It had actually been a couple years since Scott and I had made the short trip to Ray's Butcher Shoppe, 4640 W. Loomis Rd., Greenfield, but since returning in mid July, we've been there nearly weekly.

If you haven't been to Ray's, check out its Web site at raysbutchershoppe.net, and you'll quickly be salivating (at least if you're a meat eater).

If you get what you pay for is any way, shape or form, a true cliche, it is true at Ray's. With eyes bigger than our stomachs, we've succeeded several times now in ordering two of whatever, because everything looks so fantastic, and there are two of us. But normally, one of just about anything here can easily feed both of us and another person.

Some of my tried and true favorites are the Delmonico rib eye (the night we ordered two of these, we walked away with 3.5 pounds of delectable steak. Oops.), both the Barcelona and garlic chicken breasts (one fills me for dinner and makes a fabulous chicken salad with the leftovers), and the smoked salmon in any flavor, which you will love even if you don't think you like smoked fish. Trust me on this one. Scott actually dreamt about the leftover smoked salmon when we brought home the rosemary butter version.

While I'm not usually a fan of pre-pattied burgers, the Ray's versions are excellent, and come in varieties like "with the works," and "bacon burger" -- you guessed it -- all the yummy bacon and everything else is ground right in with the beef. And if you're not feeling like burgers, they also have chicken, bratwurst and polish sausage patties. Yum.

Homemade sausages here, too, are a treat, and the hot Hungarian foot-long, homemade sausages are grand enough that any time my dad visits from out of town, he swings by to pick up a pound. Lastly, make sure you grab a pound of the beef jerky on your way out, but be careful -- you're going to be hooked.