The Butcher

We moved down around Indianapolis in January and have been on the search for a butcher shop like the one we used to go to.

Lowery's in Buchanan, MI, has the best deals on good meat, like fresh cut New York Strip for $3/lb or less.

OH Ma ma ma ma good times....good eats.

Check it out if you're ever in the area...Buchanan is super small, so it's easy to find.

Well...with all our searching high and low, we just haven't found a market here that you can buy in bulk and save like we did back home. We have, however, come across one meat market that I'm sure we will be frequenting.

Claus' German Sausage & Meats was quite a find.

As soon as you walk in, you know that you've entered through the plate glass doors of hog heaven!

It's filled with the beautiful aroma of meats that have been cured and smoked on site without any preservatives or fillers!

Maybe that wouldn't be hog heaven, possibly hog he!!

...not so great for the hog but great for us!

Kinda like this!

I digress...

This Saturday was our first trip to the south east side of Indy to see what owner Claus Muth had to offer. Being new to the German assortments of meats, we were curious and ready to try some new things.

You'll notice right away, "You AIN'T in Kansas, no mo!"

Hot dogs don't look like hot dogs!

Bologna don't look like bologna!

Then there are all of the different blood meats that I can't even begin to comprehend anyone eating. But seeing them didn't spoil the moment. Just because things weren't prepackaged foods that I grew up on didn't mean my palate couldn't handle something more mature

The service there is impeccable!

The older gentleman behind the counter was so nice and helpful.

He looked like a butcher.

He sounded like a butcher.

He had my confidence he was the butcher.

We told him we had never been there before, and we were wondering if he could help us pick out some new things. He gave us some newbie friendly suggestions so we could make several small selections.

He said, "Take our flyer that has everything listed on it and buy in small portions. What you don't like, mark off."

He was a man of wisdom, with a great sense of humor.

He was suddenly, "My butcher!"

We bonded over bologna!

We bantered over bacon!

I felt that nothing could change this euphoric moment between us....

and then...

I don't know if I can say it

...he...he...

he slipped me the tongue!

Yes! Right there in the shop!

Mr. D standing right there!

I had trusted this man! We had history (about 10 minutes).

He was sneaky!

This is how it all went down: I saw him grab something in the cooler. It was small enough to fit in his hand and not be seen clearly. He didn't say a word, and he just took it over to the meat slicer to shave some off. He came back to us, and reaching over the counter, handed us each a petite little slice of "something". "Try this!", he said.

"Ummm...like...OK!", replied Mr. D...I mean me.

It was mild, nice texture, clearly came from a small strangely shaped loaf.

"Do you like it?", said the butcher with an ulterior motive.

"Ummm...it's ok! What is it?"

"It's tongue!", he says with a smile on his face.

Suddenly my world changed. Every bit of what was left in my mouth, hangin' out in my teeth began to...well...taste me back.

I could feel things stirring in me, and my only hope was to swallow hard. Look out the window...swallow hard...look at all the birdies...swallow hard.

Ok, so my palate ain't so mature.

"You liked it before I told you what it was, didn't you?" he says now with a smirk across his face.

"Ummm...kinda...(swallowing hard again).

Needing to put this little moment behind us, we continued to make our selections. We selected about four different kinds of bologna, ham and turkey lunch meat, and some of the best hot dogs we've ever eaten.

They're on the far left of this picture.

It's so cool...it's like they're linked together just like in the cartoons!!

( Immature dork alert!)

One of the wonderful new things we had to try was

Holiday Loaf/Schweinebauch ~wrapped in bacon.

(#41 on the list...will not be marked off, but maybe circled with a heart)

Oh, it was delicious!

I tried to ♥girl it up♥ good by serving it on a croissant.

Horrible picture, but really good eats.

So if you're ever in the neighborhood, be sure to stop in to Claus' and tell him the lady that choked down the tongue says, "Hi."

Coming soon!!

We also purchased the

DOUBLE Smoked Bacon!

I'll be baking it in the oven just like ya'll suggested.

Ya'll Come Back Now! Ya Hear?