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I'll be cheering on the Pats at home with friends.

Bacon, followed very, very closely by the various forms of slow-cooked shoulder.

Straight up, possibly with a little good balsamic to drag it through en route to my gaping maw.

It's working now.

Fondest pork memory? Easy. Portuguese pork caçoila, made by my former Scoutmaster's mother, every Christmas Eve at his annual open house. I've since taken over doing the open house, and after his mom passed, he graciously shared her recipe with me. I make it every year, where it sits right alongside French meat pies made with my own Grandmémères also-pork-heavy recipe.

Sure, but, other than fruits that a lot of folk think of as vegetables, not on their own. Has to counterbalance some other ingredient.

Canned pineapple on a pizza, though, is an abomination. Just sayin'.

I've experimented a bit with fruit caviars (cherry caviar on cocoa blinis with whipped cream, mango caviar topping lobster salad in phyllo), made "nori" out of kale and basil to do oddball "sushi" presentations, and played a little with making peanut butter and nutella powder with tapioca maltodextrin. I don't think I'll see those techniques take over for more "classic" techniques in my own cooking, but they make for fun little elements.

I'm interested in trying some of the other techniques (like some of the more subtle uses of transglutaminase) but the cost so far is prohibitive.

I remember helping my "great-aunt" kill and pluck chickens and other fowl when I was very young, and toured a local abattoir as a Scout when I was younger. I still occasionally dispatch wee beasties myself, although we're talking lobster, shellfish, fresh-caught fish, and the random frog these days. I suppose that if I hunted or did more fishing I'd do more of it myself, but frankly, hunting would just be another expensive hobby I have little time or money to pursue.

I know a lot of people make the assumption that we'd see fewer meat-eaters if more people saw even responsible animal husbandry and slaughter, but I'm not sure I buy that (I think that educating the public about responsible practices might actually result in more carnivores, but less meat consumption overall--then again, the sight of blood makes me hungry, so what do I know?)

I do think we'd see more pressure on factory operations if we had a better-informed general public.

Timely post! Just last night I was just contemplating the stash of pistachios that are always around to keep the snack jar at home filled, and wondering how they'd taste in butter form. Now I have even more motivation to try.

Sliced thin (obviously), crusty bread, super-ripe figs, balsamic vinegar, maybe some shaved parm.

Ribeye

Absolutely, and have been giving homemade foods for a long time. I change it up periodically, but I've given everything from custom chili and curry powder blends, homebrew, baked goods, candies, cookies, and, last year a spiced vanilla syrup. I'm actually doing another, different syrup this year since last year's was so well-received. When I do things like the syrups or the spice mixes, I also try to include a half-dozen or so suggested uses or recipes, either on the packaging or attached as a cookbooklet.

My daughter has picked up on it, too, and this is the second year in a row I've helped her make a ton of apple butter for her to give to people.

I haven't tried these yet, but years of camping experience wrapping small pancakes around breakfast sausage links with a drizzle of maple syrup suggests they might not be too bad. (Hey, who wants to wash even more dishes when you're camping?)

That said, I'm predisposed to prefer my pancakes and sausage in breakfast taco form…