A Grind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste.

It is time to make sausage -specifically breakfast sausage-again! Once I run out of sausage in the freezer I need to go make more. Why not just buy breakfast sausage you ask? One word; sage. Commercial breakfast sausage has too much sage in it. How much sage it too much? Any sage is too much, if there was sage sitting across the room when the sausage was ground it has too much sage. In my opinion sage is not fit to eat, neither is rosemary for that matter. If I wanted to taste pine tree I would go out to my backyard and gnaw on one of the spruce trees. Sorry, I am getting off topic, back to sausage.
  My grandfather shared my opinion of sage and I use his recipe as far as I could re-create it. To my knowledge the recipe was never written down. He would mix ground pork with his spices and fry a little piece, adjust the seasoning and repeat until it tasted right. He did this every time so there was never any set recipe.
  First off is the pork. My grandfather ground up pork scraps but as I do not raise pigs I am forced to use other sources. I get boneless pork shoulders from Costco. They come in 12-16 pound packages, usually two shoulders to a package. It is a relatively cheap cut at $1.89/lb. and has about the right meat to fat ratio for good sausage. A 75% meat to 25% fat ratio makes good sausage (I said good sausage, not healthy sausage, not low fat sausage. Good sausage.) If you would rather not grind your own just get plain ground pork in the meat section. The fat content usually isn't high enough but it will be close.
  Next are the spices. The spices are the key to the sausage . No secret guarded spice mixture here, just salt and pepper. Salt and Pepper?! That's It?! How is that sausage?!  If you have had grandpa's sausage you understand, if not, once you try it you will see. On to the Recipe.
 
Country Sausage.
Per 1 pound of ground pork
 Add:
  2 tsp salt (I use Kosher)
  1 tsp black pepper (Fresh Ground is best)

Mix well.
If eating immediately: Shape into patties and fry in oiled skillet over medium heat until done.
If storing : Portion 1 pound of sausage into a quart freezer bag, squeeze out the air, flatten and freeze.