Tried something new today.... sausage!

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I love making sausage. I'll have a sausage party at least once a year with my buddies.

This is by far my favorite recipe. I've been told by Germans and by folks who have lived in Germany that it hits the Bratwurst mark spot-on. It's from Ruhlman and Polcyn's "Charcuterie", which has dozens of other great recipes for fresh sausage and for cured. I haven't made any of the air-dried sausages yet as I don't have a reliable space for them, but the fresh sausages, pates, and terrines have been amazing.

Side note: The garlic-sage breakfast sausage (combined with homemade buttermilk biscuits and honey butter) helped me win over my wife's friends when we were dating early on. It gave me a solid win upon which I gladly capitalized.

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I second the recommendation to get a grinder. I use the metal KitchenAid food grinder. When I had my six quart KitchenAid mixer it handled a couple of 5 lb batches with no problem. Now that I've got the commercial eight quart with the 1.3 HP motor I can make four or five batches and the motor housing barely heats up.