One day in the not too distant past, I was reading Shauna’s blog post about making homemade yogurt, and toward the end she mentioned something called Charcutepalooza. Now, with a name like that, I had to investigate. Turns out, it is an extremely cool project.
200+ bloggers are going to explore the art of charcuterie together this year – one recipe per month – led by Cathy Barrow (aka Mrs. Wheelbarrow). Here’s the list of the Charcutepalooza bloggers. Impressive!
I’m looking forward to the monthly recipes, but also seriously enthused about the community surrounding the project. I’ve already connected to people on twitter via the hash tag #charcutepalooza, and can’t wait to see the flurry of activity that will happen on the 15th of each month (when the communal Charcutepalooza posts go up).
When it comes to working with and preparing meat I am somewhat of a meat n00b, thanks to 13 years of vegetarianism, and then many years of general apprehension towards handling animal flesh. Also, I still am deeply connected to meatless meals, as that is where my core cooking skills lie, plus I just really like a lot of vegetarian food (falafel! kale! grilled cheese sandwiches!). Slowly, though, I’m getting more comfortable with the world of meat. Charcutepalooza should help me with this.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I had some troubles cooking meat during the Food Lover’s Cleanse. But by reaching out to my Facebook community, I connected with a friend who took me by the hand and taught me what she knows about cooking a steak. An informative and delicious lesson it was, too, which absolutely boosted my confidence in this area. I am hopeful to find help with my charcuterie when I need it, too, from the community that has gathered around this project. I will offer any help I can, as well.
I also mused that this year might be my Year of Meat – sure seems like it. First it was the steak lesson, then the chicken carving workshop a few weeks ago, and now Charcutepalooza. Oh, and I’m hosting a meatball making afternoon later in February, too. Fun!
I’ll be posting about the current challenge on February 15 – bacon. Looking forward to that – now I just have to figure out in which recipe I’m going to use my bacon!
