Location: Ball Airport, Louisburg NC (i.e. almost in my back yard) Specific relation necessary for attendance.
Date: Saturday, September 20, 2008 for dinner
Ordered: Everything they had to offer!
Yes, I know, this is not a restaurant. Maybe this should just be the Dining experiences blog. Every year, my mom's family has a family reunion. It became an annual event probably almost 10 years ago. Us ladies get together, usually at the Texas Steakhouse in Wake Forest for a planning session in August and we all come together to bring various things and discuss what worked/didn't work in previous years. And of course, gossip. Then the men cook the pig.
For the men, the day starts early, usually about 7am. The pig goes on, the fire barrel is stocked and all fired up. A big shovel helps them add hot smoldering ash and such to the pig cooker to keep things going. They hang out all day and I guess they gossip, too. (The women get together the night before for the pre-cleanup so the club house is ready for visitors). The pig is usually ready around 5 or 5:30 in the afternoon. With a wonderful blessing, usually by cousin Jerry (or brother Jerry, or Dad Jerry, or son Jerry, husband Jerry - you know it's a family reunion so he's related any way you look at it) the eating is underway.
Every year the weather takes a turn right before this event, it seems, and it's always the first evening we are out and notice we need a jacket. It was nice tonight, kinda breezy, you could smell and sense fall was in the air.
The airport was founded by my great uncle, the late Joe Ball, Jr. mainly as a crop dusting business. He was a pilot in the War (joined when he was too young to do so but he lied about his age and they kept him because he was good). He went on to become a pilot trainer for the military. There is another pig picking coming up next month in his honor, but that's a later post. Mostly vintage 2 seater airplanes take off here - you pilot the from either the front or back seat. There's a cool club house and shed which is the focal point of the gathering.
I think the Ball family originated from Alert - isn't that where the world began? Well, at least originated from there after they sailed over here. Anyway, onto the food. Here are some favorites that show up every year:
The pig! Cooked by a group of the men, led by my Dad. He built the pig cooker himself. He chops up all of the meat at the end so you get a good mixture of meat from all areas and you don't have to use your knife. You must top it off with some sauce. There are usually several varieties of this available ranging from your basic BBQ sauce to some hot stuff and this year I saw something labeled stump water. I was too scared of that to try it. You go through the line and he just piles up some pig on your plate until you say "when". If you ask nicely you can get some of the crispy skin to chew on, too.
Baked beans - usually a couple of these. I always go for the one with the bacon slices in it. Yummy!
Potatoes - they really work at these. I do not think they buy the canned potatoes, they actually have a potato peeling party. It's the deal, all buttered up and boiled with onion. I always put sauce on top of mine, but that's just me.
Deviled eggs - last year these were the must have item. I think we had 3 dozen and people were looking for more when they ran out. Seems like they intended to make 6 dozen this year. I really, really love deviled eggs and I knew they were doubling the quantity this year, so I got twice as many on my plate as I normally would. Hmmm, guess if everyone did that we'd still be in a pickle....Don't worry, there are many to choose from, some with paprika and some without, some with pickle, some with none.
Slaw - Once again as with the potatoes, I believe they have a cabbage shredding party. I don't think this is store bought.
Cucumbers in vinegar - is there a technical name for this concoction? I was so happy to see this in the spread this year. Kudos to the thinker-upper of that! I love them so much. We always had them at home in the summer when I was growing up. These had been in the vinegar for a mighty good while and were sufficiently marinated.
Sweet Tea - made in the 5 gallon cooler. We had to put someone on guard at the tea station this year. The kids just love to run by the cooler and push the button to make the tea squirt out and last year I think they did it so much there was no tea left at eatin' time!
Slice of Bread - I don't know what it is about pork barbeque, but I always must have bread with it and my favorite (after the hush puppy, is that bread??) is a soft fresh white slice of "loafabread".
There are usually hot dogs for the kids with all of the trimmings and desserts out the wazoo. Here are some of my favorites in the dessert category:
Cousin Ann's Banana pudding - I think she inherited this recipe from her mom. It rocks! How one can make such a big banana pudding, I cannot tell you. It is in one of those huge pans like they use in the cafeterias. It's hardcore.
Uncle Alex's (pronounced "ell-lick") peach cobbler - He picked these peaches himself, peeled them and cut them up to make this cobbler. He said he got the peaches "on halves" - the worms got half of them and he got the other. This was probably the best thing I put in my mouth tonight.
There are always pies - chocolate, coconut - and a cheesecake. This year the cheesecake had optional cherry topping on the side. I just wanted to abscond with the whole container of cherry topping. Would that have been wrong?? Cakes abound and usually a plate of cookies. Watergate salad, it's like a dream dessert land.
Here's an item that caused much discussion. The fire barrel is always on a certain side of the pig cooker, every year. And every year the wind seems to blow in a certain direction that blows the fire smoke to the gathering area and puts you, literally, in the line of fire when you line up to get your pig and begin your journey through the myriad of food. I wondered why this did not change from the prior year and found out it's because the fire stoker access on the pig cooker is on that side. So why then, the question came up, don't we just start the line on the other side? Big pause, light bulb, ok, duly noted. We'll see.
Don't be frightened by the lady in the bathroom. She's been there a lot longer than you and she's seen it all. I still get a big chuckle (after my initial shock - I don't know why, I knew she was there) at the mannequin in there. She moved from the shower to beside the sink from my last visit. I think she has a name, but I forget it. There's always some new photo, joke, parable or other paraphernalia in the club house of interest, too. It's like the house is one giant scrapbook for everything that has ever happened there. Lots of my kin and folks I know grace those walls.
So unless you have some Ball stock in ya or you marry one, we won't see you next year, but you can read about it on my blog.
Posts
