A buddy's framily tradition

[xaugievike]

A good friend of mine has had an annual family tradition that he says goes back to 1948. Near Christmas the family would gather for a weekend of sausage making for holiday meals. Through the years, as the older generation has passed, not all of the family members have stayed engaged in the tradition and he took up the mantle, opening the event to more friends. Though his grandfather, at 91 years awesome, still shows up to mix recipes, and stuff some links...and even put away a few traditional shots of whiskey.

The event covers two days, with the cutting, mixing, and stuffing on Saturday. Sunday is the smoking day for the recipes requiring that step.

This year featured 100lbs of pork that we turned into fresh polish sausage, smoked polish, and what he calls "beer sausage" (my personal favorite).

We started yesterday morning at 4 degrees with three smokers (two are for sausage, the MES is for appetizers turned out through the day) Below is a picture of the smoker lineup, and a batch of freshly smoked goodness.

[AdamJG]

That's a great tradition and story, if you don't like smoked sausage you're no friend of mine!

[lschweig]

How awesome is that. Super family tradition. I do like the 91 year old gramps hitting the shots, God bless him. God willing I will be able to do that when and if I hit that age.

[TheCountofQ]

That is freagin' awesome!! So the sausage is used all throughout the year, for other family gatherings?

[xaugievike]

Pretty much. He gives a bunch away, especially to the people that come and help do some work. Folks drop in when they can over the 2 days. some stay a while, some don't. There's a ton of other food, and drinks of course. Given the story behind the event, I've come to revere the weekend myself.

[Nate]

That is awesome! It seems traditions, knowledge, and skills like that are too often lost. It is good he is trying to keep it going and getting more folks involved.

[HawkerXP]

I love it!

[LA Pork Butt]

Sounds like a party atmosphere.

[HorseDoctor]

Awesome tradition! Great looking links too!!! Family, food & fun... how can ya go wrong?

[Skip]

Sounds like a good tradition and a fun time!

[BGWolf]

Great Tradition, thanks for sharing your story.

[Dr ROK]

I had my daughter's future mother in-law up for some sous vide prime rib last week and we somehow found ourselves talking about how both our families had traditions similar to this. Her family made german (garlic) sausage and our family made Christmas candy and put up sweet corn. We both lamented the fact that our families no longer did these events and that we should do it sometime in the near future. I see a lot of garlic sausage in my future!!

[Atalanta]

Sounds like a great way to keep something like that going!

[w12x40]

A good friend of mine has had an annual family tradition that he says goes back to 1948. Near Christmas the family would gather for a weekend of sausage making for holiday meals. Through the years, as the older generation has passed, not all of the family members have stayed engaged in the tradition and he took up the mantle, opening the event to more friends. Though his grandfather, at 91 years awesome, still shows up to mix recipes, and stuff some links...and even put away a few traditional shots of whiskey.

The event covers two days, with the cutting, mixing, and stuffing on Saturday. Sunday is the smoking day for the recipes requiring that step.

This year featured 100lbs of pork that we turned into fresh polish sausage, smoked polish, and what he calls "beer sausage" (my personal favorite).

We started yesterday morning at 4 degrees with three smokers (two are for sausage, the MES is for appetizers turned out through the day) Below is a picture of the smoker lineup, and a batch of freshly smoked goodness.

A friend of mine is doing a sausage fest like this next weekend and I need to bring a couple of recipes and spices to make them.. If you don't mind telling, what's the recipe for the beer sausage you liked?

[xaugievike]

I'd share it if I knew it. When it comes to sausage, I'm just the help. I'll ask him though, and see if he is willing to share.

[Jimmie Rhoden]

That's an awesome family tradition and what a great story

[xaugievike]

This year’s edition