Pork

On the blistering afternoon of July 4, the burgers were sizzling on the grill and Joe Kelly was beginning to smolder. Across the crowd enjoying the annual parade and picnic in Radnor's Garrett Hill section, he had spied the man he is challenging in this fall's election for a seat in the state legislature, Democratic Rep. Greg Vitali. What stoked his anger was that Vitali opposes the state Community Revitalization Program, the very program that provided a $5,000 grant to help pay for Garrett Hill's $18,000 parade budget.

Of the $189 million that Democratic legislators tacked on to Gov. Corzine's proposed $33.29 billion budget, Senate President Richard J. Codey estimates about $10 million is for pet projects. An Inquirer analysis places the figure higher, between $25 million and $30 million - including an extra $1.5 million for the Battleship New Jersey, $6.9 million for debt service at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey's South Jersey campus, $100,000 for the Lenape Regional Arts Center, and $400,000 to pay for municipal-park rangers in Washington Township.

In the land of the midnight sun, Christmas traditions go back more than a thousand years. For the Bartow family of Furlong, Bucks County, those deep Norwegian roots remain in evidence each Christmas Eve, renewed and strengthened by repetition. These days, the family gathered at the Bartow table stands at 14, with Lori and Jim Bartow; their children - Nicole, 16; Michele, 13; and Jimmy, 11; Lori's sisters, Kristy Corino and Karen Detweiler, and their families; and the women's parents, Mary and Roy Djuvik.

The hordes of black-necked laughing gulls caught the remnants of our breakfast toast in midair as the early-morning ferry carried us toward the south shore of the James River. For us, Williamsburg's tricorn attractions - Colonial costumery, discount shopping and amusement parks - had grown stale. On the other side of the James, we were told, lay the real Virginia, unspoiled by the glitz of the late 20th century. Ours was a two-day quest to discover two counties - Surry and Isle of Wight - that are the heart of the commonwealth's pork- and peanut-producing region.

WASHINGTON - An analysis of more than 33,000 cases of foodborne illness shows that ground beef and chicken have caused more hospitalizations than other meats. The report by the Center for Science in Public Interest says chicken nuggets, ham and sausage pose the lowest risk of foodborne illness. The group used government data on 1,700 outbreaks over 12 years to analyze salmonella, E. coli, and other pathogens that were definitively linked to a certain meat. CSPI categorized turkey and steak as "high risk" and deli meat, pork, roast beef and beef or pork barbecue as "medium risk.

CHRISTMAS WITHOUT the swine? Not in Jose's world. Although he was born in Chicago, "Iron Chef" and restaurateur Jose Garces is a product of his parents' Ecuadorean roots. While other families were passing the Pillsbury dinner rolls and carving the holiday Butterball turkey, his clan reveled in roasted leg of pork with sides like black beans and roasted hominy salad. In his family, like those of millions of other newly minted Americans, embracing a new home came with a heaping helping of old homeland comfort food on the side.

Buns of pork! Those who expected Doma (Korean for "cutting board") to be a clone of its sister restaurant, Shiroi Hana, the 15th Street sushi bar, have been a bit surprised - and not unpleasantly. Sushi still dominates the menu here, but there's a distinctive accent of chef-owner Robert Moon's native Korea as well, especially in the rice dishes, the (bulgogi) Bento Box, and appetizers. One of our favorites is the soft steamed buns with a touch of sweet hoisin sauce folded over generous slices of perfectly tender (but not overly fatty)

Think Philadelphians are picky about the contents of their cheesesteaks? Try asking a Cuban-American how to make a traditional sandwich Cubano. This much folks seem to agree on: The grilled sandwich contains pork, ham, Swiss cheese, mustard and pickles. But ask how to roast the pork, what kind of mustard, and what else goes on it, and you'll get a personalized lesson in Cuban cuisine. At a trendy new Latin fusion restaurant called Mixto at 11th and Pine streets, they swear their recipe is the real deal.

When I was a kid growing up in the Midwest, the word "cutlet" had a very special and specific meaning. Cutlets were my very favorite cut of meat. They were always breaded with cracker crumbs, fried crisp and served with a heaping pile of mashed potatoes and lots of gravy. They were also always pork. More specifically, they were little nuggets of pork meat that came from either the temple of the pig's head or the cheek. The temple cutlets were the best, but both were wonderful. Cutlets of that kind are hard to find in today's marketplace, but cutlets of all other kinds are available everywhere.