with all your family around?  Loads.

Food is life.  That's my approach.  I love making things from scratch, be it vanilla extract, beer, sausage, bacon (next adventure, stay tuned!), bread, pizza dough or even cheeses.  I'll try anything at least once to get a better feeling of it's original essence and freshness before buying it in the store (perhaps never to be purchased again in some cases - yum!).

So come with me my friends and see what the French Pig has to explore.

Come hungry, Come Curious, Leave Full.