HOLIDAY | Pigs in a Blanket

pig ribbonApril 24th – National Pigs in a Blanket Day

Pigs in a blanket, devils on horseback, kilted sausages, Wesley dogs or wiener winks–whatever you choose to call them–the first recorded recipe for pigs in a blanket appeared in the 1957 edition of Betty Crocker’s Cooking for Kids. 

That said, pigs in blankets appeared in literature way before Betty showed us how it’s done. For certain, pigs in a blanket date back to at least April 10, 1925 when The Great Gatsby was published. Using their old-school name, “pastry pigs,” F. Scott Fitzgerald included these little breaded pork hors d’oeuvres in the big feast in chapter three.

“On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors d’oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold.”

That sounds excellent. We must celebrate. So, today you are to throw yourself a party Gatsby-style. Get some little cocktail wieners and canned dough, smash ’em together and celebrate this fine food. (And if you happen to be a vegetarian, you can always celebrate April 24th as the monumental day when in 1994 the Danes made the world’s largest lollipop–all 3,011 pounds of it. Well, it was the world’s largest lollipop until 2012 when America realized how much it was slacking in lollipop girth, and, like always, had to be the bigger and the bestest. As in: a 7,003-pound lollipop. Eat that, Denmark!)

Yikes.

Perhaps we’ll just stick to the recipe, shall we?

 

Pigs in Blanketspigs in a blanket

(From Betty Crocker’s Cooking for Kids)

Heat oven to 450°.

Make Rolled Biscuits as directed on Bisquick package

Roll dough about 1/4 -inch thick into rectangular shape.

Cut into 4×3-inch oblongs.

Wrap each oblong around a wiener, letting ends of wiener peep out.

Bake 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Makes 12.

 

 

Chelsey Clammer
Chelsey Clammer is the author of the award-winning essay collection, Circadian (Red Hen Press, 2017) and BodyHome (Hopewell Publications, 2015). Her work has appeared in Salon, The Rumpus, Hobart, Brevity, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, The Normal School and Black Warrior Review. She teaches online writing classes with WOW! Women On Writing and is a freelance editor. Her next collection of essays, Human Heartbeat Detected, is forthcoming (Fall 2022) from Red Hen Press. www.chelseyclammer.com