It's a Smoked Pork Crown Roast -- well, it USED to be.

As prepared by Ryan Rogers at Feast BBQ and served on Saturday night at the 1117 East Spring Street Neighborhood Association's holiday gala. The dish easily weighed 15 lbs.

The Internet boasts numerous references to pork crown roast. The photos don't do it justice; bones point to the sky, the stuffing is marinated in pig oil, and it isn't readily apparent how much meat there really is on each one until you cut the string and start carving. Ryan smoked the meat in his inimitable way, and words on a page simply cannot describe the house-filling aroma and succulence of the porcine main course. Lawdy.

Festive, eh? Beer never hurts, and there was Port wine, cheeses, cigars and bountiful conversation. Too soon, the new year comes, and it's back to the grind -- work as the curse of the drinking class. Until then, good company provided a wonderful evening's escape.