Day 5

So I'm sitting in the bathtub after my fifth day at work, where upon arriving I've been told that my job next week is to come in with my own recipe for a sausage and we'll make 12 pounds to see if its good or how to tweak it.  Unbelievable!  Now I'm going through every cookbook I have relating to meat or sausage in the hopes I can be inspired to come up with an entirely original recipe.  That would be a first.  I'm the girl who has to follow a recipe for everything, hopefully that will soon change. 

 

Today was another entry into firsts.  I ran the meat grinder all morning, it's so huge it's unbelievable!  The meat pusher is the size of my lower leg.  See the terrible photo I took?  Must get better at that...

 

 

I ground about a hundred pounds of primal cuts of sirloin for extra lean ground beef and chuck for ground beef and then it was on to the sausage.  Breakfast sausage, which by the way is delicious, pepperoni, and last but definitely not least was the highly loved, but annoying bangers.  They contain breadcrumbs which become like cement in the mixer making it a bitch to clean that baby when I'm done.  They're absolutely delicious, though.

Now...on to decide what sausage to make.  Stay tuned!

 

Easter ham

 So, even though I don't officially start until after our vacation, I had to get our Easter ham from my new place of employment.  We have 13 people coming and this beauty weighs in at 19.49 pounds.  More than enough for a pound per person.  Have I mentioned that my family loves to eat?  Ummm, yes, we do.

 

Happy Easter everyone!  I hope you enjoy today spent with the ones you love...

I don't know why I love it, but I do

Since I received the phone call yesterday that I have a job, I've been in an otherworldly mindset.  I can't believe this is happening to me.  I can't believe my luck.  I just can't believe it in general.

I had an interaction today with an old acquaintance.  I've known her family for 15 plus years.  I told her my good news and she said "I look at all of your pictures online of your cooking, canning and gardening and I can't believe it..."what makes you do what you do"? 

That question is what leads me to this post.  I have no idea why I put myself out there to a butcher shop of all places to ask for a job.  I truly don't.  I just know I love it, but what is "it"?  Is it knowledge above and beyond what I already know?  Maybe...  Is it camaraderie amongst people again?  Probably...  What else is it?  I still don't know.

I'm amazed by the outpouring of people close to me and not close that have displayed incredulousness at my desire to be working in a butcher shop.  I'm flabbergasted that they even ask the question, but then again, it makes me question myself.  Why am I really doing this?  I'm SO EXCITED that I can hardly contain myself, but I also wonder what I've gotten myself into.  Is part of it that I'm infiltrating a man's world?  Women haven't been my friends for the most part, men are easier to get along with, is that it?  They're certainly easier....but I think I'm straying from the base of this particular post.  That is...why am I doing this?  I never thought in a million years I'd be here...for goodness sake, 10 years ago, I wouldn't touch a raw quicken.  Now the only question in my mind is whether I'll eat blood sausage without a blindfold on. 

The News

Well, as of 40 minutes ago....I have a job!  I've been waiting anxiously ALL week, and he just called while I was having coffee with my daughter.  I'll start as soon as we come home from our trip to Mexico, working Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I can't wait for this new chapter in my life to begin.  I know I'm going to learn so much, it may not be easy at first, but I'll give it everything I have.

I'm looking forward to learning new techniques, looking forward to working with customers, and looking forward to having coworkers again.  It's been a while since I had someone to talk to during the day.