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National Whole Hog Barbecue Day 2024

Start your fires and butcher that boar. Today is National Whole Hog Barbecue Day. It’s a day for all you grill gods out there, so break out your spices and your condiments to get basting, smoking, roasting and eating.

🔥 BBQ 🔥

Barbecue may not be the road to world peace, but it’s a start. ~Anthony Bourdain

Is there anything more splendidly 🍂Autumnal🍂 than some slow-roasted pork barbecue?

The sudden but long overdue return of cozy weather puts one in mind of comfort food of every variety.

Succulent portions of meat with harvest vegetables and cheesy potatoes are the crown of any lovely chilled day.

Kick it off with hot pancakes and syrup with sausages or bacon. Hit the midday hunger with some sumptuous soup and a hearty sandwich.

Evenings are lovely, dark and deep with ample time for rice crispy treats, s’mores, brownies, cobbler, cake or pie.

Any meal is better with seasonal squash and a dash of Pumpkin 🎃 Spice.

Well, that is as long as you’re not me.

My blood sugar is a bit elevated, so it’s time for me to get back on the wagon.

Spinach, mushrooms, edemame, beans and cauliflower bread are on the menu.

Time for lentils, legumes and lovely cups of unsweetened tea and coffee.

Time to buck the season and eat like a medieval monk.

Whole 🐖 Hog

Brits try Whole Hog BBQ in North Carolina!

This is interesting. I realized they cooked the whole pig, but I didn’t realize they scrambled it like a batch of eggs into a wholistic mass of BBQ.

Everybody has their own angle on the perfectly cooked type of meat. Whether it’s steak, sausage, turkey or BBQ, every region has a specialty.

The nice thing about the 21st Century is that you can have Kansas City BBQ in Boston, Korean BBQ in Sarasota or North Carolina BBQ in Milwaukee.

You can travel to these culinary hotspots or have those regional delicacies delivered right to your front door.

You can. I can have my mixed nuts and dried beans until my A1C gets back under control.

Naturally, I asked my buddy (ChatGPT) for a low-carb, no-sugar baked good I could make in my lovely little 🍂Autumn🍂 baking pans.

He says:

How about a Low-Carb Pumpkin Spice Mini-Loaf or Cupcake recipe that’s perfect for autumn and works well in your festive pans? It’s full of seasonal flavors but low in carbs and sugar, making it a great choice for a comforting treat.

Low-Carb Pumpkin Spice Mini-Loaves or Cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree (unsweetened)
• 1/3 cup granulated erythritol (or another low-carb sweetener)
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil (or unsalted butter)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk (or another low-carb milk)

Instructions:

1. Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease your autumnal-shaped baking pans with a bit of coconut oil or use non-stick spray.
2. Mix Dry Ingredients: In a bowl, whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt until well combined.
3. Combine Wet Ingredients: In another bowl, whisk the pumpkin puree, sweetener, melted coconut oil (or butter), eggs, vanilla extract, and almond milk until smooth.
4. Combine Wet and Dry: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until a thick batter forms.
5. Fill Pans: Spoon the batter into your festive pans, filling each about 3/4 full. If using mini-loaf pans, divide the batter evenly.
6. Bake: Bake for 15-18 minutes for cupcakes or 20-25 minutes for mini-loaves, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Cool: Let them cool in the pans for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

These mini-loaves or cupcakes are soft, moist, and packed with pumpkin spice flavor, making them a cozy and festive treat that aligns with your dietary needs! Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee.

Why thanks, I believe I will.

Fattening 🐗 Hogs

Watch out when you’re getting all you want. Fattening hogs ain’t in luck. ~Joel Chandler Harris

A-ha! I knew all of those smartypants AuthorTubers were talking out of their wazoos.

Waa-waa-waa, torture your characters. Make them suffer. Don’t let them have anything without a struggle akin to punishment from the Greek gods.

Ha!

This is a much crueler twist than twisting their nuts for hundreds of pages.

Let your characters have what they want until it’s time to pay the bill.

Did you ever hear a bunch of advice that sounded so incredibly wrong, but everybody was regurgitating it?

This is how I feel about the perpetually suffering fictional character.

You can have drama and still have a character who can cope.

There’s nothing inherently virtuous about a suffering character.

It’s attention-getting but is it actually attention-keeping? I think not.

Write the story you want to write.

AuthorTubers mean well, but they’re just repeating what they’ve heard to make fresh content for their channels.

Don’t hate the player. Hate the game.

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That’s all the BBQ for today. I hope you have a sumptuous, cozy weekend.