polish sausage [porter]

Kielbasa (polish sausage) at the Dallas Farmers Market

This not so little number is from the Dallas Farmers Market. There is a little meat market inside called Old World Sausage Company that produces this delicious polish sausage on a bun with mustard, horseradish sauce, and sauerkraut with pickles on the side. So simple and sooo yummy.  Each accompanying component should be available at your local grocery, but the star of the dish, polish sausage, may be a little hard to find depending on where you live and your caliber of grocery stores.  If you can find it...great; if not, don't fret!  The steps to making sausage are not as difficult as you might think (it can be as hard or as easy as you want it to be).  For those of you that cannot find polish sausage at your grocer, just want to go the extra mile and say "I made that!" or impress your Polish loved one (here's to you sister-in-law!), below is a recipe for polish sausage.

Polish Sausage
(adopted from lets-make-sausage.com and food.com)
Ingredients:
5 lbs Ground pork butt - not too lean (try to find about 80%)
8 cloves Garlic
1 tbsp salt (4 tsp if kosher salt)
1 tbsp fine ground pepper
2 tsp dried majoram
1 tsp sugar
1 cup iced water
natural casing - soaked for 1-2 hours in warm water
    (collagen casing okay, but get butcher string to tie off links, need vegetable oil to lubricate stuffing tube, and soaking is not necessary)
sausage stuffer
Optional:
1 tbsp ground mustard seed
1 tsp liquid smoke

The how to:
 If not bought ground, grind the pork butt using the medium setting on a meat grinder.  Press, crush (using flat side of knife), or finely mince garlic cloves (process listed in order of preference).  Mix all seasoning ingredients together in a small bowl and add to ice water.  Add liquid smoke to ice water if applicable.  Pour ice water and seasonings into ground sausage and mix thoroughly.  Fill casings with pork mixture using a sausage stuffer.  To stuff, lubricate the stuffing tube with water for natural casings or vegetable oil for collagen casings, slide the casing onto the tube, and scrunch up until just an inch or two of the casing remains.  Tie this end before stuffing.  If using natural casing, twist filled casing in sections to create links.  If using collagen casing, tie off links using butcher string -- tie two knots between links and cut links between knots.  Uncooked links will store for 3 days in the refrigerator or up to 3 months in the freezer (in freezer Ziplock bags).  To cook, boil, covered,  in water or beer for 10 minutes and then grill or cook in a dry, lightly greased pan for 2-3 minutes a side to finish off and get lightly browned sides.  Serve on a big bun with yellow or spicy mustard, horseradish sauce (to make at home combine prepared horseradish and mayonnaise to taste), sauerkraut, and a crisp dill pickle.

Side notes:
Sausage is called "fresh" if it is not smoked.  Homemade fresh sausage does not include nitrates, which are often attributed to cancer.  If you want to smoke your sausage, cure your sausage and follow the instructions here.  Smoking the sausage will give it a darker appearance.  Natural casings provide a better mouth feel when you bite into the sausage (think of the "pop" feel).  Remember to soak and rinse natural casings according to the package to avoid splitting of the casings.  Collagen casings seem easier to find, but you still may have to order it.  I have wanted to try to add a bit of paprika to see how that tastes; experiment with different spices and let me know how it goes!

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druzy on over [paisley]

Stitch and Stone Crystal Framed Druzy Earrings in White

Designer Michelle Leiser of Stitch and Stone moved from New York to Austin in September of last year in search of warmer weather and friendly people.  She brought with her these fantastic druzy earrings.  I instantly loved these simply elegant earrings as well as the Mesh Rose Stud earrings and Metal Lace earrings.  My first thought was, "When can I get down to South Congress to purchase a pair?" but my second thought was "What the heck is druzy??"

So I now you bring you this little mineralogy lesson:  Druzy is an alternative spelling of drusy, which is the adjective form of druse: an inner surface with a crust of tiny crystals (thank you Wiktionary).  Each drusa (singular form) is formed when silica from ground water is deposited into rocks; the quick cooling causes the little quartz crystals to form on the surface or inside the rocks (Bernardine Fine Art Jewelry).

With that said, most of the druzy jewelry sold is fake or lab created to create the glittering effect.  Jerry Burkhart harvests, cuts, and cleans druzy from the Nevada desert and shares tips to tell whether a piece of druzy is real and the downsides of fake druzy.  Though I am interested in seeing the real stuff, I personally do not mind fake druzy for everyday affordable fashion.  If anything, his site taught me never to put my fake druzy near Oxyclean or vinegar because it will lose it's color.  However, if I ever own real druzy, maybe I'll clean it with these agents.

Here's to being an informed fashionista!

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the famous michelada [porter]

Michelada at Hotel San Jose in Austin, Texas

Happy Friday! The michelada is by far my favorite summer cocktail and perfectly hits the spot while lounging by the pool or catching some live music.  There are so many ways to make this baby and even some mixes that will do the trick in a pinch, but the best version of this concoction that I have had is the michelada from the bar in the courtyard of Hotel San Jose on South Congress in Austin, Texas.  Often compared to a bloody mary, this semi-spicy, refreshing version offers almost no comparison due to the lack of tomato juice. Though we make several versions of this at home, I carefully watched the bartender during our most recent visit to Hotel San Jose and have been able to finally match theirs:

Ingredients:
1 Mexican beer (Modelo is my favorite for this, but Corona, Tecate, or Dos XX work as well)
2-3 tbsp lime juice (fresh is better, but those squeeze bottle versions work, too)
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp Worcestershire
1-2 shakes of Tabasco (to taste)
pepper to taste (we like larger grain cracked pepper - a few twists of the mill)
salt (for rimming)
1 lime (for rimming and garnish)

The how to:
Run lime over the rim of a cup and dip in salt.  Fill cup with ice.  Add lime juice, soy sauce, Worcestershire, Tabasco, and pepper.  Mix with straw and then slowly add beer to fill cup.  Garnish with lime.  As you drink, continue to add remainder of beer.

Side notes:
I also enjoy this cocktail with a dark beer (Negra Modelo or Shiner) if I am using a thicker mix that typically contains tomato juice.  If doing so, I will typically cut the Worcestershire and soy sauce and add Zing Zang bloody mary mix.  A delicious pre-made mix for light beers is Dan's Prime Chelada mix that I pick up from Central Market.  Lastly, please do not confuse this drink with the pre-mixed beer options available (Bud Light Lime or Bud Light Chelada).  You would be doing yourself a great disservice if you hold this drink in that company.

Those of you 21+, please enjoy responsibly.

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seriously delicious and easy roasted broccoli [porter]

Roasted broccoli in under 20 minutes

The fiance and I went to my friends house last night to help hang their new TV.  When I say that we went to help, I mean to say that fiance went to help, and I went to hang out with my friend Y.  While the boys were having all kinds of trouble (breaking a bolt off into the stud, starting over, finally succeeding and then realizing that this mount blocked the TV's power source--the TV just ended up on the entertainment stand 3 hours later) Y and I made dinner.  She showed me how to make this fantastic dish, and I couldn't wait for the boys to finally call it quits so we could indulge.  I intended to make it tonight as well, even before I remembered that I started a blog yesterday and would probably need to make it again so I could get a photo that would grab your attention :)  I might make it again tomorrow.  Seriously, it is that good and it's broccoli.

Reasons why we should eat broccoli (World's Healthiest Foods):

1. Cholesterol lowering benefits
2. Boosts your body's ability to detoxify
3. May lessen reactions to allergies
4. Studies show that it reduces the chances of several forms of cancer

Reasons why we want to eat broccoli:

1. If cooked properly it is quite tasty
2. It adds color to our plates (if you ask my friend Y, pretty food is just as important as good food)
3. It is so fast and easy to cook

Okay, now go buy broccoli! 

Ingredients:
1 bunch of broccoli
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp seasoning (I used Tony Chachere's Cajun seasoning, but feel free to change it up)
1 tsp garlic powder
1-2 dash cayenne (optional)
1 lemon, halved

The how to:
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.  Chop the broccoli into large florets, discarding the lightest part of the stems, and wash and dry thoroughly.  Place the broccoli in a large bowl and toss to coat with the remaining ingredients except for the lemon.  Line a cookie sheet (one that has a rim so any juices don't run off and make a mess) with foil and spread the broccoli as a single layer.  Roast for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and squeeze half of the lemon (to taste).

Side notes:
All parts of broccoli are edible, but simply may take longer to cook, so slice thinner or use different pans to roast accordingly.  For a one pan method, which you probably don't even need to clean because of the foil lining, skip the bowl for tossing and use a plastic bag (I'm frugal and would rather clean the extra dish, but we can call it "green" of me if you want).  Try adding other things to the pan for different flavors: garlic, shrimp, peppers, etc.  Also, these seasonings may also be worth trying on steamed broccoli; just add the seasonings after steaming florets for 5 minutes over 2 inches of boiling water.

How do you like your broccoli?

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the new wedding website [paisley]

Appy Couple Wedding Apps

I failed to mention in my first post that I am also recently engaged.  I will try to avoid having too many wedding-related posts, but because this product is so cool, I think all should know about it regardless of your marital status.  The Appy Couple lets you design an app (iPhone or Android) for your wedding complete with a countdown, about us pages and the guest list with RSVP status.  Guests can access your app for day of details (weather, directions, etc.) and leave toasts for the couple.  It also uses the camera function of your phone to allow guests to take pictures at your event and live upload them to the app for all to share.

My sheer excitement for the existence of this service stems from the fact that I always forget wedding invitations on the day of the event and am left scrambling.

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the beginnings

Okay, now I've really done it.  For years I've been saying "I want to start a blog," but consistently talked myself out of it because I couldn't decide what subject to talk about.  Food is one of my favorite topics, but in the world of food blogs (16,727 to be exact...according to Technorati), how can I hang?  Fashion (9,930) and finances (10,063) offer no easier feat. 

I have decided that this blog is about things I like and have a passion for (0).  I will do my best to stick to food and drink [porter] and interesting things [paisley].  Who knew that the name of the paisley pattern was given by a town in Scotland?

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