Unfortunately Randy couldn't bring his entire market to display during his lecture, "Let There Be Sausage," but he did bring plenty of tales (and treats!) to lure listeners back to his home base, located about 55 miles west of Chicago. Anyone who succumbed likely noticed that the land surrounding Elburn has just a pinch of rolling hills, a sprinkling of residential developments and several dashes of farm country -- rows of corn stripe the roadside acreage, the John Deer store is lined up with tractors for sale and highway signs along Route 47 advertise pine and apple orchards and Kupers Pumpkin Farm. For city dwellers and suburbanites alike, Elburn is noticeably different than Chicago's nearer siblings. This Kane-county piece of country, far away from the hustle and bustle of urban life, makes most visitors feel like they're on vacation.

Although on most vacations, you won't find an incredible meat market like Ream's. With its red and white striped awning and brick fa°ade at 128 Main Street, Ream's Elburn Market to this day looks surprisingly similar to Randy's prized store photo (circa 1908), which he brought to his CHC speaking engagement. Visit in person and you'll notice that even the interior of Ream's holds pieces of history: a pressed-tin ceiling, an old fashioned butcher-block table and a bright red meat grinder from the early days on display in the window.

The two-store-front building in which Ream's is located was purchased from the original builder by Fred Schwartz in 1908 and later by Randy's father in 1954. Randy explained, "I had the best of all worlds as a kid. I lived above a meat market, I could eat cold hotdogs whenever I wanted and I had a dime store next door __ and I have the teeth the prove it!"

Although Randy's work at the market began as early as age 6, when he managed sweeping the storeroom floors, Randy initially pursued a degree in music education from Western Illinois University in the late seventies and ran away to "join the circus" as a jazz saxophonist (the International All-Star Circus in Sarasota, Florida, that is). When he decided to return to the family business in 1981, he made a change that to this day makes Ream's impressively unique -- he added a smokehouse. Today, that smokehouse is used to produce homemade smoked meats and sausages including hams, bacons and jerkies and brats, salamis and snack sticks.

One look around when you visit Ream's and you'll have no doubt you've come to the right place -- not just for smoked meats and sausages, but also for beef, pork, lamb, poultry, fresh sausages and even fish. The walls of this meat lover's paradise are lined with over 100 of Randy's awards: National Grand Champion Bratwurst Maker, member of the American Association of Meat Processors' Cured Meat Hall of Fame, and Grand Champion for Meat Snack Foods in Wisconsin, just to name a few.

As Randy presented intriguing facts about sausage history to the Culinary Historians, scents of his market treats wafted through the room. Randy explained that in the early days, sausages were named after the towns in which they were made: salamis in Salamis, Frankfurters in Frankfurt, vieners in Vienna and bologna in Bologna. At that time, and still today, most ethnic differences in sausage show up in spice variations across different recipes, such as the characteristic sharpness of Italian sausage studded with pepper and fennel. Germans, with their superior trade routes, built a reputation as the best sausage makers due to both their spicing techniques and their cooking methods. It was the German's who discovered how to convert nitrate to nitrite, thereby speeding up the meat curing process, and the precise tip-blade speed to make a proper emulsion for sausage filling.

As the nearly 50 types of sausage listed on Randy's product handout attest, there are many different types of sausage. As he explained, there are fresh sausages -- basically a mixture of ground meat, salt and seasonings -- cooked sausages, smoked sausages (which are usually smoked then cooked), and semi-dry and dry sausages (fermented).

In the "old days," said Randy, the bacteria in a meat plant was an important part of quality sausage making. Old sausage was actually often saved to "feed" new sausage. These days Randy admits that it's hard to get away from additives and preservatives altogether because of the way we shop today -- we just don't shop everyday so we require some level of longevity in our meat purchases.

Yet Randy still holds onto the old fashioned, honest way of making sausage while incorporating necessary, modern day additions and efficiency changes. Randy's cure excellerator speeds along the production process without compromising quality. He explained, "We use a small amount which makes the meat convert quicker." (just a 1/2 oz per 100 pounds of meat).

Randy didn't hesitate when asked about the future of the sausage market in the face of recent health concerns. He just throws out the sausage version of his "only eat ice cream for dessert" advice -- "If you want to save 20% of the fat, I suggest you chop off a third of your hotdog and throw it away and have two thirds of a really good hotdog. You might as well die with a smile on your face!" Randy also recommends enjoying something delicious and "real" before buying a mass-produced supermarket sausage from a huge company. "These giants aren't going out of business and interestingly consumers are demanding less and less from them."

And as Randy showed the Culinary Historians slides of his production process, the science of sausage making was immediately apparent. "I know ten ways to make sausages and about a 1,000 ways not to," Randy attests. Large vats have to be filled with specific ratios of meat protein, fat and water to create a perfect matrix. Water is added in the form of Ice so that the heat of the mixing blades doesn't break down this matrix. With one piece of machinery costing upwards of $45,000, this isn't an undertaking for a sausage novice. Referring to the expensive sausage mixer, Randy jokes, "And it only cost me about $90,000 to learn how to use it!"

With the spread of big business, we're lucky to have artisans like Randy who still believe in making food products the old-fashioned way. And although Randy admits, "I'm getting smarter as this goes on," citing ways in which he has improved and sped up the traditional sausage making procedures, he still maintains a commitment to taste and natural products. When asked how he would dress his perfect hotdog, Randy jokes, "First, I'd suggest only Reams hotdogs!" and then continues, "I eat it right out of the smoke house, pop it out and eat it right there." So pretend you're on vacation and heed the market's advice, "On busy days, please take a number." Take the drive and you too will by exclaiming, "let there be sausage!"