One of the things I enjoy most about eating pork is tasting the different breed varieties. For almost two years, I have been obsessed with Berkshire ham. It's like no other ham I have ever eaten before. That was until I tried Red Wattle ham.

Red Wattle ham is by far the most juicy, tender, and succulent ham. After taking a bite of this mouthwatering meat, a billion different recipe ideas starting going off in my mind. For starters, this would be great ham to use in a Cuban sandwich.

Red Wattle is one out of the many dozens of pig varieties in the United States that are at risk of becoming extinct due to industrial agriculture. Farmers stopped breeding the different varieties, because customers stopped buying them. The only way to prevent Red Wattle from extinction is to support the farmers that still breed them. Read on to find out Red Wattle's origin, history, and where you can purchase it.

During my layover in Paris, I entered what appeared to be a high-end deli. These high-end delis appear all over Paris. They are called charcuteries. The French charcuteries are one-of-a-kind. At first, when I entered Jeusselin, a charcuterie in the 7th arrondissement in Paris, I was stunned by the gorgeous displays of the prepared delicacies, such as white asparagus, tête de veau (calf's head), saucissons (French sausages) and jambons (French hams). Every aspect of the shop seems artistically calculated. The people who work at charcuteries such as Jeusselin are not simply seen as charcutiers (pork butchers), but also as traiteurs (caterers), so the presentation of every food is taken seriously.

But, it's not just the food displays that make the French charcuterie unique at Jeusselin. It's also the way the traiteurs cure their meats. In fact, the word "traiteur" means a cook-caterer. They are chefs in their own right. The history of the traiteur goes much further back in time before restaurants existed. In France, up until the eighteenth century, these master cooks would serve meals to large parties. So, it's not surprising that when restaurants (as opposed to long-existing cafes and taverns) sprang up for the first time all over Paris in the 1700s, traiteurs felt threatened and brought legal charges against some of them. In other words, they were as well-respected as today's star chefs.

The traiteurs at Jeusselin are proud of their work and excited to share their knowledge with their customers. They have been at 37 rue Cler since 1937. During my visit to the shop last week, the current owners of Jeusselin were eager to show me photos of their family members who started the business.

Want to see how far American cuisine has come in the past 40 years? Check out the Mid-Century Supper Club on Flickr, where members lovingly recreate heinous 50s and 60s dishes like hot dogs suspended in aspic and olive-studded sandwich loaf. Dishes are served in retro crockery; some are even posed in front of their inspirations, photos from vintage cookbooks and 1962 issues of Good Housekeeping.

I am particularly fond of the higher-concept items, such as the "Three Men in a Boat" - baked potato boats with button mushroom sailors and American cheese sails - or the banana "airplane" - a banana with chocolate wafer wings, flying through whipped cream clouds. Time to tie on an apron and bust out the Jello.

Thanks Lauren!

No matter how you feel about El Barbudo (the bearded one), who resigned from the Cuban presidency today after nearly 50 years in power, you can probably agree with this: Cuban sandwiches are awesome.

Also known as the Cubano or medianoche, the sandwich is layered affair of ham, sliced roast pork, cheese pickles and mustard on sweet, submarine-like rolls. Cuban sandwiches were likely invented not in Havana, but by immigrants in South Florida, where many Cubans settled after the Revolution. They're basically a jazzed-up version of the ham and cheese sandwiches eaten by Cuban workers across the island for centuries.

These sandwiches can be served hot and gooey from a sandwich press (my fave), or cold like an ordinary sub. Try one of these for lunch with a mango batido (thin fruit milkshake) and dream of palm trees and vintage Cadillacs.

Yesterday I had a friend and her 18-month-old over for lunch. I put together an eclectic assortment of food including some smoked turkey and white bean soup, a couple hunks of cheese, beet salad, applesauce, a friend's homemade pickles and some sliced apples. My only problem was I was severely lacking the bread department. We ended up making do with some toasted baguette rounds that I realized later were starting to get moldy.

I had wanted to make some savory muffins, but I don't have a go-to recipe for that particular item and I ran out of time anyway. However, I think I may have stumbled across a winner to hold onto for next time I need to quickly supplement my bread supply. Just yesterday Jeanne of the blog Cook Sister! posting a yummy looking recipe for Ham, Cheese and Paprika muffins. Them look to be pretty easy and the picture makes me want to drool (always a good sign).

If anyone else has favorite recipe for savory muffins, let me know!

Green eggs and ham is a legend of the children's book world, but I must say that this is the first time I've seen a genuine attempt at producing it. This photo is from a flickr set by user michales and is accompanied by instructions detailing how to recreate the dish in your own home. The ham is painted with food coloring, but there is a trick o getting the egg just right. The egg white has to be separated from the yolk and scrambled with food coloring. The yolk is then (gently!) added back to the white when it is poured into the pan.

The only way in which these eggs differ from the literary eggs is that Dr Seuss imagined his to have green yolks, not whites. But I think that neither Sam-I-am nor any little Seuss fan would have a problem eating these eggs - here, there or anywhere!

[via boingboing]

I always have the best plans around the holidays when it comes to food. I always have some mathmatical formula where I'm going to consume the least amount of calories possible. If I don't have any cookies, I can drink more. If I don't have any of my sister's brownies, I can have a third helping of stuffing.

It never works out though. I go back for seconds at my sister's house (ham, lasagna, chicken breasts, green bean casserole, various desserts), then have a turkey sandwich and stuffing later that night at home. I go to my other sister's Xmas Eve party and find myself eating pasta salad and grazing on tortilla chips, cheese, and trifle all night (and six beers - "light," but still). Then, on Xmas Day, another meal, this one consisting of turkey, oatmeal and sausage stuffing, yams with marshmallow topping, a bottle of wine, Oreo Cookie cake and cheesecake.

What did you have to eat the past few days?

I just posted about my holiday leftovers soups. Now it's time to discuss what I did with all the odds and ends I saved while making my soups and other entrees and side dishes. I had all the saved trimmings from the veggies, as well as the nasty ham ends, fat, gristle, and the meaty bone. This was a great start for making a demi-glace of sorts. Something I like to do whenever I have assorted veggies and roasted bones lying around.

I filled a stockpot with the ham remnants and veggie peels and topped it off with water. I brought this to a boil and then lowered it to a bare covered simmer. This I then cooked off and on for two days, while adding water as necessary to keep it topped off. I then strained the broth from the ends and put the broth back into the stockpot. I then threw away the now flavorless bones and ends. I boiled the stock uncovered, watching closely, until I had reduced it to a very thick concentrate. It was now a ham demi-glace, full of intense flavor. I then let this cool and froze it in ice cube trays for later use. This demi-glace is now available for me to use as a starter in soups, for making sauces and gravies, or adding flavor to almost anything I cook.

So what with Thanksgiving last week, and then throwing my first holiday party of the season right after, I had lots of leftovers sitting around. Most of my cooked leftovers went fast, what with the visitors and hangers-on who lingered over the weekend. One big leftover I had was 2/3 of an inexpensive but tasty smoked ham that I got on sale for $7.00, what would normally be $23. You have got to love holiday sales. The rest of my leftovers were half used bundles of vegetables and herbs. Soups are great for clearing up the loose ends lounging around in the bottom of your fridge so I started slicing and dicing to feed the hungry crowd.

The HoneyBaked company is recalling 46,941 lbs of their turkey and ham products due to a concern that the meat could cause be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The recall includes cooked, glazed and sliced ham and turkey, all of which was produced between September 5 and November 13. The meat in question was sold in and around the Toledo, Ohio area and was also distributed across the country through internet and catalog orders. There have been no reports of illness yet, but listeriosis primarily affects pregnant women, infants and the elderly, or those with preexisting health conditions. It can cause fever, vomiting, diarrhea, difficulty breathing and can trigger miscarriages and stillbirths, as well as opening the door for more serious diseases. It is most commonly found in unpasteurized milk and unpasteurized milk products (like some cheeses) and prepackaged deli meats and hot dogs.

Roughly 45 million turkeys are eaten each Thanksgiving, so it's not too surprising that we - and just about everyone else who writes about food - spend a lot of time talking about what we're doing with our turkeys for Thanksgiving and presenting alternatives to the traditional roast bird. But not everyone is planning on having turkey at his or her Thanksgiving dinner. A few might opt for steaks or pasta dishes for the main meal and a handful choose Tofurkey, but the second most popular main course for this particular holiday is ham. HoneyBaked, which is one of the most popular sources for ham, says that they can sell 50 times more ham for Thanksgiving than the do during the average week. Even more than that is sold leading up to Christmas.

I'm still serving turkey on the big day in addition to all the usual sides. What's going to be on your Thanksgiving table?

The December issue of Esquire has a gift guide for the person who plans on giving meat to friends and family this Christmas.

The first choice is an obvious one, and a familiar one to fans of The Late Show With David Letterman: Lobel's, in New York City. The mag calls it "the best steak in America," and I bet there are some places in the South that would want to argue that point. They also list the Best Ham In America, The Best Sausage, The Best Barbecue, and even the Best Wine to go along with your meat gifts.

Warning: You probably shouldn't wrap the meat early and put it under the tree until Christmas. Not only will that make for a very funky Christmas morning, your dog will probably ravage the gifts to find out what the hell that smell is. And don't put any meat in the stockings either. That's just wrong.

The FDA has just approved the a mixture of viruses, bacteriophages, to be used to kill bacteria commonly found in foods, marking the first time that a virus has been approved as a food additive. The mixture contains strains of six different bacteriophages designed to fight Listeria monocytogenes, the bacteria that cause listeriosis, a disease which sickens about 2,500 people per year and kills 500. Listeriosis primarily affects pregnant women, women who have just given birth and infants, in addition to other people who have weakened immune systems for one reason or another. The bacteria is found mostly in packaged, processed meat products, so the additive will be used on cold cuts, various sausages and other "ready to eat" meat products.

The FDA imposed its strictest standards to scrutiny to this additive, developed by a company called Intralytix, and is confident that the bacteriophages are safe. The Department of Agriculture will regulate and supervise the use of the additive. A spokesman for the Office of Food Additive Safety at the FDA says that " consumers will not be aware which meat and poultry products have been treated with the spray."

Generally, meat is for eating and not to be used as a toy. In this case, however, I think we can make an exception. Sweet Meats sells (vegetarian!) meat plushies, all made from and stuffed with a super-soft fleece. The varieties they sell include ham, t-bone and pork chops, as well as ribs and hot links. Most of the plushies are available in a "family size" for those who like their meat larger, too.

It seems like they would make an amusing gift for vegetarian friends, since no animals were harmed in the making of these meats, or a cute alternative to a teddy bear for a young carnivore-in-training. Can you imagine a little kid carrying around a plush steak instead of a security blanket? Adorable!

A while back, I mentioned that Starbucks had been test-marketing hot breakfast sandwiches in a few select locations. They are now selling them at quite a number of stores - 126 in the Chicago area alone - as part of their regular menu and seem to be planning to roll them out country-wide over the coming months.

The Chicago Sun-Times rounded up a panel of tasters who were willing to put the Starbucks sandwiches head-to-head with McDonald's McMuffins to give the rest of us an idea of what they're like. Two out of three said that they still preferred McDonald's, which appears to be the gold standard for quick, breakfast sandwiches. Here's what they thought of each of the offered sandwiches:

• Eggs Florentine with Baby Spinach and Havarti - A taster favorite, with lots of sauce and spinach. "It's really delicious!" declared one.