Brother's Bacon for Christmas Brunch

This post was posted by my older brother PBC:

For the Do it your self Christmas meal my assignment was bacon for the morning brunch.
Now I had not given a lot of thought to where bacon comes from prior to this project, earlier in my life when I was more curious and slightly more gullible had I asked my Grandpa Barrett, "I get ham and pork come from parts of a pig but where does bacon come from?" and he told me it was from the curly tail of the pig I took that at face value (i mean it is curly after you fry it) so I never really thought of the origin of bacon again, untill now. 
I am not much for the Internet research on activities such as this, I usually like to do things my own way and hope they turn out, however in this case I did need some kind of direction as I did not even know what cut of meat to ask the butcher for.  Luckily my sister colleen provided me with a couple of recipes and the main ingredient called for was pork belly.  I went to the local independent grocery store, they have an excellent butcher shop.  I told them of my plan for making bacon and they were all quite impressed but did not have pork belly so I had to special order it.  The recipe called for 2 1/2 lbs skin on, but i thought I would need more for the large group and left overs (the recipe said the uncooked should keep for two weeks) I ordered 4 lbs at $3.99 a pound it was about 16 dollars however they did not have "skin on"  I dont know if that affected the overall product very much or not.  The butcher said it would be in a few days, so I picked it up and then went to a Creighton Bluejays game with Brother John after the game John and I made a dry rub in the coffee grinder using

5 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons peppercorns
3 bay leaves
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoon fennel seed
2 teaspoon caraway seed
2 teaspoon dried rosemary
2 teaspoon dried thyme

This is used to "brine" the meat.  we cut the pork belly in two and rubbed it down generously with the rub, then put it in the plastic bag to begin the brineing process.  The instructions called for 7 days turning daily but we only had six, I don't think that was a big issue.  Also on the last day I was to wash the meat and cover for 24 more hours however I on cleaned it off the brine with a clean towel and covered it for 12 hours (this may account for the "extra salty" taste).  On Christmas eve morning the plan was to get the smoker going outside and smoke the bellys for 2 to 2 1/2  hours, unfortunately mother nature and my flu symptoms did not allow for that plan so I had to cook in the oven at 200 for 2 hours.  Brother John picked up the cooked meat took it back to the local butcher where it was sliced into "real Bacon"  The family enjoyed it Christmas morning, unfortunatly i was unable to enjoy but there were good reviews from the not sick and not quite so sick.

The bacon did keep for two weeks and I was able to cook up the leftovers this weekend all in all it was a tasty adventure!

A Very Some Assembly Required Christmas

Oh my goodness. I hope I haven't lost you all. It's been a shamefully long time since I last wrote. You've probably been imagining me consuming frozen pizza and burritos in a massive post-holiday backslide, unable to right the ship and 'fess up... but no, it's just laziness and lack of will that have kept me from writing. I have been faithful in deed to the project for the most part. We traveled to my homeland (Nebraska) for the Christmas, where my wonderful family gamely participated in a wonderful Some Assembly Required Christmas Eve Dinner and Christmas Day Brunch. (I think the daunting task of getting all of the recipes collected has been part of what has kept me away so long.) It was great fun and very sweet that everyone got on board. It made it seem like a real old-fashioned Christmas. That feeling was largely aided by the Snowpocalypse. A giant blizzard on Christmas Eve that made it impossible to reach my parents house in anything short of a military grade SUV. Our family friends, the Laughlins who always come for a Christmas Eve cocktail party had to abandon their minivan about 3 miles from our house. They shuttled the remaining family back and forth in a Chevy Tahoe, luckily the newborn twins and their five month old cousin were in the first carload. It snowed steadily all night, so everyone was eager to get back to their homes for fear of spending all of Christmas stuck with us. I felt for everyone who had to drive, but since I had no place to go I said "let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."

But the food is what we are here to discuss, not the weather. I am going to try to remember everything we had. My sister KK spearheaded the efforts and deserves most of the credit. For the cocktail hour we had, Babaganoush, Hummus, Artichoke Dip (I made the Mayonnaise and Sour Cream), Bruschetta,
Jumbo Shrimp with Creole Cocktail Sauce (I made this). Cranberry Walnut Bread (Which is the simple bread recipe with cranberries and walnuts added for holiday flair). KK made several loaves of French Bread for the bruschetta, the artichoke dip and to serve with dinner. My cousins Erin and Diane made croissants, a yummy yogurt dip and candied nuts. (Am I forgetting something?)

For dinner we had pork tenderloin, prepared by my dad, master chef and overseer. My cousin Johndor took charge of the mashed potatoes, salad was the domain of my sister Maur Maur, but I think she had to slavishly work some OT in Santa's Workshop, so KK ended up handling it. There were also carrots with raisins, focaccia bread and the afore mentioned French Bread.

My brother Chewy made a wonderful Vegetarian Bean Soup, that ended up getting shuttled to Christmas Day eating because of the abundance of other options for this meal.

For dessert my Aunt Cathie made an apple bake, which is like an apple pie, but on a cookie sheet so it could feed more people.

Anyone who attended, feel free to let me know if I forgot anything... I will be coming back to edit this one as I get the rest of the recipes posted.