St Mary's Pork and Corn Roast on Saturday August 8, 2009

It was pleasing to see Cathy2 rave so much about our event in past years.

St. Mary of the Annunciation (Fremont Center, Mundelein) Pork and Corn Roast, is August 2-3. Lake County's Largest Roast!

Now in its 34th year, the Pork and Corn Roast is St. Mary’s biggest fundraiser and community outreach of the year. The event’s proceeds support the on-going education and public service ministries including PADS, St. Mary’s School, career counseling and much, much more.

The rural setting and food provides ambiance to thousands of friendly people enjoying a taste of Old Lake County!

Needless to say the Lake County Fair prize winning Hogs that are roasted for the event are wonderous—I personally love being there at night while the roasters are going—what a sensation for the nose!

There are so many things to do over the course of the two-day event including the delicious Sunday Roast, 5K Run, Concerts, a Beer Garden (Margaritas and wine too), Kids Games, a Craft Show with over 100 Crafters and much much more.

This year's Saturday night Double-header Concert Features Trippin' Billies--the Midwest's Number one Dave Matthews Tribute; with special guest Out of Storage.

For Discounted advance tickets, You can visit the event website at: http://www.porkandcornroast.com

Hi,

I already have my tickets. It was on my to-do list to mention your event.

I plan to be at the Lake County Fair auction to see those piggies before they give it up for a good meal.

Regards,

I'm curious - how are the pigs in question roasted? Sounds like a(nother) great way to educate an 8-year-old on where food comes from...

Firstly, we cook 23 pigs---that is a feat in itself. The roasters are all donated from area restaurants and farms--the tow-behind type. The pigs are dressed, set into rotisserie trays and cooked over night--sat to sun over charcoal. It requires about 10 volunteers to keep adding charcoal to the roasters all night. It is a very exciting process. If you like the smells of roasting pork fat--this could be close to enlightenment...LOL

Porkand ...,

What always dismays me at the roast is how the crunchy skin is summarily tossed away. Why do you toss the skin? You will find there are people who prize the crispy skin.

Regards,

I'm still working out my schedule, but if I go - I'm sure C2 and I will be happy to share the piggy odds and ends

I will make a point of having the cutters save some skin for you. Further I have a really cool graphic viral email that you can send to other potential fans of the Hog if you drop me your email address. tom@porkandcornroast.com Thanks!

PorkandCornRoast wrote:I will make a point of having the cutters save some skin for you.

What I don't get is why isn't the skin simply offered? There are many people who consider the skin a prize. At St. Mary's it is carved off and disposed off. Are you responding to somebody's notion of healthy eating?

I regularly go to the screened in kitchen for skin. I know where to go for the good stuff. I just keep wondering why it is not offered to everyone.

Regards,

Good thought....I agree cause I like the skin too.... My experience with the roast is limited. This is my first year as chairman and i have only volunteered in minor roles (ie cooking the Hogs overnight) prior.

Just curious, what is the price difference between buying at the door and buying in advance?

D.

$10 in advance. $12 at the door. There is a service charge online, however we will offset that cost with drink tickets when you arrive.... Look forward to having you there!

For some reason, I'm having trouble viewing the event website....

I was able to get the church address by googling St. Mary's:
22333 W Erhart Rd
Mundelein, IL 60060
but wondered if there was a scheduled time/best time to arrive for the roast pig dinner--or if it would be available all day? From an earlier post, it sounds like the roast pig is available only on Sunday?

Tarte Tatin, I had the same problem and emailed the address above. He sent me a direct link to the ticket purchase page, which I was able to see...

Hi,

Based on prior pork roast experience, they serve from noon to 3 PM. I have a friend who lives nearby, we usually peg our arrival to 1:30 PM to get past the rush. There have tents in one area and a tree shaded grove in another with picnic benches. We usually dine in the grove with my friend bringing a plastic tablecloth from home.

Sparky will like the kid's entertainment. They have a lot of homemade carnival games that seem to come out of the church basement for this event. They also have barrels painted like pigs with a tractor dragging them around. This pork roast has a small community in downstate Illinois feel rather than part of Metropolitan Chicago.

Regards,

Good to know...we're still sorting out schedules, but we're tentatively planning to go, maybe combining this event with a little local camping/fishing (I was thinking we'd run up to the fair the weekend prior so we could see the piggies on the hoof)

>There is a service charge online, however we will offset that cost >with drink tickets when you arrive

How does this work?

D.

Cathy2 wrote:

PorkandCornRoast wrote:I will make a point of having the cutters save some skin for you.

What I don't get is why isn't the skin simply offered? There are many people who consider the skin a prize. At St. Mary's it is carved off and disposed off. Are you responding to somebody's notion of healthy eating?

I have had the same experience at private party pig roasts, the skin is disposed of! My work had one once at the home of our boss, the Phillipine born wife of a co-worker and I went out into the drive way and picked skin off as it was being cut and thrown away! I know Larry Thomas of LT's BBQ in Aurora who runs a mobile pig rig, he will always have an amount on hand if asked at an event and is very generous.

OK, we have our tickets and will be there on the Sunday! Hope to see other LTHers there (we'll be sneaking in the back door for skin as well!)

Thanks to all who have bought tickets....should be a great one--was at the Lake County Fair Saturday procuring our prize winners....Look forward to dining with you!

This event was just too far away to attend, but I am interested in hearing feedback, and to live vicariously through those lucky enough to attend this pig roast.

How was it?

Sorry for the late report, Jim - we combined with a camping trip from which it took a bit of time to recover. At any rate, this event is a fun, homespun, family event - the food is quite good, the entertainment is enjoyable and the beer is cold. We were one of the few families who prepaid online: we still had to stand in line to get our tickets, but it was good to know we were assured to get in.
The event mostly happens behind the church; you don't see much of it when you get there:



but in back, there's a large tent with a "beer garden" (which was cool and breezy despite the hot day) and all kinds of carnival games for the kiddies: Sparky apparently nailed the dunk tank and the milk bottles and came home with an armful of prizes.



Unfortunately, we arrived a bit on the early side (about 1:15) so the lines were long and it was hot...and I forgot to take pictures of the food! The meal that you pay for includes choice of standard roll or rye bread and butter, a nice chopped vegetable salad (cucumber, tomato, onion) or sliced tomatoes, applesauce, hot sauerkraut with bits of bacon or ham in it, truly beautiful sweet corn with a butter dunk, and pork. Drinks are priced separately - if you go next year, save yourself time and get an extra $10 of tickets which are $1 each, beers and alcohol can run you 6-8 tickets, carnival games and sodas 2-3 tickets (we did get $6 worth of tickets to defray the processing fee, which bought us 2 bottles of water) Plates were filled to groaning.



It's good to know Cathy2, though - at her direction above, I scored this lovely plate of crackling skin, some of which was a bit underdone, but much of which was delicious and fatty and crunchy and had some of the best pork still attached. This came from a gigantic garbage bag, where 6-7 hogs worth of skin had been deposited for disposal.

A few minutes after we'd finished eating, I wandered back to the kitchen and discovered Cathy2, Cathy1 and Helen headed for the screen kitchen for their own plates of crackling skin. Cathy, clearly a veteran, had ordered her meal in a clamshell takeout box that held much more - she also had figured out how to get the choicest pork (ours was mostly "white meat," and was honestly a bit dried out) by ordering meat with bones and "crispy bits." We had a lovely conversation while Sparky knocked things down with his pitching arm, and then packed up and headed home. Always more fun with another of our own, right?

We left via the forest of smokers, so Sparky could see what it looks like to cook a whole pig (they were barely recognizeable, sorry, again no pics) At any rate, we'll probably be back next year - although it was not that far of a drive, it really seemed like we'd left the suburbs and were deep into farmland. The church is very charmingly surrounded by cornfields, and we were able to stop at the Kishawaukee River that morning to fish (more on that later.)

Mhays wrote:Sorry for the late report, Jim - we combined with a camping trip from which it took a bit of time to recover. At any rate, this event is a fun, homespun, family event - the food is quite good, the entertainment is enjoyable and the beer is cold. We were one of the few families who prepaid online: we still had to stand in line to get our tickets, but it was good to know we were assured to get in.
The event mostly happens behind the church; you don't see much of it when you get there:



but in back, there's a large tent with a "beer garden" (which was cool and breezy despite the hot day) and all kinds of carnival games for the kiddies: Sparky apparently nailed the dunk tank and the milk bottles and came home with an armful of prizes.



Unfortunately, we arrived a bit on the early side (about 1:15) so the lines were long and it was hot...and I forgot to take pictures of the food! The meal that you pay for includes choice of standard roll or rye bread and butter, a nice chopped vegetable salad (cucumber, tomato, onion) or sliced tomatoes, applesauce, hot sauerkraut with bits of bacon or ham in it, truly beautiful sweet corn with a butter dunk, and pork. Drinks are priced separately - if you go next year, save yourself time and get an extra $10 of tickets which are $1 each, beers and alcohol can run you 6-8 tickets, carnival games and sodas 2-3 tickets (we did get $6 worth of tickets to defray the processing fee, which bought us 2 bottles of water) Plates were filled to groaning.



It's good to know Cathy2, though - at her direction above, I scored this lovely plate of crackling skin, some of which was a bit underdone, but much of which was delicious and fatty and crunchy and had some of the best pork still attached. This came from a gigantic garbage bag, where 6-7 hogs worth of skin had been deposited for disposal.

A few minutes after we'd finished eating, I wandered back to the kitchen and discovered Cathy2, Cathy1 and Helen headed for the screen kitchen for their own plates of crackling skin. Cathy, clearly a veteran, had ordered her meal in a clamshell takeout box that held much more - she also had figured out how to get the choicest pork (ours was mostly "white meat," and was honestly a bit dried out) by ordering meat with bones and "crispy bits." We had a lovely conversation while Sparky knocked things down with his pitching arm, and then packed up and headed home. Always more fun with another of our own, right?

We left via the forest of smokers, so Sparky could see what it looks like to cook a whole pig (they were barely recognizeable, sorry, again no pics) At any rate, we'll probably be back next year - although it was not that far of a drive, it really seemed like we'd left the suburbs and were deep into farmland. The church is very charmingly surrounded by cornfields, and we were able to stop at the Kishawaukee River that morning to fish (more on that later.)

thanks for the report back, the pictures,& the pic of the pork skin look great. I am now looking more forward to the next filipino b-day, or party we will be going to, where a roasted pig is always one of the offerings.

thanks again.

I basically agree with everything Mhays had to say. I would rate my pork a little more favorable. It was a wonderful day and a great meal.

For those with an interest one person there told me they cooked 27 pigs, another 25. Both said the pigs weighed in at about 240 to 250 pounds, over 3 tons of pork.

D.

I tasted Cathy's and it was delicious, so obviously it depends on selection - next time, I'll be bolder, and point out the bits I want... Next year, we should meet up somewhere ahead of time, so we can all eat together!

Pigs in question "before:"

In the past, they had music on Saturday and the roast on Sunday. They have combined it all into one day: Saturday, August 8th.

The lowdown, which will be repeated on the events board:

St. Mary's 35th Annual Pork and Corn Roast

Gates open: 2 PM

Dinner is served: 4:30 to 7:30 PM

Dinner tickets: Adults: $10, Children 5-10: $4. Children 4 and under: Free

They do sell beer, beverages and ice cream. There is also a bake sale.

Live Music:
4 PM - 6 PM: Vinyl Highway (60s and 70s music)
6:30 - 8 PM: Private Drive (Southern rock music)
8:30 - 11 PM: OUt of Storage (a bit of everything)


St. Mary's of the Annunciation
22333 W Erhart Road
Mundelein, IL 60060
Tel: (847) 223-0010