Who needs an abattoir when you have a FarmBoy?

When Husband & I first married, I told him I would only cook meat that came from the grocery safely wrapped in plastic on a neat Styrofoam tray.

That didn't last long.

The next fall, he shot a deer & brought it home to process. To say I was freaked out is an understatement. A 13 gallon trash bag full of deer carcass dumped out in your kitchen sink is not an easy thing for a newly married city girl to wrap her head around. But eventually I hiked up my big girl panties and wrapped butcher paper around it.

11 years later I think nothing of a kitchen full of raw meat. I've even packaged rabbits that were still twitching. That whole "chicken with it's head cut off" thing is not a joke. They go nuts. I have no problem eating pork chops that were walking around our back yard last month & answering to the name "Oreo."

For our anniversary, my lovely, romantic, kind, thoughtful husband bought me a meat grinder. I can't say that went over well. If I'd have gotten him one, that would be a different story. Our big Black Friday purchase this year was a professional food slicer (like the kind they use in the deli). I picked up a vacuum sealing system this year as well. I told Husband he needs to build me a butcher shop in the back yard.

Today we made our first batch of sausage. I can't tell you how it tastes because we haven't tried any yet...but it was kind of fun to make. And of course, by fun I mean messy, greasy, loud, and gross. As Husband pushed the ground meat & seasoning through the food grinder & I filled the bags, we yelled back & forth over the noise of the machine. I told him if it wasn't for the ickyness, hard work, and roar of the grinder, it was almost like quality time.

We really need a date night.