the prices of rice & pasta are rising across the world. I am stocking up on rice & pasta by buying in bulk. I bought 20 bags of rice (each bag is 20lbs).

Has anyone stock up on rice or other essential foods?

I just bought another dozen cans of ravioli on sale. Is canned ravioli an essential food?

I also made another 20 lbs of german sausage on the grinder this weekend. I am quickly running out of storage space. I wish these media food blitzes would quit so I can back down on the supplies a little. The good news is the sausage is so good I have no problem rationing it to my co-workers, who haven't learned to make their own yet.

I think the value of such commodities hasn't changed nearly as much as the value of the dollars we use to buy them with. I am not surprised that our groceries, especially those with a large international market, are getting more expensive for us.

So... benjammin, cough up the sausage recipie if you don't mind

I have a recipe I've been developing for the past couple years, but this batch I cheated and used the Hi-Mountain brand commonly available at Sportsman's Warehouse, Gander Mountain and on the internet at their own webstie. They have a pretty darned good mix, but I am trying to improve on it.

I have my recipe at home, so I'll copy it down tonight and post it tomorrow, if I can remember to do so.

I believe that our (USA) shortages are going to be in the flour and cooking oil departments.

i have stocked up on rice /pasta / oats and cous cous on the dry foods side

Well, I guess that explains why prices are up.

Well, I tried adding a word doc file to make it easier to download, but the forum won't allow it so here's the long version. Enjoy. I left one key ingredient out that takes it from really good to irresistable. Also note the lack of fillers. If I wanted to eat oatmeal, I'd make a batch of cookies. I do not like oatmeal sausage.

Big Ben’s German Sausage

20 lbs pork shoulder
1/3 cup Coarse salt (not table salt)
2 tablespoons dried sage
1 tsp ground nutmeg
6 tsp ground black pepper
3 tsp ground white pepper
4 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
4 tablespoons sugar
Up to 2 cups water
1 skein 32mm collagen casing

Refrigerate pork shoulder in airtight container. Remove to freezer for 2 hours, or until meat is quite firm but not frozen. Slice meat into pieces that will fit the throat of the grinder easily (my grinder has a throat that can handle pieces 1” square and up to 3” long, you do not want to have to force the meat through the grinder throat and barrel). Blend all the dry ingredients together well. In a container large enough to hold it all, combine all ingredients. You want enough water to get the spices to mix and coat all the meat, but not so much to make it run off the meat. You will just have to judge it as you go. Mix the meat and spice mixture together by hand. If you do add too much water, make sure that you pour off the rest into the ground meat after the grinding process and mix it in. Feed the sausage through a medium coarse grind. Spread it out in the container, cover it tightly and return to the freezer to firm it up again. Meanwhile, clean up the grinder and prep your casings. I prefer to use 32mm collagen casings, as the prep is minimal, the casings are easily loaded on the stuffer tube, and they are easier to control during the stuffing process. Feed the well chilled sausage into the grinder/stuffer avoiding air pockets as much as possible (a small amount of trapped air is inevitable, don’t worry about it, it will dissipate). If stuffing with the grinder, follow the mfr recommendations, which usually say to remove the grinder plate and blade. Stuff the casings about 2/3 to ¾ full as it feeds, you will need the slack space to twist off the links. If you are making rounds, you can stuff the casings fuller, but don’t overdo it. Raw stuffed sausage should still have plenty of give, or they’ll just burst when handling and cooking. I like to stuff a length sufficient to make about 12 6” links at a time. It is just a good length for handling. Tie off the ends, twist your links, put in an airtight container and freeze solid or at least refrigerate for 24 hours before cooking to allow the sausage to ripen.

What is a skein of casing? Enough casing to stuff 20 lbs of sausage into, of course.

I decided to include a german potato relish that actually goes better with my bratwursts than the G.S. You be the judge I guess.

Big Ben’s German Potato Relish for Brats

2 small red potatoes, diced small

1 Tbl oil

½ bell pepper, diced small

½ sweet onion, diced small

¼ cup water

½ tsp carraway seed

½ tsp fennel seed

¼ tsp ground black pepper


In a microwave safe dish, cook diced potatoes for 3 to 5 minutes, depending on wattage.
Heat pan over medium high heat and add oil. Pour cooked potatoes in pan and stir to break up. Saute for 5 minutes, then add bell pepper and onion and water and reduce heat to low. Simmer 5 minutes, then add seeds and pepper and mix well. Allow to sit on heat up to half an hour, or at least till onions and pepper have softened. Serve atop bratwurst in a bun with good mustard. Enough for 6 to 8 brats.

Thanks for that recipe... will try it ....

Ditto, my mouth is a watering, in the middle of a move right now and it might take a month or so to get unpacked and set up to make sausage, but I'm definately making up a batch.

Exactly. I think people in the United States need to calm down. I don't mean to poo-poo the "global food crisis", there are people in the world who will not be able to eat because of it. However, this country will be largely unaffected by it. Global food crisis doesn't mean we'll soon be fighting in the supermarkets over the last box of poptarts (this isn't a hurricane afterall). It means the prices of food are high and that the second poorest people (and no-one in the US really fits in this category) can no longer buy food. These are the people who were working and feeding themselves at a poverty level, but now cannot afford to. The poorest people were already starving.

Since World War II, the biggest problem in the US has been and will remain not how to get enough food, but how to get rid of the huge amounts of food we produce. Some of it is sent overseas as food aid (about 50% of the world's food aid comes from the United States). Tons of the rest of it are converted into higher calorie more expensive food, principally dent corn into corn syrup. And more recently dent corn is being turned into ethanol to fuel cars.

Now, I will say the shelves at the commissary that are normally full of rice are currently mostly empty. Is this a threat to me? No, not in the slightest. One, the US is one of the largest rice producers in the world. If theres no rice on the shelves, its probably being sent overseas where people will starve with out it. The same is not true for Americans shopping at the commissary or any other grocery store for that matter. Two, I can turn around and see shelves fully stocked with cheap wheat and corn flour. OR I can walk down to produce and buy potatoes and turnips. If rice isn't available, I can make bread, grits, polenta, mashed potatoes and even my own pasta. When McDonalds and Burger King start shouting about the global food crisis, I'll start worrying. Until then, there are still plenty of staples for me to eat.