Laverty Hijinks, or Deck the Halls With Hunted Holly

Shore Fire Prexy Marilyn Laverty, away from her computer today, reports from the road on some recent hijinks:

Getting lots of cookies baked and presents bought.

Yesterday we traveled down to one of my favorites places, Barnegat, NJ, an antique bay town in the Pine Barrens which has buildings from the 1700's; you can look across the bay and see Long Beach Island and Barnegat Lighthouse.We had lunch at the Hurricane House, Ocean County's oldest restaurant and NJ's oldest ice cream shop (they serve Arctic Ice Cream -- made in Trenton, who knew? Never heard of it).

We also re-enacted a family tradition from my childhood of going 'holly hunting', which involves pulling over to the side of the road in your car, shears in hand, and poaching other people's holly (only if it has a lot of berries) while keeping a lookout for the police or landowner to come running. We found a deserted Pine Barrens road and some trees with berries that were not too high to reach (other poachers had beat us to it at several previous locations and didn't leave a limb low enough to get without a ladder.) My 77 year old Mom quickly jumped into the bushes and started breaking holly branches with her bare hands, and the cache of beautiful holly was thrilling.

I’m Thankful for Meat

Oh sure, Shore Fire has its share of vegetarians. We’ve even had a vegan or two pass through our ranks over the years. But there’s also a, uh, healthy meat-loving contingent here. Mark Satlof is the king of this group, with his mail-order bacon and tales of Chinatown mystery meats. Michael Lavigne is also a card-carrying member. He loves tripe and isn’t afraid to admit it.

I like to think I’m part of the carnivores’ conversation too, and this Thanksgiving I had a meal that would’ve done Mark and Michael proud. Instead of the usual dried out turkey, we had a mind-blowingly delicious Turducken, courtesy of Langensteins, a super-cool little market in New Orleans that's been around since the '20s. Their turduckens are so popular that they stop taking orders for them the weekend before Thanksgiving. Just look at this thing! What a beautiful bird(s). A neopolitanic smorgasbord of turkey, chicken and duck! A taste trifecta! Did I mention it was stuffed with cornbread and crawfish? Even my daughter Emma was speechless at the sight of it.

Peach Pickin' Time in Georgia, Pig Pickin' Time in North Carolina

For the second year in a row, my wife's North Carolina relatives hosted a full-on pig pickin' on their gentleman's farm north of Wilmington for Thanksgiving. In a pig pickin', in case you didn't know, the pit master barbecues a pig (in this case, half a pig), then brings it out on location in a trailer/smoker. They turn the heat back on, unload the sides....and then you literally start picking the pig apart, usually w/ tongs but with your fingers here and there if need be. Uncle Jerry ("the gentleman") came over and whispered in my ear not to worry, the barbecue had been blessed by a rabbi!

Here's the pig on the grill..notice the tongs getting ready to pick (top center).

Here's what a piled on plate looks like. The greens were fresh picked from the farm garden.

And the bonus shot, the kids got to gather fresh eggs from the hen house.