I’m sure many of you are wondering what happened to those two cute little pigs named Breakfast & Dinner. Come on, you knew this day would come folks.
June 2018
November 2018
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There are a couple graphic butchery photos below, so just stop now if that bothers you or scroll really fast.
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Breakfast & Dinner lived a very happy, albeit short, life at Spring Creek Acres. They rooted up acres of pasture and enjoyed a non-GMO diet. The sisters frolicked about and happily grunted when Farmer Shawn brought them treats every day and sprayed them down on hot days. They grew bigger and bigger and bigger, until one day Farmer Shawn decided they were ready to become bacon, sausage, and other tasty delights.
Skinning (and no that’s not the same sled from the previous post…we have multiple pink sleds)
Sawed in half
I’m the first to admit, the killing and processing part is not fun and I was not overly involved. Once everything was chilled and cut into less recognizable pieces, I joined the party.
Shawn sold two half pigs and invited the buyers to join in the processing. Talk about knowing where your food comes from!
Let the butchery begin
Pat grinds meat for sausage as Heidi looks on
As you can see, we like sausage. With some of our meat, we made Jalapeno breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, and German sausage. I grew up eating smoked Geman sausage at my grandparents’ house on Sundays, so I was trying to recreate that.
10+ pounds of sausage meat ready for seasoning
Packaged sausage ready for the freezer
German sausage in casing ready for smoking
German sausage after smoking, ready for Christmas Eve dinner in Fresno
All in all, the processing of the two pigs took about a week and yielded over 300 pounds of meat. Shawn also cured bacon and smoked the hocks.
Slicing Pat’s bacon
Mmmmm, bacon
Pasta with Italian sausage
We now have a freezer full of pork and chicken for the coming year, plus a bit of elk from the neighbor. Raising and processing your own food takes a lot of time and effort, but it tastes so good. Cheers to Breakfast & Dinner!