I’m lucky to have many good family traditions around the holidays.

I make Thanksgiving for an average of 10 family members. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, noodles, sweet potato casserole, corn casserole, rolls, cranberries, and this year I added brussel sprouts. It was epic.  

But our best holiday food gathering happens the Saturday before Christmas every year. It is our Baller Family Sausage Day.

My paternal grandmother was born in Palermo, Sicily. She had three sisters and four brothers. They had kids, and those kids had kids and I’m blessed to be one of those kids. I’m also also blessed to have a LOT of cousins, and we all get together to make homemade Italian sausage. There is a nice spread of food that family members bring so share with the masses. There is unspeakably delicious homemade wine. And best of all, the most incredible group of humans you will ever meet gather to celebrate each other and our heritage. 

A man seasoning sausage.
Each batch of homemade sausage is made to order.

The experience of this traditional process is a thing of beauty.  Raw pork gets massaged with seasoning and spices.  Each member of the family orders how many pounds they want and this year we made over 420 pounds of sausage. Everyone is specific on how they want it seasoned. My dad is the elder of the family and I pick him to season my 10 pounds to perfection year after year.  

I love watching him expertly sprinkle the seasoning and I specifically love how he pours the fennel seed in his hands and rubs them together to release the flavor and spread it evenly. Once the magic is finished, the seasoning gets massaged into sausage in traditional fashion. A sample of the batch gets fried up for tasting and once it’s approved (by several family members), it goes into the casing machine.

It takes three people to work this beauty. One to crank the handle, one to keep the casing wet and moving, and one to roll the cased sausage. It gets lovingly thrown in a bag with your name on it and is yours to enjoy at your leisure throughout the next year.  

I’d like to take this time to thank the generation of Ballers that kept this tradition alive for so long. It means the world to me that my kids get to grow up with these traditions. There are so many who are involved with this favorite day of the year, but a special thanks to Jim and Jimmy for the organization and hospitality. I love you all and it’s an honor to be a part of this family. 

A father and his daughter.
Jess participates in the annual sausage making with her father and several other family members.

Italian Family Sausage

Ingredients:

  • Pork
  • Seasoning 

Directions:

  1. Find some authentic Sicilians/Italians.
  2. Have them make it for you.

You didn’t think I was going to give away our recipe, did you?  

Cheers to 2020. Salute’! 

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