Wurst Meister Wannabes

Ahh, the sweet science of sausage production! Last Saturday Luke and I loaded up our caribou trimmings and headed over to Ed’s to go through the entire process. Ed is known as a true Wurst Meister and was kind enough to share his wisdom with us. So, on Saturday we were simply interns at the School of Sausage.

Luke with a nice roll of freshly stuffed garlic ring sausage

Ed demonstrates the delicate dance between the hog gut and the ground meat during the stuffing process.


The students are graded on their sausage handling techniques.

Turning the gut is a tricky operation. It requires patience and skill. Once the end of the gut is turned, water is injected into the pocket of turned intestine and hydraulically pushes the gut inside out.
We had lots of gut to turn.

Luke and I stand proudly with some of the spoils…bratwurst and garlic ring sausage.

My Favorite Place to Run...

Generally, I would have to say Fairbanks is my favorite place. The running community here has provided me with lasting relationships, constant motivation and hundreds of hours of recreation. Specifically, I would have to say the trails and roads on Murphy Dome. I guess I am a bit biased since this is where I live, but once ski boots get replaced by running shoes it does not take too much prompting to get people to make the drive out to my place for a nice twelve mile trot. The chosen route this time provides some great views and a soft gravel road. The barbecue and the beers afterward probably don’t hurt either.



After a rather difficult three mile climb you get treated to a great view of the Tannana Hills and a gradual eight mile decent.

Fernie takes a break in the back of her truck after the run.

Sarah, Steve, Michele and Suzanne chat over a beer or two.

Some Alaskan bounty: Copper River Red Salmon, and some Central Arctic Caribou. Yum!

It was nice to have people over for a run and some fun. I would have to say that this marks the start of spring for me.