All of my growing up years in rural west Ky were with filled adventures and challenges that were common to life in the country. Hog killing was some of both and lots of hard work. My Pa Sutherland always wanted to kill hogs on Thanksgiving Day if the weather was right. Most years we would butcher at least six hogs sometimes more. When I turned 14, Pa presented me with a special butcher knife he had made and informed me that he and I would be the official butchers for hog killing from then on. I was so excited because one of Pa's neighbors had always helped with that chore. But he had aged to the point Pa was not comfortable with his skills. So, I got the job until I left home to go to college and later the US Navy. Pa taught me how to cut the meat and cure it for the winter.
Country ham has been a Christmas morning staple for our family until we moved to Texas in 1977 because finding real cured COUNTRY ham in Texas is a rarity. And of course none of it came even close to Pa Sutherland's carefully cured ham. I loved just sitting in his smoke house as a kid and watching him pack the hams, bacon sides and ribs in his big salt box. He was very protective of his meat and rarely agreed to part with it except to his family.
The Rose and I have some really special friends/family who live just across the Ky/Tn state line near Paris, Tn. We passed through Ky on our way home from NC just after Thanksgiving and met our friends for dinner in Murray, Ky. As we were leaving Scott Owens said, "Hold on a second I have something for you." He went to his car and came back carrying a whole Tennessee country ham. My eyes lit up and I said, "Oh wow. I haven't had one of these in a long time. My Dad always sent me one for Christmas when we moved to Texas." Actually the delivery guy always wanted to know what that was when he brought it to my home because of the aroma it radiated.
Yeah, I love country ham and this year we have just now enjoyed a really special Christmas Country Ham breakfast thanks to the Owens family of Buchanan, Tn. We waited until this morning to cut it but I'm sure we will enjoy it for many breakfasts to come.
Country ham is an acquired taste because it is very salty compared to sugar cured ham, but once you get that second taste there is nothing like it in the whole world. This morning I had to explain the real history of country ham to my grandson, who is the age I was when Pa Sutherland tapped me for a very special challenge. Hog killing will always be a ritual that I will never duplicate but will always appreciate. It usually lasted well into the night with the very last job - cooking out the pork fat in a huge iron kettle over a wood fire in the back yard to make "cracklins".
Today my family is scattered and we were weren't able to all be together this Christmas but that country ham breakfast with our son Michael, his wife Annette and his son Gabe, coupled with that beautiful Tennessee Country Ham has put my heart right again and taken me back to my Old Kentucky Home for some very special memories.
God has blessed the Rose and I over our 50 years together. We stay connected daily with all of our family of 14 thanks to computers, the internet and social media - and Country Ham! I am a very blessed husband, father and grandfather. I'm also grateful that my doctor told me last week when I went for my annual check-up that he will see me again in a year. Now that I'm knocking on the door of 74, I take nothing for granted in life. Even small blessings like breakfast with family this morning and memories that keep me connected to who I am. HALLELUJAH!
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