Stuff Nobody Should Eat. Ever.

I'm going to write a cook book and call it "Stuff Nobody Should Eat. Ever."

It's going to be jam-packed with artery clogging Sunday Dinner fare, rainy day stews, and the kinds of casseroles that fix days marred by too many sighs. 

I was inspired to write this years ago while sitting down to a Pot Roasted Chicken with Oatmeal Stuffing. You haven't lived until you've had bacon and onion infused oatmeal stuffing that's been puffing up and simmering inside of a chicken for a few hours. 

Upon tasting it, Courtney and I looked at each other and said, almost in unison, "nobody should eat this stuff. Ever."

Until yesterday, I hadn't envisioned including any real snacky sort of foods, but Phil was good enough to save the skin from the fresh ham he got for our 4th of July Smoked Pig Fest. After a half hour or so with my best friend, Google, I set about scraping the fat from the skins, cutting them into 2 inch squares, and slow roasting them to render the last of the fat and dry the skins out. 

Shortly before our guests were to arrive, I fired up a pot of oil and let the magic begin. 

It's funny to me that sometimes you set out to make something, and when you're successful, you're like "holy crap, I just made chiccarones!" 

But let me say this about homemade pork rinds: they're nothing like those bags of colorless poofs you buy in the potato chip aisle (or more likely from sketchy vending machines in cut rate motels). They're rich in color and sheen without being greasy, they're easy on the teeth, melt in your mouth...and incredibly addictive. 

Praise the Lord and Pass the Lipitor.

Nobody should eat this stuff. Ever.