That'll Do (Salt) Pig

Are you familiar with salt pigs?

Salty.

Salt pigs are small jars or boxes in which salt is kept in the kitchen. They keep salt handy, but protect them from splatter and splashes. Some folks call them salt crocks, or salt boxes, or salt cellars, but I like to call them pigs. When you can call something a salt pig, why would you call it anything else?They are very handy for taking pinches of salt. They are also very useful for pretending you are a Hallmark Movie chef.

Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. Picture it: the persnickety chef who has been so devoted to career is slowly having their heart melted like butter by a witty charming food writer or something. They are teaching this total kitchen klutz (oh the irony! to write about food but not be able to make a good meal!) to cook and take a taste of the almost finished product. "MMM," the chef says, "but it could use a little salt." And then they reach into the pig and sprinkle a healthy dash of salt into the pot from a height that is possibly ridiculously high. "It's perfect." But the chef is no longer talking about the dish. *orchestral strings swell*

Pretend you're a stock image model!

Anyway. Salt pigs are cool and useful. If you're a person using a recipe and it calls for, say, a half teaspoon of salt, it is far far easier to put your half teaspoon into the salt than to try to pour the salt into the half teaspoon. They also let you easily ward off the evil eye by tossing a little NaCl over your shoulder.

So, I'd been wanting a salt pig for awhile. I looked online, I looked in specialty stores, I looked high and low, but nothing quite did it for me. But then one day, I was in Target and I saw this little porcelain bowl. It's perfect. Many people keep kosher salt in their pigs, but I keep my kosher salt in a mason jar (a fine alternate pig) and regular old fine grain sea salt in this one.

The label doesn't lie – that's salt.

Technically, it's a sugar bowl, but neither the bowl nor the salt knows that it wasn't meant for this fate. Maybe I should call it a salt bowl since it's not technically a salt pig, but again, if I CAN call it a salt pig, I damn well will. I put a label on it so that visitors to our house don't end up with a spoonful of salt in their coffee. I love my label maker almost as much as (maybe more than) my salt pig.

Why am I taking the time to post an ode to my salt pig? Because everytime I use it I am glad I have it and it seems important to value the little everyday happinesses when we feel like the world is topsy-turvey. Some days, when things just feel extra heavy, I like to find a thing or moment that is banal but good. The joy in the mundane can be as impactful as the joy in the extraordinary. It also can just lighten the moments. These days, with a pandemic and uncertainty still swirling around us it can help anchor me to think "I like this thing and it makes me happy that I have it (or made it or did it)." It's not curative or anything, but it is a nice hit of endorphins to celebrate a small thing.

So get a salt pig, or don't. But, if you want to, find time to let yourself be happy for something, even if it feels like something silly to be happy about, especially if you're feeling a little salty.