Celebrating Porkapalooza with Emory's Little Store

Sometimes, finding a new place to simply buy groceries can be just as exciting for me as eating at a new restaurant. This week, I had one of those moments as I stepped into Emory's Little Store in Fruitland. My absolute delight requires just a tad of background information to understand.

As a young teen, I moved to Missouri right down the road from where Emory's now sits. On hot and humid summer days, my family and I could smell the butcher's shop that used to be in the same building as Emory's. It was a horrid smell, fetid and dead and thick, and we shopped there. It is not a stretch to say that when I stepped into Emory's recently, what I felt was indeed delight. Emory's has taken a place that I remember as gross and smelly, and turned it into somewhere clean, welcoming, stocked with some interesting products, and 100% not stinky.

Emory's Little Store still butchers its own meat. Beautiful, thick-cut steaks and filets fill the tidy glass counter. When I asked the employee what Emory's was known for, she smiled and told me that she wasn't sure if they were known for it, but people sure seemed to love their seasoned pork steak. And, she proclaimed with just a touch of pride, Emory's did have the thickest pork steaks around. Sold! I took one of those home.

Lovely blueberry yogurt parfaits with granola in a wine glass, a simple and tasty desert from Emory's Little Store.Submitted by Rebecca LaClair

Since I didn't live in Missouri until I was a teenager, people didn't eat pork steaks where I came from in the chilly north. I had never heard of them before moving here, and as such, they weren't my favorite thing to eat. My husband's family ate them at least once a summer at a big get together, so I did get to try them grilled with BBQ sauce. They were OK, but still not my favorite. But I think I may finally understand the fascination with the humble pork steak now. The one I bought from Emory's was thick and coated with a darkly orange spice mix. When I told the lady that my grill wasn't quite ready to fire up this year yet, she told me people cook them lots of different ways, like baking. I baked my pork steak in a casserole dish uncovered, for about an hour until it was falling apart. The seasoning used was smoky, salty and complex, almost a cross between BBQ sauce and sausage spices, and that pork steak was delicious. People who have popularized the seasoned pork steak at Emory's know what they're about.

There were so many nifty things at Emory's: pickled eggs and egg salad made in-house, little baggies of spices that I don't have to go to Jackson for anymore, powdered soup bases like chicken and onion, buns, tortillas, fresh veggies (mostly long lasting root vegetables), fresh cut deli meat. I found these absolutely genius bundles labeled "Stew Packs" that had vacuum-packed chopped vegetables and fresh herbs for stews, ready to essentially drop in a pot with meat and broth. Different combinations of packs could lead to many different soups with very little effort.

Checkerboard cheese and sliced old-fashioned summer sausage from Emory's made for a perfect snack.Submitted by Rebecca LaClair

I left with my pork steak, some pork sausage, brats, snack sticks, some pretty cool checkerboard cheese, old-fashioned summer sausage and blueberry yogurt parfaits layered into a wine glass. I didn't realize until I got home that I had bought pork, pork and more pork, but I set about cooking it all so I could try it for supper.

The old-fashioned summer sausage was delightfully dry and chewy, like a cross between jerky and sausage. The lady sliced it for me right in the store before I came home, so that was a major bonus. Wonderful for snacking. The pork sausage links were huge, and the flavor was delicious. I was excited about buying some more and making my mom's scalloped potatoes with them. That will be on the itinerary very soon. The snack sticks were the perfect size for me, and if you're up for an unusual flavor, try the Sweet Snack Sticks. There is a definite swirl of sweetness in them that I particular enjoyed when paired with the salty, peppery underlying sausage spice of the stick. If you like to dredge your sausage in syrup while it lies next to your pancakes, you'll like these sticks. And the parfaits were a perfectly light and fresh end to my pork experiment.

Emory's Little Store can be visited at 3006 Route FF in Jackson.