"making sausage" news and stories

I love sausage. All types of sausage. Here in the NYC area it's pretty easy to find all kinds of fresh sausage. Hot or sweet Italian sausage, weisswurst, brats, chicken & sun dried tomato, salmon & chive, andouille, you name it; and some of it is even tasty. The one sausage that is the most difficult to find is a really good, zesty, country style breakfast sausage.

Sadly, right now I don't have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer with all the attachments like a meat grinder and sausage stuffer; otherwise I would be making fresh sausage all the time. But wait, why should I let that stop me? I thought about it for awhile and figured out how to get around it. First, who needs to stuff the sausage in casing? I actually prefer bulk sausage made into patties. There's more surface area for browning, the tasty miracle of the Maillard reaction that makes sausage have that extra oomph. Second, why grind the meat myself? I can have my butcher grind it, or even buy it pre-ground at the market.