So long Clucky

I'm not one to get too emotional over chickens, but I was sad that Clucky died yesterday. She was one of our first chickens and more of a pet (we don't name them any more as they could end up as dinner!). Clucky was a purebred Indian Game, and we brought her up from Auckland with us. She was a great mother hen, hatched out several chicks, and lived to a ripe old age - 10 years, pretty good going for a chicken I should think!

Just for your 'a-MOO-sment'!

Sorry couldn't resist!

Has been a sick house here so last week was a write off. Very frustrating when there is so much work to be done outdoors and the weather has been so mild. No choice but to rest up. Did manage to plant a few plants and sort through my seeds though, some of which which I must get on to sowing before too much longer!

My first attempt at homemade sausages

After much procrastination I finally got around to making sausages. A few months ago we bought a meat grinder with a sausage making attachment and I had a bit of a hiccup with getting the correct type of skins - I bought edible collagen casings which did not fit on the end of the sausage maker....oops! Finally I tracked down a butcher that could supply the natural 'hog' casings (pig intestines) and we had some pork scraps that our butcher bagged up specifically for us to make sausages, from when he butchered our last lot of home raised pigs.

I did a quick search on You Tube to make sure I knew what to do, and to get some recipes. In the end I chose to make up some chorizo sausages after watching this helpful tutorial.

I was quite pleased that they came out looking like sausages should!!

However I think it should be noted that next time they need just a bit more fat in the mix as they were a little on the dry side - although they may also have been slightly overcooked. As our butcher had already supplied the necessary bits of meat, I didn't have any ability to add more fat, but will be sure to ask him next time to supply some extra to add in as and when.

With the remaining meat (I had 2kgs in total), I made another lot of sausages, and had 2 helpers which made it a lot easier. This time I made pork and apple sausages loosely based on this recipe, which were very nice, and not quite so dry.

All in all, the process was quite easy and not terribly time-consuming and the best part was having lovely fresh sausages without all the nasty ingredients added in most shop-bought ones. I am looking forward to trying out other recipes.

Any fellow home sausage makers out there? What kind(s) of sausage do you make?