A new favorite

I'd heard from a friend at work that her family always purchases their fresh turkey from a meat processor in Edinburg, but she couldn't remember the name.  After a google search and discovering two meat processors in that little town, Ed and I plugged it into the GPS and headed south on 81.  The first place we came to was Foltz or Gore's; we can't tell which.  It was a fairly unattractive building on a beautiful stretch of road, and we stopped in to see what we could find.  Turns out it was not the place my friend was speaking about (this place offers only pork and beef).

Inside, we were helped by a lady who obviously knew her way around a cow.  We decided to order some stew meat and to our astonishment, she walked into the cooler, came back out with a big hunk of fresh beef, and proceeded to hand cut our order with a big butcher knife, then wrap it up for us.  I looked at Ed with big eyes, silently saying "Did you just see that?"  He understood perfectly.

We decided maybe we could use some cube steak, and she went back to the hunk of meat and cut out six perfect steaks, then dropped them expertly through a machine that processed them.  These too were wrapped and set before us.

Cheered on by the thought of local, grain fed beef as opposed to processed junk from grocery stores that had been on shelves for who knows how long, we then ordered a chuck roast.  Another large piece of meat was retrieved from the cooler, placed on a table saw, and cut to our order.  I tried to get a photo of the cooler where the meat was stored, but the lady was too fast.  About that time, a man approached us and asked me if I'd like to see inside the cooler.  Of course I did!  The next photo is not for the faint of heart...so be forewarned...

I was just amazed by this, of course.  Too many grocery store runs and a girl tends to forget where all that stuff comes from.  Pardon the pun, but I'm hooked.  The gentleman asked if this was our first time there and we said it was, and he then presented us with a pound of fresh sausage that he said was for first-timers only.  After ordering a few soup bones and ground round (again cut, ground, and wrapped before our eyes) and paying the very reasonable bill, we headed out and I was just thrilled to have found this place.  I'm already planning on saving up for a half side of beef for our freezer.

If you need fresh beef or pork, take a beautiful drive out to see how it's done in Edinburg or, if you prefer something a bit closer, there's a store in Stephens City where the meat is shipped daily.  You can't watch it being prepared to your specifications, but you know you're getting locally raised and processed food handled by hard-working local people.  We had the cube steak tonight, which I dredged in flour, salt, pepper and buttermilk and fried up and it was delicious. There is a huge difference in the taste and quality of fresh meat and it's a great feeling to know that my money isn't going to some greedy corporation, but to a local business who employs local folks.