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\nWe wanted to take the pork chop concept up a level in our Saturday Afternoon outing yesterday. Instead, Peace threatened to break out in the Mid-East and there is talk about what the Mid-East is going to look like if Iran is neutralized for a while.<\/p>\n
And the new rivalry may run down between the ragged flanks of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
Freedom ain\u2019t free, right?<\/p>\n
We were trying to get our minds around the idea of \u201cpeace\u201d when word came about the shots down by the White House. With the White House Correspondents Dinner incident having occurred only a couple weeks ago, this is part of what had become a regular pattern of attacks on the American President.<\/p>\n
Secret Service announced 21-year-old assailant Nasire Best pulled up near the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, drew a pistol and began shooting at uniformed officers.<\/p>\n
The officers at the checkpoint returned fire, and Best was pronounced DOA at the nearest hospital. In addition to the idea that shooting at Executive Branch buildings is now a common occurrence, there is additional threat to just walking around town.<\/p>\n
A civilian was reportedly critically wounded in the melee. Our Fifteen Minute Counties are safer than they were, but this wasn\u2019t Best\u2019s first attempt to get close to the White House. After his arrest attempting to approach the building last summer, he was warned to stay away. We suspect a mental illness.<\/p>\n
Which brings us to those pork chops.<\/p>\n
The \u201c3 shots fired!\u201d on the radio became twenty or more once the Secret Service rounds were counted.<\/p>\n
Regulars at Socotra House are aware of a bulk acquisition program that is common to people who have to feed news, naval and merchant crews of working people. We also walk a fence line of cash availability, so it is useful to have some money coming when we want to slide some out.<\/p>\n
If we have made a sale for the Chairman, Deirdre will slide a bulk order of a quarter hog or heifer with Wyoming Pure or the Autumn Olive Farms. If the season is good for sales, she will alternate a quarter cut to coincide with change of seasons for beef in Wyoming or pork from Shenandoah.<\/p>\n
We have talked about our pals out in Wheatland, Wyoming, for their excellent range of beef products. People around here have to import some of their cattle from Argentina. We get ours from the high prairie of America.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
For pork we can come closer to home. Autumn Olive Farms is an award-winning small family farm located north of Waynesboro in the central Shenandoah Valley. Since 2008 they have been raising and selling a heritage breed of pig from farrow to finish. These breeds include Georgia\u2019s Ossabaw Island hogs, a feral breed that arrived in the New World with the Conquistadors and were left behind when the Ossabaw Barrier Island Hog plantation failed after the Civil War.
\nWith Watch Sections Bravo and Charlie doing their trade-off in the Conference Room this afternoon, in case Peace is really here this time, she wanted Keith to do a main meal for a couple dozen Creative Section players and the snack-time hangers-on from the interns from George Mason University\u2019s Communications Department.<\/p>\n
We have cultivated that relationship as an outreach across generational cultural norms. We get to hear what they think and we pretend to care. But in the meantime, we were getting hungry!<\/p>\n
Bulk Order shopping: Spring or Fall quarter-sow or cow bulk purchases from Wyoming Pure (https:\/\/wyomingpure.com) or through the Virginia Pork Council (https:\/\/www.virginiapork.org).<\/p>\n
These hogs are raised outdoors in large spaces, an environment naturally fitting for breed wildness, resilience, and sustainability. Although slower growing, the outdoor-finished Ossabaw is loaded with vitamin D and nutrients only available to animals raised in actual sunlight outdoors and allowed the great diversity of forages available in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.<\/p>\n
Ossabaws are indeed unique, with meat and fat loaded with fatty acids, omega-3s, unsaturated fat and oleic acid so unsaturated that it nearly turns to liquid and melts at kitchen temperature.<\/p>\n
The Iberica breed’s characteristics makes chops a quick and satisfying shift-change dinner that feels indulgent yet requires minimal preparation. The combination of grated parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs and Italian herbs gives these chops a delightful crunch and rich flavor that pairs beautifully with the juicy, tender meat.<\/p>\n
Served alongside mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, or a fresh salad, these parmesan-crusted pork chops are sure to become a shift change or weekend favorite with their irresistible taste and easy preparation.<\/p>\n
We were going to run the ingredients, recipe and serving suggestions today. But it looks like that is going to have to wait to Memorial Day tomorrow!<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 Vic Socotra
\nwww.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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