Charcutepalooza. What have I gotten myself into?

So, after watching plenty of tweets go by about duck prosciutto and charcuterie and charcutepalooza, I decided to join the meat madness for 2011.

For more information on what Charcutepalooza is, head over to Mrs. Wheelbarrow's Kitchen. She's got the rules and some pretty sweet prizes for the winner. Trip to France, anyone???

I wasn't sure if I could hack it with curing and salting my own bacon, duck prosciutto, etc. It's only recently that I've been excited about cooking and being in the kitchen. I love baking, but cooking is a whole other story. My parents can tell you stories about how I wasn't exactly in love with cooking when I had to (read: when they made us kids cook dinner). On those nights, dinner was usually mac and cheese or something like that. Mostly pasta, because it really only required the knowledge of how to boil water.

I think their goal was to get us engaged with cooking, but it definitely backfired for me. I dreaded those nights. A lot.

I digress.

So I signed up for Charcutepalooza. And tonight, I rubbed down four pounds of pork belly to make bacon for February's challenge. By this time next week, I should have some delicious bacon.

Well, I know I'll at least have bacon. We'll see whether it's delicious or not! Stay tuned!