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I bought my husband a smoker for his birthday this past summer - the look of pride and accomplishment on his face when he completed his first "perfect" rack of baby back ribs will remain with me forever.

Ok, I'll use a different one from last time...
Realizing my brother's (NOW EX, though sadly, not because of this) girlfriend had poisoned me with ham, which put me off all pork products for about 5 years. Everyone else ate the same ham, and I got violently ill from her serving me...
I lost 15 lbs. over the course of the next week, and I was pretty thin at that time, so it was grotesque. Why is this a favorite? Because I recall it fondly, and how I was so right when I sneered at her "I was here before you, and I'll be here after you! Suck it!" even though she did poison me. Hahahaha.

sausage stuffed giant shrimp with pineapple sauce

waking up at my grandma's house to the smell of cooking bacon.

Every time we get bacon at the supermarket (usually from Whole Foods), we render all of the fat from the bacon and spend a month using the rendered fat to make everything else taste more delicious.

I used to babysit for pig farmers. They always had really fresh pork products there!

Dad always made bacon on Sunday mornings. You would wake up to the smell of bacon :)

My father made baked beans with a thick layer of blanched salt pork on top. Great Northern Beans, onions, a little tomato. Not sweet. Seriously porky.

And the next day, a baked bean sandwich: cold, porky beans crushed into the bread with pepper and butter on the other piece of bread. I never learned my father's recipe and have failed in imitating it. I miss the pork and beans.

I grew up Muslim so I still remember the first time I was introduced to pork. I was seated in my Christian grandmother's kitchen on a large stool when she gave me a slice ham to snack on. I liked it so much I started clapping (somewhat akin to a seal) and begging for more, which she immediately gave me by dangling in front of me, which I then promptly snatched (again, somewhat akin to a seal). After trying bacon the following summer, it was only a few years before I was officially a convert.

Ribs. Tender, smokey, tangy with BBQ sauce, carmelized perfection on the grill, ribs. Baby back or regular, country style or bone-in...I just love those ribs!

There's just nothing better than bacon for a weekend breakfast. My mom used nothing-special bacon and cooked it in the microwave but it still always tasted perfect.

I invited one of the children's friends over for dinner since they were still playing and had planned to serve pork chops (which we all liked) and only when I removed them from the fridge did I realize I was one short. Lucky for me the kids were light eaters because I had my share from eating their leftovers. In retrospect, I should have sliced them up prior to cooking!