Just in case your German is a little rusty, here is the English translation…

Get some fry sausage!

One of my favorite childhood memories was “butchering” time at my grandparent’s farm north of Halliday, North Dakota. This usually took place around Thanksgiving. Thinking about it now, I’m sure they waited until then, so a good North Dakota frost would have taken care of all the flies and other pests. While the adults did the dirty work, us kids played football, road motorcycle and tagged along with our older cousin when he went pheasant hunting.

I remember my dad and uncles putting money into a hat and everyone placing bets on a football game on TV, and I remember winning the pot one time too. Probably 10 dollars or so, but that was a tidy sum for a kid. Another memory stands out when I begged my mom to let me try trimming some of the meat. She finally handed the knife over and I proceeded to cut myself within two seconds of touching the handle. I believe she said, “I told you so”.

The little building where the butchering took place had a huge old wood burning stove and my grandma would fry up some of the freshly ground sausage for a taste test, to make sure the seasoning was just right. To this day I have never had sausage that tasted that good – probably since the cow and pig had been walking around a few hours earlier.

Everyone’s favorite was the smoked fry sausage. They would hang all the lovely links in the little rickety, crooked smoke house – which looked like an outhouse converted into a smoke house. When the sausage was finished smoking to perfection it was packaged and divided equally among the family. That was many years ago now, and many years since that fry sausage has graced a dining room table. When my Grandparent’s passed away, all the cherished family traditions faded away with them. The farm sits empty today, the little smoke house long gone. I still have the good memories though…

And that leads me to the discovery of Kauk’s Meat Market Fry Sausage. When we were still living in Pierre, I saw their sausage at the Korner Grocery and decided I would give it a try the next time I made knoephla and sauerkraut. It is so close to my grandparent’s fry sausage, it was hard to tell the difference. My father-in-law Ed loves it. I think he bought 5 packs to take back home to Mandan, ND. He thought he would have the sausage all to himself, believing his wife Brenda wouldn’t like it…Well the big dummy let her try it and she loved it, and now he shares his fry sausage. Poor guy.

Thankfully, Kauk’s delivers their fry sausage out west to the Valley Corner Store in Spearfish, the Grocery Mart in Sturgis, and Timmons Market in Rapid City.

Kauk’s Meat Market
11149 328th Ave
Eureka, South Dakota 57437

(605) 284-5218