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One thing you might not know about me is that in 2022 I did more sausage streaks than ever, my longest being 27 days...many of which ranged from over a week to a couple weeks on top of that almost month long one. If you're wondering why I didn't hit 28 days, it was nothing more than forgetting to have some. I remember laying in bed and telling my husband, I think I forgot to have sausage today, haha. Anyways, Sparrow Market in Ann Arbor hand makes their sausages and they also have an ingredient list that they're not afraid to share. Believe me, because they have read off every ingredient of every one of their sausages with a smile (and I really appreciate that)!
The sausage streaks weren't intentional. They kind of started because we bought so much fresh sausage, we were having it several days in a row and then I found out I really like it for breakfast (hot or cold). It's easy for me to eat on the run, too.
We've tried almost all of them (most of them pass my ingredient test) but here are some tasting notes:
Linguica - pretty fatty compared to most of them, but tasty.
Calabrian - I like the peppers in this one, but it isn't as spicy as I'd like it.
Hot Italian - this is good and one of our go-to's, but not as spicy as what we get here and a few others.
Kielbasa - I really like good kielbasa, and this one is good, but not quite what I remember from my childhood.
Bratwurst - believe it or not, this is my favorite!
We've tried some other things from their deli counter, including:
Lamb skewers - these were good, a little dry how I cooked them and also I should have cooked them on the griddle since they didn't fit in the pan very well, haha!
Pastrami - we always look for their house made pastrami. Sometimes they have a sign up and sometimes not, but we always ask! I wouldn't even say pastrami is one of my favorites, but theirs is!
My husband and I have been able to find so many things there that we cannot find elsewhere, like that time I was taste testing pork rinds of all kinds and then we decided to make our own, we found pig skin there! It's also the only place I know of that we can get pigs feet (used to make a rich porky ramen broth). I cannot even get them directly from our farmers. Last visit to Sparrow, we saw a lambs head, which is SO much smaller than the pig's head I got and made my own version of head cheese with!
Sparrow Market is always one of our most favorite stops. They have a great mix of standard things and some very specialty items. I also like to pick up their candied ginger -- it's the only one I can find with only two ingredients (ginger, sugar) where most have preservatives added. You know I don't like that! They also have my favorite sparkling tonic (affiliate code: SATIATEDBLONDE).
Unexpectedly, inside the market space there is also what I would call an un-food court... it's kind of like a food court, with a few counter options and other stores linked inside. My husband likes Monahan's, the historic seafood counter, where you can order fresh raw seafood or get it cooked to order. There used to be a pupusa place that was my favorite, but more recently, a burger joint moved in, followed by a wood fired pizza oven in its place. There are some other fun shops, like a bike shop, yarn store, and a natural wine store with surprisingly reasonable prices that we pop in to browse from time to time.
Have you been to Sparrow Market? What are your favorites? Be sure to tell me in the comments and catch me there in my stories!
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