Pig Roast Party: Part 1

My family hosted a Pig Roast Party a couple weekends ago. Family, friends and neighbors all came over to celebrate the end of summer and enjoy a delicious pig that we roasted.

Invitations, Menu Card and Smore's Bar Signs all designed by Kelly Wilson

Smore's Bar included all types of different toppings and ideas for S'mores treats!

My brother Brian wanted to try his very own Pig Roast, so I'm going to let him tell you about his experience; but first, let me give you some background information. Brian is the youngest in our family and has been a goofball his entire life. As the only older sister, my brothers find much pleasure in playing jokes and making fun of me constantly, but at the end of the day we are siblings and love/support one another. We have a very close family and a lot of our memories are around food; it wasn't a surprise when Brian wanted to pursue culinary arts as a career. Although it has taken some time, I am proud that he has found his niche in life and is following a successful path toward his dreams. Plus, he is always cooking and we live close enough to taste test his delicious creations!

Both my brothers, Jim and Brian, make homemade pizza every year at the beach and for Christmas Eve. We look forward to it all year!

Cooking at our villa on our family vacation to Italy. Brian is bossing around my husband Carter in the kitchen.

Studying at the Art Institute in Philadelphia

Love you Bri! Thank you for sharing your process/experience on my blog!

Hi everyone, I’m Brian! First off I’d like to thank my sister Kris for letting me share my experiences involved around the Pig Roast Party.  My responsibilities revolved solely on the pig from planning, to digging, and all the way up through carving the tender, juicy meat for making some delicious sandwiches. 

Before I begin I’d like to tell you a little about myself, and how I got involved in this process.  Just last March, I graduated will an from the Art Institute in Philadelphia for Culinary Arts, and I am currently continuing my education by taking culinary management, marketing, and business classes.  Cooking has always been an interest of mine.  Shadowing my mom make Sunday dinner and going to the Italian Market on 9^th Street in Philadelphia are some of the fondest memories I have growing up.  I have many thanks for my family for getting me involved in this fascinating industry.  It’s been a wonderful experience so far, and it has opened up the world with many possibilities. 

That said, I probably would have never tackled the art of a pig roast if it weren’t for my culinary background.  The amount of planning and preparation that went into it is not only necessary but vital.  Think about it: 100 pounds of pig will be in the ground cooking for about a day and there is no controlling the temperatures or rotation or anything of that nature.  The pig is at the mercy of your planning, and it shows.  Otherwise you will be ordering a whole lot of pizza (I had a few pizza shops on speed dial…just incase). 

I would have loved to say that we hosted a Pig Roast to bring family together or celebrate the wonderful summer we had this year, but, truthfully, it was because we had a lot of wood in our yard to get rid of.  We had a lot of pine trees that were removed from our backyard and they aren’t healthy for the chimney and fireplace.  Originally, we were just going to just burn it all and call it a day, but since I look for any excuse to have a party I decided that it would have been…educational…to have a good ol’ fashion pig roast.  The catch was that I was in charge/responsible for all the work put into it. 

That night I did all the research I could possibly do.  It was really difficult to find what I was looking for. The Internet wasn’t as useful as I thought it would have been.  There were countless different ways to roast a pig, from spit roasting to cooking parts of a pig at a time.  None of which I had in mind.  I wanted the whole pig in a pit, and the only way to get what I wanted was to make it my own.

For all you recipe followers out there, the art of roasting a pig is just that…an art.  Believe me there is no recipe for roasting a pig.  I often had dreams of finding a recipe chiseled in stone while digging the pit, but it never happened.  I will do my best to describe my story and hopefully make you more confident if you wish to tackle your very first pig roast...

Stay tuned for the actual Pig Roast Process!