There's nothing like the first time.

Think of when something is shiny and new and you get to try it for the first time.  If you are like me, waiting to break something in is an almost impossible task.  I aim for immediate gratification, so the sooner I can dive in the better.
The holidays offer up the opportunity for all those "new" experiences to be had.  I got a new gadget for my KitchenAid stand mixer and could hardly wait to try it out.  I just had to wait for the chance to get to the grocery store and pick up a few supplies, but I didn't wait long.

"Chicken thighs and dried sour cherries might be a good combination."  So I bought what I needed and went about the task of figuring out how to do what I had set my mind to do.

Now this is heavy machinery

OK, I will tell you that I got a meat grinder and sausage extruder attachment and I was bound and determined to give it a shot.  As a neophyte sausage maker I realized that I might be in for a tough time but I got to work anyway.  I ground my meat, mixed in the spices and the cherries and cooked up a little sample to try it.  "Wow!  That is actually better then I thought it would be!"  Now it was time to do the part that freaked me out a little, the stuffing.  I got myself some hog casings, that would be intestines if you weren't sure, and can I say that they are the most disgusting thing I have ever had to deal with.  They are coated in salt and they smell sooooooooooo bad, but I did what I had to and rinsed and rinsed and...cough....these really stink!

We loaded up the heavy equipment and after a lot of smashing and squashing of ground meat product we were able to create these.

Look pretty good huh?  By the way, those are the cherries and not hematomas.

I read that if you let the fresh sausages sit for 24 hours the flavors work their way through the sausage so that everything is well seasoned.  So, that is what we did.

Flash forward 24 hours and it is dinner time.  I break out the sausages and boil them in a fine bottle of beer "33",  then onto THE grill pan.  This is, of course, the Le Creuset grill pan and it is these pans that impart their magic flavor to foods everywhere.  I would not use anything less for my first foray into sausage making. Look at what we had!  Thank you Le Creuset.  Amen.    

Look!  Look at the perfect grill marks!  Can I tell you that they were fab-u-lous!  Even Max, who thought that they were gross when we made them loved them.  I swear!  Here is some proof.

Initially, Max thought that these were the bratwurst that we get from the store, and I let him believe it till after he tasted my sausage and declared that it was the "best bratwurst I have every had in my whole life!"  Gotta love that kind of reaction.  I feel the tiny itch of the bug that may have bitten me and I know that I will again make my way through to the butcher counter where I will wade in a bit deeper and see what happens.

I got all of my information and instruction from Bruce Aidell's Complete Sausage Book and adapted his chicken and apple recipe to accommodate my cherry twist.

Please always remember and don't ever forget:
"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered.  An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered."

G.K. Chesterton