Earlier today, I placed a bid on a Griswold vintage meat grinder. I hope I win this grinder.
It looks a lot like the one that my mother used when I was a child. She’d clamp it to the side of the table, and my mother, brother and I took turns turning that crank to make our sausages. Sausage making was a lot of work, and my brother and I weren’t always thrilled to keep feeding the meat into the grinder. However we knew better than to complain, and it was one of our chores; grinding the sausage and stuffing them into casings. You know, if I think about it, I can still taste those sausages? I must say it tasted better than any of the prepackaged sausage that I’d purchase in the store during my pre-veggie days! The pig killed was one that we raised and was not pumped with all sorts chemicals.
One of my mothers favorite ways to prepare sausages was smothering them with homemade gravy. She usually cooked sausages for our Sunday morning breakfast. Sunday breakfast was early so we’d have time to change and go to church. My mother showed me how awesome it is to be self-sufficient and I took it to a higher level not only with the meals I prepare, but in other aspects of my life also.
But back to the meat grinder…
A meat grinder grinds more than meat. I’ve seen them used for grinding wheat grass and some grains too. I’m sure, when I receive my vintage meat grinder that I’ll have a lot of fun experimenting with the different items that I can grind and of course, I’ll be making homemade sausage for my daughter.
The past few days, with my posts about meat, one might not think that I was vegan. I am, but I do make non-vegan meals for loved ones. Before my daughter was born, the only foods I cooked, after switching to vegetarianism was vegan. That continued to until my daughter was about six years old. She wanted to try animal products… and I let her. She still mainly eats a vegetarian diet, but does supplement it with animals, and I’m fine with that.
Of course, when I saw the manufactures name (Griswold) for the vintage meat grinder I immediately thought of ‘The Griswolds’ from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. I included two of my favorite scenes from the movie. I haven’t watched that in years.
In my twenties, I thought about purchasing a food/meat slicer. As appealing at they were to me, at the time, it wasn’t really feasible since it was just myself and I honestly could not justify purchasing that item. Also, as a vegan, there really wasn’t a need for the slicer even though I loved what it did.
