Our 4th

Kev had the bright idea to pit BBQ a pig for the 4th this year.

He invited all his co-workers and their family's out, and he started looking for a pig. We picked up Ms "Pit"unia Thursday evening.

But, by then, all our guests had backed out. Well, all except one family of 4.

We had a 300 lb pig, and 4 guests.

We had a 300 lb. pig that we killed and butchered ourselves on July 3.

It was 100 degrees in the shade on July 3. And, we don't have any shade at our house.

It's not very fun to handle that much meat when it's 100 degrees outside. You have to work fast, and cutting up pork chops and hams and such isn't easy when it's 100 degrees.

It's actually rather gross to have a slab of meat, that an hour earlier, was a living animal on your counter. It's still warm, it's still bloody and it doesn't cut very well.

But, we got the pig butchered, and put most of it in the freezer. (We'll make ham and bacon again once it gets colder.)

Kev had his pit dug, and Friday evening, he started burning wood to get his coals. At 2:30 in the morning, he woke me up and had me come help him put the meat in the pit.

I wasn't sleeping very well knowing that he was sitting out there by the pit watching all that wood burn, so him waking me up wasn't that bad; but making me come outside in the rain to put the meat in the pit was rather annoying. (I don't remember promising in my wedding vows "I promise to help BBQ pigs in the rain at the ungodly hour of 3 a.m. in the rain."And, I'm not sure where it falls in the For better or worse, in sickness and health part.)

We pulled the pig out at 4 on the 4th. It was good, juicy, tender, literally "fall off the bones" tender.

It went very well with the homemade BBQ sauce I made, and the cheesy potatoes that our guests brought.

Was it worth the work?

Ask me in a few days--after we eat some more of the 3 gallon bags of pulled pork that were left over...

(I need ideas of what to do with all this meat. Recipes anyone?)