Reindeer sausage is red-hot Alaskan gift

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Bob Hicks is taking a uniquely Alaskan gift to a Christmas party in New York City: hot and mild sausages made with reindeer meat.

"I'll tell them it's Rudolph," Hicks, a retired lawyer who moved to Alaska in 1971 from the Boston area, said with a devilish grin inside the bustling Alaska Sausage and Seafood shop. Behind the counter, workers hustled to fill holiday orders, including the ever-popular all-reindeer package.

Across Alaska, restaurants offer reindeer sausage all year round, and street vendors hawk sizzling reindeer hot dogs during the summer and during the start of the Iditarod dogsled race in March. And the delicious irony of it all is not lost on locals over the Christmas holidays.

At Indian Valley Meats near Anchorage, reindeer sausage and jerky are a big hit in gift baskets snapped up by locals to send to relatives outside the state. Shop owner Cathy Drum said she has heard her share of jokes about Santa's favorite red-nosed reindeer as customers help themselves to the free samples.