7:00 AM. I am sitting here in near darkness and listening to the beginnings of a thunderstorm. I was so afraid it would move on before raining but this time, I was wrong. We are now (9:40 AM) at 2 inches and it is still raining lightly. We have moved the herd east of us and I can watch then enjoying the cool rain. I don't think they have lifted their heads from the grass.
The Gods are smiling on us this morning.
The last time we shopped at our local market they had Boston Butt pork roasts (boneless) on sale for $2.39. I bought 2 weighing over 3 lbs. each. I also noted that sausage was between $3.99 and up. I decided to grind the roasts and make my own. I wish I had taken pictures of the process, but I didn't. I used the grinder attachment (Mom's that fit her old KA mixer and that also fits my new Pro Model.
Worked like a charm. I didn't have sage, of all things, so I had to stop midway and let it rest overnight in the Milk Parlor fridge which wasn't a bad thing. That allowed the seasonings to meld into the meat.
Bought the sage and then decided to make it half breakfast sausage and half Italian Sweet Sausage. I had all the spices for the Italian.
Now if the doctor can just improve my knee..........................
The Gods are smiling on us this morning.
The last time we shopped at our local market they had Boston Butt pork roasts (boneless) on sale for $2.39. I bought 2 weighing over 3 lbs. each. I also noted that sausage was between $3.99 and up. I decided to grind the roasts and make my own. I wish I had taken pictures of the process, but I didn't. I used the grinder attachment (Mom's that fit her old KA mixer and that also fits my new Pro Model.
Worked like a charm. I didn't have sage, of all things, so I had to stop midway and let it rest overnight in the Milk Parlor fridge which wasn't a bad thing. That allowed the seasonings to meld into the meat.
Bought the sage and then decided to make it half breakfast sausage and half Italian Sweet Sausage. I had all the spices for the Italian.
The long tubes are the Italian and the rest is breakfast. I had to make some small links because one of our GD's likes them that way.
We had some for breakfast and it was very tasty. I still can't taste the sage. I think my home-grown sage is much stronger so I will be planting another one next spring.
For lunch I am making a pizza using the Italian sausage. I will let you know what we think.
On a more personal level, I am having a lot of trouble with my right knee. I finally gave in and will be seeing the rheumatologist tomorrow. I am torn between just working through the pain and keeping on keeping on or staying off it as much as possible. The last choice won out. DH did all the mowing this week and he is also milking Willow using the new milker. I haven't even gone to the barn.
The story on the milker was there was nothing wrong. They are just more sensitive to loosing vacuum than the inline system and we were doing a minor thing that reduced vacuum just beforetrying to attach it to Willow. It has worked like a charm once we found that out. We still haven't found a calf to put on Willow. I am guessing that more people are keeping them now beef prices are so good. I hope to try more cheeses that I can freeze.
To that end, I bought a dairy thermometer and muslin for straining the curd.
Glenda,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear about your knee and the pain you've been experiencing. Plus with rain, that doesn't help if you have arthritis in the knee. Hopefully, the doctor will give you some sort of relief for the pain in your knee.
Your grass is so green, we still need rain here. Our grass is now brown, dried out. We've had so much drought over the years. The next several days were expecting rain from that hurricane the hit Mexico.
Your sausage looks delicious, I'm coming to your house for some sausage ...... YUM!
I do hope the hurricane brought some rain. I think that may be where our system came from.
DeleteYou would be welcome for sausage gravy and hot biscuits.
Hope rest and non-invasive treatment will be what your knee needs. Cool rain is wonderful, hope you get plenty of it.
ReplyDeleteSausage, homemade. Wonderful stuff.
As to the milker, there is always fine tuning that one thing or another needs. Glad it worked out.
Just an x-ray and a cortisone shot. The x-ray showed normal wear and tear (osteoarthritis). I am relieved. He just ignored the cyst and said we will keep a watch on it.
DeleteThe milker is working great!
I'm with Jean about the rest and non-invasive treatment for your knee. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
ReplyDeleteGlad you got some much needed rain.
I love your header picture.
How neat that you made your own sausage. It looks delicious!
Love and hugs to you dear Glenda ~ FlowerLady
The only invasion was drawing a little fluid and then the cortisone shot; not as bad as I expected.
DeleteWe are delighted with the rain.
I hope the Doctor helps. I hope it involves knee exercises to keep it from stiffening up with less use. My mother had an elbow injury decades ago. It hurt so she used it less and now she can't straight out that arm. They didn't believe in PT back then. Lovely pics of the cattle on grass and oh my - that sausage makes my mouth water..... Take care. Glad your veg garden chores are behind you now. Oh, and glad the milker didn't need $$ fix! :-D
ReplyDeleteA cortisone shot later: I think it already is feeling better. Just osteoarthritis. I think I am active enough to not have to do PT but I agree movement is critical especially as we "age". I hate the sound of that.......
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