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Yes! By my count there are a few more Saturdays to Sausagefest #13. This means that the Spring grilling season is about to start and all that winter darkness and despair can be put away for another long spell. If you had a productive winter you tried some new sausages, figured out what was acceptable, what wasn't, and maybe identified some new edibles that might make the grade for Sausagefest #13.

Yes! Only a few more Saturdays until we can all let loose and celebrate with our favorite people and sausages! Bring friends and family, get everybody know you involved! The more the merrier. There is nothing as fun as a sausage-filled weekend. Everybody can kick back, relax, play sports, cards, make new friends, make new plans and bets (partybets.com) with new energy and vitality. Ideally every weekend should be like that.

Is there anything as festive as a sausage fest? It should be an international event. We will get there though. When you dedicate this amount of time and passion to something, people are bound to hear about it and get involved eventually. Starting with you! Thanks for visiting the site.



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Sausagefest 2005 Review
Monday, January 02, 2006

Sausagefest 2005 had all the expected sizzle of past years plus some piquant scenes and samplings that indicated that you just never know which way the sausage of fate will point. We christened the 2005 fest with the "The War of the Sausages" (by H.G. Swells).

The battle royale was engaged early - a stellar collection of samples from Ream's Meats were the opening offerings (the chorizo was very good as was the Cudghi Italian Sausage). We backed those sausages up with my Serbian favorite, Cevapi. The source is the Lalich Deli on Milwaukee Avenue in Niles (Thanks to Zoran and Vera Lalich for the great stuff.) & If you love the taste of gyros you will like Cevapi even more. These sausages are so lean (fat free) that if you fry them in a pan you have to add oil. The best flavoring, however, comes from grilling these skinless little meat sausages. Sure they look like your typical breakfast sausage in length but there the comparison ends. They come with garlic or without - either way you might wanted to whip up some home made Tszaki sauce (the yogurt/sour cream sauce for gyro's) to go with these guys. Just great!

While the smoke and flames were still hot and the guests still not full, the Rookie of the Year sausage showed up & some genuine Columbia masilla sausage. (Thanks to Ernie and Karen Pabon for finding this dark rich sausage). The combination of masilla and a big Zinfandel was a matched made in heaven.

Rookies of the Year: Karen and Ernie Pabon

Taking a flanking maneuver around the grilled meats, Casey Wasilewski re-joined the festivities after a year's hiatus and served the ambrosia of home made Polish Sausage and sweet polish sauerkraut en casserole. He had the ethnic ladies in the crowd moaning and groaning. Panting and racing heart were beating like jungle drums in the heart of darkness when it came to his steaming kielbasa. (Case, next time bring the defibrillator.)

Best Polish Sausage of the Year: Casey Wasilewski

Just when the melee was settling into a pitched battle between a veteran sausage-ite and a rookie, an experienced champion showed up. The Grabowksi clan (made famous by the Portobello sausage of Sausagefest 6) walked in with the assured swagger that comes with the bared knuckled know-how of grinding and grilling in close quarters. This year they demonstrated another side of their mastery by creating a new category of sausage altogether &mdash the Albino Sausage. Let the record show that on September 3, 2005 the world saw its first albino sausage. Like the true artist that they are, they continue to stretch what it means to be sausage masters.

Unique Artistic Achievement: The Grabowki's

Every year we search for the right kind of "new blood" (or blood sausage) to bring into the mix. It usually works better when you find people of a checkered past, problematic upbringing, or even who are on a special work relief program. Who cares what hubcap collection or youthful indiscretion happened. I say when you meet a guy like Lou Cananoco, you throw the reputation out (it worked for AJ Perzynski and the White Sox).

Lou melded together small peperocini peppers with some great Italian sausage. Thrown on the grill they were the perfect little mid-course aperitif that saved the taste buds from the constant onslaught of protein and fat, over and over. Only someones of Lou's well traveled nature could even think to bring a vegetable to Sausagefest. Outstanding work (and a letter back to the institution to know where you were that day).

Best Achievement with Sausage & Vegetable: Lou Cananoco

As each Sausagefest approaches and the grilling fires get hot you can bank on the veteran competitors to get their competitive juices flowing. We know who they are but still it's always impressive to see the magic re-appear. For the first time in Sausagefest history, we are crowning a back-to-back winner. The first time Doc Tuttle did home made sausages in 2004 there were those in the crowd who admitted the excellence of his tequila spiked southwestern sausages but wondered if he had some help from his wife or one his patients ("Hey Doc, I'll give you a killer sausage recipe if you forget the broken bone fee.")

Ignoring the naysayers, the soft-spoken (until the tequila shows up) Texan just dazzled even the toughest critics by bringing hand-made smoked chorizo sausages to the party. It was sublime sausage, meaty, well seasoned with the variety of tastes and texture that makes you wonder why all meat mixtures can't be this good. Now crowned Grand Champion for the second year in the row, we anxiously await what new deft fete of culinary skill the Doctor can create for Sausagefest 9.

Sausagefest 8 - Grand Champion: Richard Tuttle

To balance out all the meat consumption, the attendees consumed a modest 37 bottles of wine. We had 71 attendees and the karaoke machine and snow cones were a nice addition to party.

Special Thanks to:
Tom Graan (Official Wine Sommelier of Sausagefest)

Casey & Eddie & Steve - for the blood, sweat and tears of manning the grill for several hours.

And to all our guests who always make the event a wonderful night of tasting and adventure.

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Sausages and Your Health (Cholesterol)
Wednesday, August 31, 2005

As Sausagefest (and Labor Day) cookouts approach we want to share some basic good health advice. For the whole discussion go to the American Heart Association website:

www.americanheart.org

The highlights I think that are important are as follows. We're quoting from their website where you see quote marks (duh).

Borderline high risk
People whose cholesterol level is from 200 to 239 mg/dL are borderline high risk. About a third of American adults are in this (borderline) group almost half of adults have total cholesterol levels below 200 mg/dL.

Have your cholesterol and HDL rechecked in one to two years if:

• Your total cholesterol is in this range.
• Your HDL is less than 40 mg/dL.
• You don't have other risk factors for heart disease.

You should also lower your intake of foods high in saturated fat and cholesterol to reduce your blood cholesterol level to below 200 mg/dL. Your doctor may order another blood test to measure your LDL cholesterol. Ask your doctor to discuss your LDL cholesterol with you. Even if your total cholesterol is between 200 and 239 mg/dL, you may not be at high risk for a heart attack. Some people &mdash such as women before menopause and young, active men who have no other risk factors &mdash may have high HDL cholesterol and desirable LDL levels. Ask your doctor to interpret your results. Everyone's case is different."

Sausagefest Personal Example: My latest cholesterol level is 219 BUT the HDL and LDL components have to be looked at.

"High risk
If your total cholesterol level is 240 or more, it's definitely high. Your risk of heart attack and stroke is greater. In general, people who have a total cholesterol level of 240 mg/dL have twice the risk of coronary heart disease as people whose cholesterol level is 200 mg/dL."

Your LDL Cholesterol Level

"Your LDL cholesterol level greatly affects your risk of heart attack and stroke. The lower your LDL cholesterol, the lower your risk. In fact, it's a better gauge of risk than total blood cholesterol. Your LDL cholesterol will fall into one of these categories:

LDL Cholesterol Levels
Less than 100 mg/dL	Optimal
100 to 129 mg/dL	Near Optimal/ Above Optimal
130 to 159 mg/dL	Borderline High
160 to 189 mg/dL	High
190 mg/dL and above	Very High

The key point to remember is, the lower your LDL cholesterol, the lower your risk."

Sausagefest Personal Example: My LDL level is 120 - near optimal

"Your HDL cholesterol level
In the average man, HDL cholesterol levels range from 40 to 50 mg/dL. In the average woman, they range from 50 to 60 mg/dL. HDL cholesterol that's less than 40 mg/dL is low. Low HDL cholesterol puts you at high risk for heart disease. Smoking, being overweight and being sedentary can all result in lower HDL cholesterol. "

Unlike golf, a low HDL score is not a good thing (Sausagefest comment)

Sausagefest Personal Example: my HDL is 69 - so that's above average (a good thing).

The Cholesterol Ratio Thing
"Total blood cholesterol is the most common measurement of blood cholesterol. It's the number you normally receive as test results. Cholesterol is measured in milligrams per deciliter of blood (mg/dL). Knowing your total blood cholesterol level is an important first step in determining your risk for heart disease. However, a critical second step is knowing your HDL or "good" cholesterol level.

Some physicians and cholesterol technicians use the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol in place of the total blood cholesterol. The American Heart Association recommends that the absolute numbers for total blood cholesterol and HDL cholesterol levels be used. They're more useful to the physician than the cholesterol ratio in determining the appropriate treatment for patients.

The ratio is obtained by dividing the HDL cholesterol level into the total cholesterol. For example, if a person has a total cholesterol of 200 mg/dL and an HDL cholesterol level of 50 mg/dL, the ratio would be stated as 4:1. The goal is to keep the ratio below 5:1 the optimum ratio is 3.5:1."

Sausagefest Personal Example: my total cholesterol is 219, my HDL is 69.

219/69 = 3.17 So I have a better than optimum ratio.

The Triglyceride Thing
"Your triglyceride level will fall into one of these categories:

Triglyceride Level	Classification
Less than 150 mg/dL	Normal
150-199 mg/dL	Borderline-high
200-499 mg/dL	High
500 mg/dL or higher	Very high

"

Personal Example: my triglyceride level is 149 - normal.

So to wrap this up - - get your blood work done and listen to your physician. If you're having cholesterol issues be judicious about eating sausages.

In the meantime I'll have a glass of cabernet and some chorizo. Remember: moderation, moderation, moderation.

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