Sausage-making is a process. It’s messy and time-consuming. But, we had a blast customizing this spicy Italian sausage which we made from scratch with fresh basil, parsley and hot peppers.

Our favorite variety of barbecue sauce is Kansas City Cowtown Bar-B-Q Sauce, which is manufactured locally. It won the 2001 American Royal Barbecue Contest. That means that other people who also know barbecue, like really know barbecue, deemed it to be as fantastic as we believe it to be.

Tacos are simple yet delicious. We braised pork shoulder in sweet chili sauce. We topped it with Asian slaw, sriracha mayo and fresh herbs.

The cut of pork shoulder is often called, “Boston butt” or “pork butt.” It may be the cut best suited for smoking. Here's our recipe for Kansas City-style smoked pork shoulder.