Making sausages on a frosty day - better than moping! P.S. added

So the day has finally arrived. Sausage making day. I still don’t feel up to par, but I was not going to let something like that put me off, I have been waiting too long to make sausages.


I bought some shoulder of pork in the village butcher’s and got him to mince it for me – when I am back to normal I will do it myself. I decided on getting 2kg – not too much for a first time effort, but enough to make all the messing about worth the while.

So here’s how it went.

Firstly there was the minced pork



To which I added some rusk and water



I mixed it all together with a spoon then divided it into four bowls and added spices to each and mixed well. Then I attached the sausage stuffing tube and mincer to my food mixer, pushed on the sausage skin and off I went merrily churning out sausages.

But I didn’t. It was a two person job, so Pat was called in to stuff the meat into the feeder and push it down – I tackled the other bit – which was not easy. I think that practice makes perfect!

You get air pockets sometimes in the process, also the meat doesn’t come through in a long even way like it does when you see them using a big industrial machine on T.V. programmes. Trying to make the links is not easy either as the meat keeps coming through the machine and so the bit you twist gets little bit of pork in it. I tried twisting them afterwards and they burst!



But here are my first efforts, and like a child with their first picture, I feel very pleased with them.



Next time it will be easier I am sure!



I have bagged them up and labelled them and leaving them overnight for the pork to absorb all the herbs and spices, then tomorrow will be the taste test. We are having one of each flavour and the rest will be frozen! So will let you know the end result.






Last night for tea we had some of my home made lemon curd on slices of home made crusty wholemeal bread and it tasted divine. After that we had a piece of summer fruit pie – a mixture of all the summer fruits I grew, with a few damsons my neighbour gave me – topped with flaky pastry and a big dollop of thick home made yoghurt! And as I savoured every morsel I the answer to the anonymous question was made all too clear. Hmmm yummy - This is the point

If I keep on like this I will have to start buying size 12 clothes as my size 10’s are feeling a bit tight around the middle! But you need a bit of cheerful food in the winter don’t you? Well I do.

The girls have laid me two more eggs so far today (3pm), the sun has come out and the frost has now thawed. The girls loved their fresh spinach and sorrel which I am glad that I picked yesterday after today’s weather.

I am off to sit down for a little while to rest my aching bones, before sorting out some seeds that I am swopping, ready to pack up and put in the post.

Tomorrow if all goes well, I will get some cream and be making butter – should be fun!

P.S.

I have had a tip from Sandie to leave the cream until it is past its use by date so no butter making tomorrow after all - or today I should say!

PPS.

You do not need fancy machines to make sausages. If you have a hand mincer - one of those metal ones you can use that with plastic tubes you can buy from a cook shop for about £2.30p I have been told. It is just that we are miles from any cook shop that I got the tubes for my food mixer.

I have also seen something like a plastic syringe that you can use to fill the sausage skins. When we cleaned out the mincer we actually pushed some of the minced pork into the last skin with a wooden spoon handle - but wouldn't fancy doing that with a lot though!

I am really looking forward to trying them out for lunch. If you want any info about it let me know and I can point you in the direction I went.

There are so many different sausages you can make and with fish as well as all sorts of meat. It has changed my way of thinking of them - from something not very interesting to serving meat as a meal in a different form. I will be doing a lot of experimenting in the future.

You will notice that there is a Cumberland type sausage ring - that is the first one, I couldn't do the links. I think that I might make 500grm sausages in future then just cut them in half for me and Pat. Hmm I can just see one now, nestling in a big Yorkshire pudding - and mustard mash on the side. Or maybe individual mini Cumberland style sausage in a Yorkshire pud - that would look nice even if we have company. If a pork sausage in batter is a Toad in the Hole, what would a rabbit and sage and onion sausage in batter be called. (I just thought of rabbit - and they eat sage, so sage and onion might be nice). Or pheasant sausage in batter - what can we call that - or chicken, or venison.

I reckon we can come up with some fancy names and recipes to grace any table - don't you?