Chefs Jasper Mirabile and Kay Tucker at Pig 101 Dinner

Pig 101 is over, Pig 102 is now in the works….and I thought I was going to rest a few days and then purge pork from my refrigerator for a day or two! Ha! Testing in the kitchen begins right away; there are stacks of cookbooks, reference books and my laptop all piled up and surrounding my chair in the living room. There are more cookbooks on the kitchen table!
The evening at Jasper’s was, in my estimation, a great success; I had a ball! I am in my element when I am surrounded by family, friends and food!
One of the things that made the evening so special was we celebrated my Grandson Alex’s 19th birthday. Another was, there were many attending the dinner that I shared the trip to Sicily with. Let’s see, reason #3 is Jasper’s mother’s pastry cream! OMG! The list goes on and on because there was not one reason for it to not be a perfect evening! Jasper was in fine form and his kitchen staff deserve medals for putting up with me for 2 weeks! It isn’t that I am demanding of them…I’m just used to doing everything myself. I needed to be hands-on with each course. They probably thought I was a pain in the butt! I am also shorter and wider than all the men in that kitchen, they tried so hard to not run over me and to be respectful to an elderly lady!
There was a reporter from the Kansas City Star there to take notes for an upcoming article. I’ll let you know, if I find out, when it will be printed.

Our menu was:
Receptione
Jasper Jr.’s Califlower & Crispy Pancetta Soup en Cappuccino

Antipasti
Chef Kay’s Pork Pate & Head Cheese
Crostini & Foccacia

Primi
Lensi Artisan Pasta alla Carbonara

Piatti del Giorno
Wild Boar & Soft Polenta
Archibald Sauce

Sicilian Mama’s Neck Bones & Sunday Sauce

Zampone & Cotechino
Zuppa de Lentiche

Brick Oven Roasted Pork Belly
Tuscan Beans

Doice
Nana Mirabile’s Olive Oil & Polenta Torta
With Pancetta Candy
(and Nana’s Pastry Cream!)

Somerset Ridge Vineyard and Winery
Oktoberfest Wine
Flyboy Red Wine
Ambrosia Dessert Wine

See what I mean….lots of food and wine!

I have to tell you one more thing…probably the most exciting thing for me….George Richter of Smithfield Foods was a guest at the dinner and he asked Jasper and I to go to Smithfield, Virginia and recreate this meal for them. I did not hesitate….YES! Don’t know when yet, but I am going! Thank you again, George, for the Farmland Pork we used for this dinner, it was perfect.
And I certainly thank you for the opportunity to cook for you in Virginia! When does the company jet pick us up?
So Cool! And for those of you that follow my family history and Ogg Farm posts... do you think my two grandmother's are smiling?