My Dad arrived at 7; I was, unlikely as it seems, still in bed, having gone back to sleep. This was due mainly to reading the second book of the Hunger Games trilogy, catching fire. I jumped up and threw on some clothes and came down.

I made fried eggs for us, after cooking some proto-bacon. The meat that comes from the sides of the pigs is about half fat. We sliced it and cooked it; it doesn't really taste like bacon, more like fatty pork chops. With a little salt and pepper, it's still very good--and no nitrates! With home-raised eggs, and home-made bread toasted, it was a fine breakfast.

We headed next door to Paul's a little after 9. Mike was there; they were setting up the grinder. He had the recipe he had printed off from the internet: Alton Brown's sausage recipe. For two pounds of sausage, add 1 1/2 tsp fennel seed, toasted in a small frying pan and ground in a mortar, 2 tsp salt, 1 1/2 tsp pepper, and 1 T chopped fresh parsley. I set to work on cooking the fennel and my Dad ground it. He also ground fresh pepper for us. I measured out the spices and mixed them together. Meanwhile, Mike had opened the first pack of meat,
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