When the [weather] high for the day is 0, there is little to get excited for--I mean, at all.  Why risk leaving bed before the bladder threshold is met and the pain of dormancy overcomes the joy of warmth?  All raison d'être is lost during these times.  It's lost until another combatant enters the arena rumbling--the noble stomach.

The stomach requires sustenance.  There is no room for more cold--albeit yogurt, cottage cheese, or milk and cereal.  Hot, rich, unctuous pork is required.  Pork makes everything better.  Unfortunately, pork is rarely ready in a short time frame.  Even the flagship, bacon, requires 20 minutes to cook properly.  But what if we had prepared pork in a jar for on-demand use?  What if the day, week, or month before I was bored, and did the following?

If at some point in the past I was bored, and blanched two pair of pig trotters for five minutes, I'd have a fine start to trotter gear for a later unknown use.  If I didn't do this, then I'd have had no chance to skim emergent scum.  White scum can never be up to any good.

The initial blanch is mere foreplay compared to the hours needed to finish the job.  Since I had so much free time at this undated historical moment, I was then able to place the blanched trotters in a roasting pan with several cleaned leaks, a head of garlic, a few onions, handful of whole black peppercorns, and a bunch (literally) of thyme with bathing liquid, covered, in a 300 Dg oven for a minimum of three hours.

For the bathing liquid, half a bottle of white wine, topped off with chicken stock, works great.  Problem is, I'm not the sort to finish half a bottle of dry white wine by myself.  Luckily for me, vermouth works just as well, has a better shelf life, is always in the cabinet, and is a fine beverage neat.

Once I deemed the trotters perfectly cooked, the vegetables hit the bucket--they've served their purpose and have nothing left to offer.  They're not lonely for too long, as once the trotter skin and nasty bits get picked and shredded, the bones join the bucket party.  The meat rejoins (and rejoices) with the cooking liquor, and is divided into manageable portions before congealment.  All that's left is trotter gear.

Since I did the preceding, I now have a large supply of ultimate pork flavor at my command.  It freezes wonderfully, so even after the longest of my travels, I'll be able to turn nothing into pork greatness.  Carton of neglected white rice in the fridge left over from takeout can now be trotter fried rice.  Plain potatoes can be transformed into the most decadent pork hash when topped with a runny, sunny side up egg.  The most healthy vegetables can now be transmuted into a porky casserole that anyone can enjoy.  The stomach, the soul, can now be satisfied on any freezing day.