Sausage, stuffing

As a boy, one of the delicacies of Thanksgiving was my maternal grandmother Nani's sausage stuffing. I ate far more of it than turkey. It was rich with onions, toasted bread, apples, celery, parsley, and homemade sausage. My mother arrived last night to spend Thanksgiving with us, and spent several hours this afternoon getting the stuffing ready. I mixed up the sausage according to Uncle Mike's recipe, grinding about six pounds of it. We'll use half in the stuffing and the rest for supper tomorrow. In case you're interested, here's Uncle Mike's recipe:

One pound pork shoulder or "butt," ground coarsely (I use a Kitchenaid mixer and the food grinder attachment.)
3/4 tsp of fennel seed
1 tsp of salt (kosher style works best)
1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes
1/3 tsp of ground black pepper

Grind the pork first, then mix with other ingredients by hand in a large bowl. Form into patties and grill over charcoal fire. (You could also stuff the meat into casings.) Serve with roasted peppers and mustard on a good roll.