I decided to take a little break from the State Fair talk and give you some information you just might be interested in.

You can enter the National Pork Board’s “Calling All Grillers with Groupies” photo contest and win a trip to NYC! Through August 31, visit TheOtherWhiteMeat.com to submit a photo of you and your crew around the grill, along with a 50-word-or-less caption that details how you enjoy spending time grilling-up pork with your “groupies.”

One grand prize winner and guest will be flown to NYC to cook alongside celebrity chef Melissa d’Arabian during the Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival, October 7-10, 2010. Prize includes airfare, a two-night stay in the Big Apple and a Char-Broil® grill.

My picture would be of my dog, Max.  He is always there within milliseconds of us starting the grill.  It’s like he senses a change in the motion of the earth when we fire up our grill to put on some pork chops.  Not only is he a groupie, but he’s also the official taste tester.  Self appointed but backed by the entire family.  If this dog ever weighs 100 pounds, it will be because we just can’t say no to those ‘feed me’ eyes.

Source

Who are your grilling groupies?

-B

Every morning I pass a Bob Evans on my way to the office.  Every morning I think about the wonderful pancakes, omelets, and sausages that I have devoured at Bob Evans on Sunday mornings with my family.  Every morning as my stomach is digesting the Corn Flakes that seemed like such a good choice to an hour ago, it longs for the meals of Sunday past.

Well, now I have the opportunity to win a year’s worth of Bob Evan’s breakfast!  Thanks to the Ohio Livestock Coalition and Bob Evans all Ohio residents need to do is watch a video about a farmer and submit your name!  You can register seven times a day until October 15^th!

I was told that you have to be pretty open when writing a blog so I have a confession! Something that just may get me kicked out of Porktastic…  Part of registering for the free breakfast is choosing to learn about raising pigs, turkeys, lamb, beef, etc.  You think to yourself, “Well, I love bacon, ham and all things pork so I’m obviously going to choose Jim Heimerl.  Bethany is also going to choose the Heimerl’s because she works for the Ohio Pork Producers Council and helps write this blog.”

…Um, well… my dad happens to be the turkey farmer!  Wait, wait… before you start lighting the pitchforks and forming an angry mob, I need to let you know that he actually raises both pigs and turkeys (the man wears many hats).  I may have to choose both because not choosing the pig farmer would be denying my love of bacon and not choosing my father would be allowing my mom to pile on years worth of guilt.  (Seriously, my parents are some of the coolest people you will ever meet, but one time I forget to call home after my drive back to Columbus to let them know that I arrived unscathed.  Four years later, I still get the “Make sure to call when you get back and not forget like that one time…)

Whew, sorry for bringing up all those hidden emotions.  Back to the free breakfast! Seriously, the only real question is do I want the hotcakes, sausage gravy and biscuits, or turkey and spinach omelet…  The ethical dilemmas continue and if I have gray hair by the time I’m thirty, you will know why!

What’s your favorite breakfast food?

- B

Do you love Johnsonville sausage? Well, this contest is made especially for you!  Just create a two minute video for any of these four categories and upload onto their website.

“Share Your Ville” Categories

• FRIENDSVILLE – Who is part of your VILLE?  How do you hang out and use the great taste of Johnsonville Sausage to make these moments even better?
• FAMILYVILLE – These are your folks.  Share how you spend times together with the great taste of Johnsonville Sausage.
• EVENTVILLE – Share with us what takes you to your special place.  A day on the lake?  Tailgating before the game?  How does the great taste of Johnsonville Sausage make this a more memorable event?
• LOCATIONVILLE – Where do you live?   Share your Johnsonville Sausage grilling recipes & tips.  Happen to live in a “VILLE” of your own (Jacksonville, Bentonville, Libertyville)?  Share your “VILLE” experience!

If you are an amateur with the video you could win about $3,000 in great summer items, including grilling and camping gear from Coleman®, gift cards from Gander Mountain®, a collection of products from Hefty® and coupons for free Johnsonville® products.  More experienced “professional” videographers will be able to enter a category of their own, and they’ll be trying for a $10,000 cash prize.  I’m planning on picking up a camcorder or even my cell phone and submitting a Porktastic video for the contest!

Check it out at here!  You have got until June 20^th. Good luck!!

Yes that’s right free ham and you thought there was no such thing as a free meal!  To all of our Porktastic fans out there whose mouth starts to salivate at the thought of eating tasty morsels of pork this is your opportunity.  The Ohio Pork Producers Council has challenged Stretching a Buck to make as many meals as possible with a single ham.   She has conquered the challenge and has created four delicious meals!   To top it all off they are now giving away five hams for FREE!   But you have to hurry, because you only have until 10 pm TONIGHT!! Now go and win that trophy of pork pride!

Do you love bacon? How about pepperoni? Since we already know that the answer is “yes,” we’ll go ahead and tell you how to get some for FREE.

It’s Porktastically simple to do: just submit a recipe featuring bacon or pepperoni, and Sugardale will send you a FREE pack of their bacon or pepperoni. Don’t forget to download the recipe booklet for inspiration and treats featuring your two favorite pre-packaged pork products!

Thanks to everyone who made National Pork Month truly Porktastic for us. Your love for all things pork came through loud and clear in the final week and, as a result, we’re proud to be doling out the freebies.

Congrats to all of our winners for being loyal fans of Porktastic.

Grilling tools -- They go to Connie from Ohio, who in turn pledged to give the tools to her son, a bona fide grillmaster who provides pork perfection at events across the Buckeye state. Way to go, Connie.

“Lick My Chops” t-shirt and pizza cutter — Trevor, also from Ohio, hopped all over this by revealing his tough and refined sides to Mr. Oinkers (a Harley rider and self-confessed foodie).

Artisan Pig Bowl – Kelly from Palo Alto, CA, now an honorary citizen of Porktastic, spoke eloquently of brining and smoking her own bacon from pork belly that she buys in 1o lb. increments. Quite deserving, we say.

Free pork gift certificates — Sarah, Aaron and Michael all wooed us with their pleas for pork and promises to share the goodness with others. How could we say no?

“Nice Chops” t-shirt. Holy smoke…the response for this baby was off the chart! In the end, we narrowed our list to a worthy baker’s dozen…and that’s where the folks at Indiana Pork stepped in and said… let them ALL have Nice Chops! We couldn’t agree more.

Although Pork Month is officially over, we’ve got more fun, food and Porktastic goodness up our sleeves. So RSS Feed us and come back often. We like it when you stop in and visit…

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better…we’ve saved the best for last.

Actually, the hard-workin’ folks that comprise the Ohio Pork Producers upped the ante. What’s better than Nice Chops, you ask?

How ’bout FREE CHOPS (or bacon, ham, pork loin…you name it!)

A $5 gift certificate for free pork

could be yours for the taking, courtesy of Ohio Pork Producers and the National Pork Board. Just let us know what you would do if the Pork Fairy blessed your plate with free pork. (Mr.Oinkers@gmail.com)

Blow us away with your response to Mr. Oinkers and you could receive more than one certificate (…though we’re not makin’ promises and our supply is limited).

Let’s face it…it doesn’t get any more Porktastic than this!

We’ll notify the world of this week’s winners once National Pork Month is officially in the books.

So, we’re wading through the avalanche of mail that has all but crushed the land of Porktastic. At the same time, we find ourselves groovin’ to that 1979 adult-contemp slow burner, you know, that age-old seducer by Captain & Tennille…with a porktastic twist?

“Do that to me one more time, once is never enough…

with a shirt like that…”

A pork epiphany? Divine swine intervention? Guilt on our part? Call it what you will, but we can’t ignore this calling…

Back by popular demand and thanks to our Indiana Pork pals, “Nice Chops” is back  for Thursday’s Porktastic freebie.

But get creative, people. Tell us why you deserve it — or why you love us – and soon you could be sportin’  the Nice Chops.

Mr.Oinkers@gmail.com . . . c’mon, do it for us…one more time.

Seriously, do we need to say anything more?

Perhaps a “nice” shout out to our well-dressed friends at Indiana Pork. Thanks for outfitting us with the Nice Chops!  It’s quite Porktastic.

Now let us know why you think you’re deserving of the Nice Chops t-shirt.

And if Mr.Oinkers@gmail.com gets inquiries from the Dougs,  Carls or Jims of the world, we’ll just assume you’re shopping for your best gal… after all, it is a woman’s fitted tee.

We had a hunch that National Pork Month would be INSANE for our schedules…the cooking, eating, events, eating, festivals, eating…we trust you’ve been doing the same.  As a result, we haven’t given away as much as we hoped. Our mouths were full.  Our fingers were preoccupied. Our eyes glazed over with all-things-pork.

We also want to make it up to you. We crave your bacon-scented presence.

Next week — the final week of National Pork Month — you’ll see that we’re giving away the farm…each and every day. Yep, Porktastic will have some FREE pork goodness EVERY SINGLE DAY next week (M-F), thanks to our partners in Indiana, South Dakota and Ohio.

Did we mention we’re giving stuff away EVERY DAY?

Check in DAILY  for your shot at a free somethin’-somethin’.

Trust us, it will be worth the visit.

Finally, congrats to Dan from North Ridgeville, OH. His own quirky love affair with bacon scored him Heather Lauer’s book – Bacon: A Love Story. Way to show the love, Dan.