I was up in Boston for an amazing ROFLcon weekend and last night I stumbled into/crashed a birthday pig roasting part for a guy named Craig, who I’d only met the day before (our mutual friend Christine paved the way). The victim was a 75 lb pig, purchased from Mayflower Poultry (“Live Poultry, Fresh Killed”). Lots of fish, scallops, shrimp, crabs, and mussels also perished. It was incredibly delicious. Here’s the whole gallery of crappy cell phone pics. Roasting a pig this size not a one-person operation. Three guys who love food, Craig among them, did the bulk of the work. These guys were having a blast, though after 15 or so courses they started losing steam, understandably, so I tried to do my part by slicing up some fruit for dessert.

The roasting box they used is called a La Caja. It’s insulated, it has aluminum walls, and you set the coals on top. A La Caja cuts the roasting time in half (down to 4 hours in this case) but still requires a lot of charcoal (set on top of the box, not underneath) — about 40-50 lbs total I think. At one point they removed the charcoal top and set it on the driveway while basting the pig, and the driveway’s tar started to melt. Wow.

But seeing the whole process gave me confidence in roasting a big animal, should the need arise. Sure, you need some outdoor space, a bathtub to brine it in, a big work table to cut it on, and a lot of people around to eat it, but otherwise it’s just like a chicken!

Dear Blog,
How are you? I am fine. I miss you. New York is big. I am busy. I know you worry about me. Am I safe and warm? Am I happy? Am I eating enough?

Blog, you don’t have to worry.

See, here I am. Eating, all safe and warm and happy.

Lentil soup Winnie made tonight

Smoked turkey drumstick and cheese on Balthazar’s raisin-walnut bread

My version of pasta with Bittman’s double sun-dried tomato sauce

Eggs baked into a baguette

Karl’s amazing & simple tofu satay

Broiled trout with ginger

And Winnie’s huge corned beef -n- veggie dinner on St. Patrick’s day

I will write more often, Blog. I promise. Now that we’re finally settling into our new home, I will try to make more time for you. You are special to me. I’m sorry.

Love,
Carl

See also: Dear Rabbit and Dear Microwave via Get In My Belly.

Frontline has made an incredibly well-produced and thorough analysis of the war from 9/11 through late 2007. It’s 2-3 hours long but I highly recommend it because it reveals so much about what happened, especially inside the administration, the pentagon, and the CIA. The focus is on the political side and there are many interviews. There is violence but not too much—but it was very hard for me to watch how the political games, confidence games, partisanship, ignorance, subtle pressures and overt manipulations led to horrific distortions of data and, therefore, to failures of strategy. But I now feel caught up on what’s going on. I hope you’ll make the time to watch this.

Frontline: Bush’s War