Weekend Pig Roast

We have enjoyed pig roasts for years and held  our first pig roast in celebration of our 30^th Anniversary shortly after moving here.  We did everything from arranging the pig roaster, picking up the pig and roasting the pig.  It was a lot of fun.  The huge, propane powered pig roaster was hooked trailer fashion to one of our vehicles for transportation from where we rented it to our home then back again.  At one time these roasters were easy to find for rental, perfect for larger summer get-togethers.   The following year we called to rent the roaster again to find they no longer rent out their roaster.  I called around looking for one without success. Apparently we are going to have to breakdown and buy one.

A couple of weeks later we went to relatives for their   Canada Day weekend pig roast celebrations.  This is a massive get-together that starts early in the afternoon lasting into the late evening hours.  Some stay overnight where the party continues onto the following day.  Their firework display outshines many community firework displays.  In recent years, they have moved the get-together to the weekend after the Canada Day weekend.

This is large scale summer cooking at it's finest.  They have built a room inside the garage where the guest of honour, the roasted pig resides.  This year's pig was simply gorgeous!  It is prepared for them by a firm in Amherstburg, Ontario.  Unlike most pig roasts we attend and even the way we roasted our pig, this pig was roasted without the legs and bones other than the head.  The body was stuffed then secured with butcher's twine for the roasting process.  The presentation as always was impressive.  The black countertop roaster on the table (upper left corner) was filled with homemade black beans.  There was a variety of salads, vegetable and fruit trays.  Just outside of the garage to the right, two massive grills were going full tilt turning out hamburgers, hot dogs and sausages.  The grills continued throughout the evening.  Trays and trays of desserts mainly squares, cookies and bars were passed around.  There was a large, bottomless candy bowl of various penny candies was passed around much to the delight of the little ones as well as some of the not so little ones.   It was a non-stop foodie fest followed by amazing eye candy!

Chicken Barbeque Dinner

Summertime is filled with so many wonderful food events! They range from family picnics, fruit based socials, ribfests, fish fries to full blown large community events. The common theme is good food mixed with the social aspect. Quite often they are put on by local service clubs, church groups and other groups as a fundraiser. Behind the scenes these events are often organized and manned by a large number of volunteers.

The Barbeque

We attended a chicken barbeque fundraiser organized by a service club last weekend. This barbeque is part of a considerably larger annual event and has competition from other service club food fundraisers. These included a steak dinner and several hot dog/hamburger fundraisers along with other commercially operated food booths. Competition means the food has to be both good and reasonably priced!

This year the cap for the chicken barbeque was 800 dinners and they sold out, so this is a rather large food event. The dinner consisted of a chicken leg with bac attached, baked potato, corn on the cob, coleslaw, sliced cucumbers, sliced tomatoes, rolls and condiments for $11 per plate. Preparing that many meals takes a lot of organization, preparation and even more volunteers.

Pictured is one of three huge propane barbeques the chicken was barbequed on. Each holds two large 2-sided mesh screens. The chicken pieces is sandwiched between the two screens. The chicken is barbequed on one side then then the screens are flipped for cooking on the other side. It takes two people to turn these screens! No sauces or seasoning are used on the barbequed chicken so it is just pure chicken flavour with a wonderful smokiness.

It is hot and heavy work for the volunteers who barbeque the chicken to perfection. The large barbeques throw off a lot of heat and quite often the day is hot with little to no shade. Once the chicken is cooked it is transferred to special foil lined bins ready for plating.

Barbequed Chicken

The tantalizing smell of the barbeque chicken fills the air long before you get to the huge tent! This particular fundraising barbeque is organized so you line to pay first then pick-up your paper plate, serviette and cutlery. The line then goes along a series of food stations. The line moves slowly depending on the number of people but it is a pleasant wait.

The first stop is the chicken ready for plating in large foil lined bins. A volunteer places a piece of chicken on your plate. The next stretch holds the baked potatoes (unwrapped by a volunteer), rolls, cucumbers, coleslaw, tomatoes and condiments. Following that is the corn station where the foil wrapped cob of corn is unwrapped by another volunteer. The final stop before finding a spot to sit under the tent is for soft drinks.

Sliced Tomatoes

Several volunteers ensure the sides are prepped and trays stay full for the hungry diners. A few steps away from the U-shaped serving zone there are smaller food prep areas set up. Under the tables and on tables within the U-shape were generous supplies of butter, salt and pepper packets and rolls for restocking. Just inside near the chicken large hot bins held baked potatoes. The commercially made coleslaw was in 2.5 gal plastic pails.

More volunteers hand slice locally grown tomatoes and cucumbers. Just look at how gorgeous those tomato slices are! The tomato prep area was a banquet sized table so about 4' x 8'. From one end to the other there was nothing but tomatoes. It was indeed a beautiful sight! The cucumber prep station (not pictured) was the same size although it was not end to end with cucumbers. The cucumbers were peeled then sliced ready for the trays. Trays of tomato and cucumber slices went from the prep area to the serving area.

Corn on the Cob

The sweet corn on the cob is cooked in a special broiler (2) inside a huge metal basket (1, 2). This is hot, heavy work manned by two volunteers. I would hazard a guess that the basket holds about 6 dozen ears of corn all hand husked by volunteers. Once the corn is cooked each cob of corn is wrapped in tinfoil then placed into a insulated box where it stays warm until serving.

If you get a chance to enjoy an foodie fundraiser event I'm sure you will enjoy the food immensely. It's one of the best ways to spend a few summertime hours. While there take a moment to look around and enjoy all the sights, sounds and efforts that go into putting on such an event. Organizing such an event can easily be a year long process. It is indeed really quite impressive!

Perch & Pickerel Fish Fry

Perch & Pickerel Fish Fry
November 30, 2007

I've quite busy in the kitchen the past week catching up on the basics like making yogurt and peameal bacon as well as freezing several pounds of acorn squash, rutabagas and sweet potatoes. On the canning front, I canned six 500 ml jars of homemade spaghetti meat sauce and the same amount of carrots. Wednesday I experimented with pressure cooking pork hocks to make a tasty soup with dumplings but it needs a bit more tweaking before I write about it. Thursday's dinner was home canned tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches made with real cheddar cheese. So even though there was a lot going on there wasn't a lot to write about. Last night a group of us went to an all you can fish fry fund raiser.

Food events are always a lot of fun and this was no exception! This fish fry was part of a series of food events put on by this group. The setting was a small hall in a very rural area about a forty minute drive away. The fish did not disappoint. I really should have labelled the fish. The pickerel was deep fried (top) or pan fried (right) and the perch (middle) was pan fried. Sides included French fries, corn, peas & carrots and coleslaw. There were cheese, raw vegetable and gerkin platters. The choice of drinks ranged from alcoholic to non-alcoholic. Afterwards there were two meat draws and it was some really nice looking cuts of beef. One from our group won tow T-bone steaks. These were a good inch and a half thick! So if you get a chance, do check out the smaller food events in your area. They tend to be excellent value for your dollar. Most are quite good and an enjoyable way to spend an evening.

We are off shortly to visit a couple of our kids and babysit grandbaby :) so will be gone for the weekend. I'll be doing a little cooking while away with a couple of special things planned so be sure to check back Monday.