WHERE TO FIND INGREDIENTS TO MAKE AGE-OLD ITALIAN RECIPES IN NORTHERN MICHIGAN:

Dried fennel seed, sea salt and black pepper—any supermarket, natural foods store or spice shop

Wine—Use a local white you enjoy drinking

Pork butt—Local and fresh is best. If your butcher doesn’t carry it, there are pork producers now at many area farmers’ markets.

Sausage skins—Go to Maxbauer or Burritt’s in Traverse City, or your favorite butcher shop. Tell them at the counter how many pounds you’ll be making and they will sell you enough.

SAUSAGE STUFFING WITH A HAND GRINDER

The Dituris say they sometimes think about an electric grinder—for about two seconds! They just prefer to hand-grind. They have several grinders passed down from their grandparents but the one they always seem to use is Grandpa Vito’s. “It just feels right,” says Marie.

Cut pork into chunks, place in large steel bowl. Add fennel seed, salt and pepper and wine while turning/mixing with hands. Load casings on grinder tube and tie the end after releasing the air in grinder by cranking until meat is visible at the tube end. Feed mixed meat into grinder and stuff directly into casings, making 3–4 full twists after each sausage (being sure to alternate twist directions). Cook immediately or freeze for up to 2 weeks.

MAKING SAUSAGE

Not a recipe; this is the process of seasoning when working up your own recipe.

After grinding the meat, add a generous amount of fennel (you really can’t add too much). Don’t crush the spice—add it as whole fennel seeds, and the flavor will seep out during cooking.

Add salt and black pepper to taste. But you won’t know if you have enough until you cook up a spoonful in a hot skillet. Add more to taste as necessary.

Add a few splashes of your favorite wine (red or white).

Add cheese—the higher quality the better. Traditionally, Italian sweet sausage is made with pecorino but you can substitute almost any Italian cheese: mozzarella, fontina, Parmesan. Pecorino cooks with the sausage best because of its density.

For hot Italian sausage, add your favorite hot peppers before mixing and tasting.

Hand mix until seasonings are evenly distributed.

Cook a spoonful in a hot skillet with oil, then taste. When you say the spice is right, the sausage is ready to stuff.