nice sausage

I love eating out, but sometimes it's nice to just pick up a few extra special items and crack a good bottle of wine at home.
Yeah, I know this is supposed to be all about restaurant reviews, but sometimes it's nice to just stay home or even better, picnic and patio season are almost here and to me, there really isn't anything better than eating outside.
One of my favorite things to bring on a picnic, is a good smoked sausage.
Smoked anything for that matter.
I just love the taste of earthy smoked meat.
Specifically, venison salami.
Love it.
Hickory, cherry or mesquite smoked....yum.

I remember the first time I had really good venison salami.
Big daddy & I picked up some from the St.Lawrence market at Whitehouse Meats and got a bottle of Hitching Post wine, fresh baguette, some excellent quality extra virgin olive oil and got down to business.
It was one of the most memorable meals..if you can call it an actual meal...than I have ever had.
At the time, we were young(er) and were on a bit of a budget and the thought of spending $30 on a bottle of olive oil and $15 on a sausage, seemed so extravagant.
It still does, but it was worth every penny. 
Sometimes the best food experiences are the most simple ones.
Like for example, the most tasty Cottin De Chavignol chevre cheese eaten at the foot of the rocky mountains on a perfect summer day in June.
We didn't have a care in the world, aside from maybe a bear catching a whiff of our delicious picnic..
Or fresh Cancalle oysters caught right in front of us in Brittany France.
The salty taste lingered for hours after we left.
Or the most perfect chocolate tart eaten under the shelter of an awning during a sudden spring rain in Champagne France.
I can still taste it...
Or fresh durian picked the day we happened to be there, in Ko Lanta Thailand.
It was so creamy and so unique that we crave it still to this day.
We spent the next four weeks in Thailand trying to find another durain as fresh...to no avail.
Or a sensational dinner here in Toronto at a restaurant called Square (sadly no longer) that inspired the "creation" of Lulu.
T.M.I.... But it truly was one of the best meals I've ever had.

anyhow, sometimes it's the simplest of ingredients that makes a meal most memorable.

what are your favorite food memories?

Comments

[Half-Past Kissin' Time]

There is NOTHING better than venison sausage! YUM!!

[SciFi Dad]

There's a beef sausage that is made somewhere near Hamilton (I think) that always has a table setup at the Markham Fair. It is incredible: nice amount of garlic, not too fatty, and makes an excellent accompaniment when fried with some eggs (or in the eggs, for that matter). I wish I could remember the actual name, but just look for the "meat lady" next October at the Markham Fair.

[kgirl]

The huz will love this. Right now he's on an elk kick, and I gotta say, the elk salami is pretty dang good.

[porter]

I really enjoyed this post. I remember one of my favourite afternoons, one sunny Fall afternoon, it was the first time I tried port. We were fishing (the one and only time I've ever been fishing!) and after a very casual picnic lunch at the side of the river, we sipped some port. Everytime I drink port I think of that perfect afteroon.

[motherbumper]

I'm still giggling over the title. Yup - really mature right here.

Being a self-professed meat connoisseur (hee) I will have to give this a try.

[Don Mills Diva]

Cold Tusker beer around the campfire in Kenya and banana crepes with choclate sauce from a street stall in Pai, Northern Thailand...