To the chagrin of my vegetarian friends, i like my pate and charcuterie.
When Ariane Daguin of D'Artagnan told me they were a proud sponsor of Charcutepalooza, I was like a pig sniffing for truffles or should I say digging for details.
Rather than being a flash in the pan, CharcutePalooza is a year long food fest with a new theme each month.
It was dreamed up by Cathy Barrow aka MrsWheelbarrow and Yummy Mummy Kim Foster.
In March, they want fellow bloggers to stop whining and start brining instead. Everyone is then invited to tell the world about their creations for this Charcuterie fest.
Cathy unveils the Brining March Challenge on Food52 which hosts the event for the rest of the year.
She notes that Kim had to be converted to the theme, She felt it was not sexy.
Lily of D'Artagnan tells me that she first heard about #charcutepalooza via Twitter.
Before long she was brainstorming with Cathy and as a result D'Artagnan got involved and "is offering 25% off on purchases to the participants of Charcutepalooza (which Lily says now number over 300) for each of the monthly charcuterie challenges during The Year of Meats."
Ariane Daguin will be one of the judges picking the uber amateur Charcutier in later stages.
Another sponsor of contest that got my attention is Trufflepig, a custom travel service that also publishes The Sounder an online travel magazine.
Get brining!