Lessons Learned From A Pork Loin

These days, groceries are expensive. I usually shop for bargains, which are sometimes hard to find. Lately, I've been foregoing most beef products, because the price per pound would deplete the food budget too quickly. So I've been turning to other protein sources. And one of the less-expensive of these has recently been pork loin.

The loin is the part of the pig along the top of the rib cage, according to Wikipedia. I've recently been buying boneless pork loin for around $1.88 a pound, on sale. A 7 to 12 pound pork loin will yield a good number of pork chops, which is what sliced pork loin often becomes. Or a larger section of the loin can become a roast, which we usually cook in the crock pot with carrots, potatoes, and some various seasonings.

So when you strip it all down, a pork loin can be said to be "loin from a pig."

Now, when I was a kid, television was in its infancy. A lot of comedies were shown on TV, and it seems we got to see a lot of the old "movie shorts" featuring the Three Stooges. Curly, as we all know, spoke English with a distinctive accent...and words like "turn" became "toin," "burn" became "boin," and "learn" became "loin." [Some of you may already see where I'm going with this.]

So if pork loin can be called "loin from a pig"...putting this into Curly Howard's voice, just what CAN we "loin from a pig?"

First, pigs like mud. But the reason is, on those hot summer days, the water and the mud form an insulating layer around the pig's skin, helping to keep them cooler. If you've ever seen pigs in the mud, they lie down in it; they roll in it; they immerse themselves in it...often from their piggy snout all the way to their curly tail. So if there's one lesson we can "loin from a pig," that's to totally immerse ourselves in subjects that we love. Roll in it...enjoy it to the fullest. WHY? Because it's cool.

The second lesson we can "loin from a pig" has to do with breakfast. Ever hear the explanation of the difference in the terms "involvement" and "commitment"? When it comes to breakfast of ham and eggs, or bacon and eggs, or sausage and eggs...we can say that the chicken that lays the egg is INVOLVED in your breakfast...but the pig is COMMITTED. The chicken can, after all, walk away after breakfast; the pig cannot. So the second lesson we can "loin from a pig" is to always be fully committed to any projects we take on. We need to go at them "whole hog," as the saying goes, and be committed to their completion and to the perfection of the job at hand. Just being slightly involved, and then walking away...is just plain chicken.

Those are the words of wisdom I have to impart to you today. I hope that when you return to the grocery store and walk by the meat case, you'll be reminded of these lessons you can "loin from a pig" whenever you see the packages with pork loin on sale. I really hope that you'll "loin from a pig" and put these lessons to use in your daily lives as well.

Now...about that bacon that's "fully cured"...was it really sick to begin with?

Christmas 2013

So Christmas is here again...some folks are waxing nostalgic, some folks are waxing philosophical, and yet others are waxing areas I don't even want to talk or hear about. No matter which group you fall into...if you'd lighten up on the spiked eggnog, you wouldn't fall as fast or as hard. Many of you will claim that the fat man with the beard came to visit your homes while everyone was sleeping; the truth is, I never left the house after 7 pm...and I have witnesses.

May everyone who reads this have a wonderful day, no matter what you're celebrating. As for me, I'm going back to bed and hoping I sleep through the rest of the night. Morning will find many of you eating candy you found in your socks...which, any other time of the year, would be a quite disgusting concept. And if you don't end up getting what you want for Christmas, I'd like to ask everyone to focus instead upon all we have, and give thanks for that. Or simply give thanks for the negative things you DON'T have, such as cancer. Others--some of them friends--aren't quite as lucky. There, but for the grace of God, walk you and I.

Appreciate what you have; appreciate as well what you don't have. And may peace be in your life from this day forward.