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Within the confines of this blog, you will find bits and pieces of the life and times of myself, my family and friend dear and near., far and wide, few and far between. You will find bits and pieces of my world, tho small to some, but huge to me. You will find everything from 'soup to nuts',; recipes, hobbies,crafts, gardenings,loves of my life, GrandLoves-a-Plenty, and even my pets... Sooo, if you can handle family life, enjoy the tour of my 'Stuffings'.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Keep It Simple

Those of you who have been reading my entries this past year, know that we became farmers of the land again, this time growing organic potatoes for a seed company...well, we have plenty left in our root cellar, so we decided to use some of them making a family favorite.
 First, Bill and I peeled 15 lbs. of potatoes.  About a third of the way through, he asks, how much do we have so far....My guess was between 5-6 lbs.  He says, "No way, there's at least 10 lbs. there."
The first bowl weighed in at 5 1/2 lbs.  HeeHee!
 Next were the onions.  3 lbs. of  ' cry my eyes out ' onions.  There was grinding to begin., adding pork and beef hamburger, spices like nutmeg, allspice and the old reliables.
 All was thoroughly mixed together, by clean hands, then put into casings, tied into rings, soaked in cold salt water until ready to eat or freeze....of course we boiled then browned one, just to be sure they were as tasty as we hoped.  OH MY, what a success.
sorry if the picture of the finished product looks like it's floating in bad water....the spices brown the water in the waiting process....nothing bad.
 After we finished stuffing the rings, we packaged in double wrapped freezer paper, added a P.S. for Potato Sausage, and the date the sausage was made.  Into the freezer they go for a quick, easy meal any time we want.  Bonus: It's healthy!  
 Since Bill was in the mood to dig around, rearranging the freezers, he comes up the stairs with 25 lbs. of pork roast and venison hamburger to make into Breakfast Sausages and Brats.
Didn't he notice I was tired?
 Breakfast Sausage making is really no big deal...it's quite simple really.  Just mix the ground meats together, add seasoning, put on cookie sheets, score to break easily once they set a bit.  ( What do you think of my make-shift freezer?  It was colder outside than the freezer could quick freeze, sooo ), then break apart, put in freezer bags or freezer paper the number of pieces you wish, (we put 6-9 per package), and into the freezer for later use.
Also, don't forget to date these also.
 Finally, another couple of days of domestic chores are behind us. At least these were ' us ' projects.  I ' could ' do them alone but 
 ' Why ' I ask, when Bill is so willing.
Homemade Chicken Soup to hit the spot and
Orange Raisin Cake for dessert.  Dessert is OK, isn't it?  
 Oh, I have to tell you one more thing.
My son and his two business partners came while we were making the Potato Sausage.  The three of them are from mid-WI, south WI, and Boston.  Of course, I had not met Boston before so I was a bit upset with my son for bringing these men in the middle of my messy kitchen during such a project.
  
The instant his friend walked through the door, he says, " What's that wonderful smell?" You must be making some kind of sausage...it smells great.  He was  amazed to see us making our own.  " People just don't do that anymore where I live."  I told him, I'm sure they do but he just hasn't met them yet.
  
It left us with a good feeling.  We were providing for our family from our own field and gardens, from the neighbors hogs and beef.  Life can be simple or difficult.  It's a personal choice.  What makes us feel good is knowing ' what ' goes into the food we eat.

I think it's that time of year to look through my heirloom seed catalogs and get my lists ready to order.  
Life Is Good
Keep It Simple
BlessYa

17 comments:

Chatty Crone said...

Oh my goodness your food that you make is just AWESOME!

Gail said...

That is a great idea. I had never thought of potato sausage.

Cicero Sings said...

Hi Dar,
Someone gave me a small moose roast and a rib steak. What's the best way to cook these. She told me she tried to cook a couple of steaks and they were very tough.
Thanks

Anonymous said...

Dar, I know how you feel about knowing what is in your food because of processing it yourself. Your family does so many wonderful things that I would love to learn how to do, but we do make our own sausage...nothing in the store even comes close to the tastiness of what my hubby makes up! I have ALWAYS loved that feeling in the summer of canning and freezing our garden produce. There is just something about being able to help provide for the family that way!

Muffy's Marks said...

If this country ever has a 'malfunction' and the food supply is cut off, I'm looking you up. You're not that far away you know!!! I've never had P.S. ((hugs))

TexWisGirl said...

i believe you gave that young man a great experience. :) men don't care about messy kitchens if it involves food. :)

Anonymous said...

How cool for him to visit during that job--I've never seen it done either so I imagine it was fascinating. What seed catalog are you working with?

Suz said...

I have never had potato sausage..but looks yummmy
I so love your ability to be on your own and live off of the land...american gems..you are
Now...how about sharing your chicken soup recipe..it looks mouth watering

IanH said...

I got tired just reading about all the work involved! Enjoy.

imac said...

Trying to lose weight here lol.

jack69 said...

BIZZY, BIZZY, BIZZY, Thou never stoppeth! It all sounds so goo they way you tell it, and so fanged simple! Yeah right. Just do this a little and that a little, LOL Great looking stuff, and nice to have around the house. You and Bill are a good pair in tandem.
Pretty smart using your outdoor deep freeze! I bet cha the animals would have loved it had you left it out tooo long.
Love from Wildwood Florida...

Dee said...

Potato sausage sounds interesting. Life is definitely good at your home :)

Bonnie K said...

I love making breakfast sausage! I have never heard of potato sausage. It sound great. Thanks for the ideas.

Paula said...

Hon if anyone deserves dessert it's you. So nice your hubby is willing to help. More fun to work together.

Winderly-Winderly said...

I was so facinated by your sausages that I Googled them for other spices you said you added. Found this site of a Norweigan family making theirs similarly:

http://www.onekama.k12.mi.us/beldridg/oien/potato.sausage.htm

Just wish I hadn't gotten rid of my meat grinder years ago. Would LOVE to give this a try and I just really admire the heck out of how you are living off your own land. People like you in my humble unsolicited opinion, are the grassroots of what this country is supposed to be about! Good family fun resulting in good eats!

quiltmom anna said...

Dar,
My mom used to make homemade sausage - not sure she ever made potato sausage though she would have had enough homegrown potatoes for sure from my folks garden( they still have a beautiful little garden and my dad is 81) He can hardly wait until summer when he can garden again. He gets bored in the winter when he forced to hibernate a little LOL..
Both of my parents were farm kids so they grew up canning, gardening and living off the land. My uncle still have a farm and occasionally they will buy meat from him. The food is certainly richer in flavor and not full of preservatives. Unfortunately I am not very talented when it comes to a green thumb- I sometimes have a few pots with home grown tomatoes. I will have to try that again this year.
We all have different talents- You are one talented lady.
Regards,
Anna

Winderly-Winderly said...

I love your eagle pixs and what a treat to be able to watch them so close up. We used to do eagle counts for the Forest Service in So. CA as they were dwindling there at one point along with the California Condor.

However, I have to say, I kind of feel like the joke's on me here as it relates to you and your sister Mel. I don't remember which I discovered first....I believe you...and was immediately drawn into your blog (at that time about an adventure to a possible still out in the woods somewhere) like a reeeeeely good book I couldn't put down. In a nutshell, you and Mel became my most favorite blogs and now to discover you are sisters, well, that's just all the better. Just want to say what a priviledge it is to be able to share your adventures and a huge thank you from me to you AND Mel....and if there are more sisters I'm following that I don't know about, them too.