I grew up in a typical working class, New York City Italian-American family. Food was THE constant big topic of discussion. Grocery shopping was a family affair. Pursuing the "good stuff" at the farmer's markets, delicatessens, and supermarkets was a competitive sport. My parents would haggle with fruit vendors and fish mongers. My father would berate the butcher when the cut of pork was too thin or too fatty. It was mandatory for meat to be the centerpiece of every meal, morning, noon, and night. My mom was an adventurous peasant cook. She made amazing dishes on a limited budget. Organ meats from all sorts of animals regularly made their dinner time appearance. Some of these preparations were not met with glee by my sisters & me. (I won't go into vivid detail about bread-crumbed fried lamb brains). But 95% of the time mom hit a home run with both the mundane and the exotic. Pig trotters in aspic one night, hamburger & noodle casserole the next.

As I grow older, I've noticed that I'm eating less & less meat. Not really by conscious thought or planning. It's as though I just lost interest. The thought of having steak for dinner doesn't fill me with hungry anticipation, even when dining out in our Sonoma County restaurants which I do at least 7 meals per week. Lately, I'll choose a meat dish only if the preparation seems really interesting. The growing economic expense isn't a real factor for my waning interest. Neither do I harbor any lingering shame over the necessary animal slaughter to feed us all. It's just meat isn't that tasty anymore.

Have my tastebuds gone bad? Probably not. My tongue is more trained and sensitive to the nuances of fish, local fresh vegetables, premium wines, exotic spices, even gourmet bubbly water. So that rules out "flavor senility" because of advancing age. And then a small epiphany happened really recently - Like last week. Here's what happened:

I've been passing the gated entrance to BUD'S Custom Meats (7750 Petaluma Hill Rd, Penngrove, CA 94951 Telephone: (707) 795-8402) for the past 20 plus years. The small sign has always intrigued me but I never visited. I figured this was a country butcher that would require that I purchase at least half a cow to fill a freezer with a lifetime supply of meat. Boy was I wrong!

Drive down the winding 1/4 mile entrance road to the small building with the Traeger meat smoker units for sale on the front porch. Step inside. The small sales area has just 1 glass front double door refrigerator and 2 freezers. And inside you find Meaty Paradise. Look: Here's cuts of prime, organic pasture fed beef. Next to the ground buffalo, Ostrich steaks, Elk steaks, cuts of pork, just a couple of wonderfully fat clean ducks. Ooooo there's the beef brisket, the object of my quest. I selected a 5 pound slab, it cost just $3.49 per pound. I also purchased a few small packages of various other meats. Prices for the top shelf quality, locally farm raised and butchered on-site meats are lower than COSTCO.

The next day four people came over to my place for dinner. We made the brisket. Everyone at the table is a well traveled, middle -(ahem)- aged fellow foodie. After happily gorging ourselves for 45 minutes we all agreed that this was the best beef brisket that we've ever eaten.