Making Sauerkraut

On Wednesday, I hiked the pinnacles with my sister and three of her co-workers. It was nice weather for hiking and we did a lot more exploring than I usually do...we went to the lookout as well as buzzard's roost and did a little rock climbing. A buzzard landed about 10 feet away from me, but unfortunately I didn't have a camera with me at the time. I plan to go back again soon with Captain Something Fun and hopefully a few more of the Twenty Somethings if they are able. 

The view from the lookout.

In other news, I made sauerkraut with my dad tonight. I have made it once before, but this time I did more of the work than I usually do. I was mainly in charge of cleaning off the cabbage heads and shredding up the cabbage. Cleaning the cabbage heads involved peeling off the outer layers to remove the dirt and any worms or slugs that may have been eating on the cabbage. My dad says that the white part of the cabbage is best for sauerkraut, so I peeled off most of the darker green leaves. It seems wasteful, but we gave the unused parts to a man who planned to feed them to his horses so I didn't feel so bad about it. Below are a few photos of the process:

The cabbage head before shredding.

My dad built the tool that we used to shred the cabbage using saw blades and wood. You can see it sitting on top of the crock. You have to be very careful using this, since it is quite possible to lose a finger if you aren't paying attention. I preferred to use the knife to chop up the pieces that were too small to shred, while my dad shredded the cabbage. The knife is also very sharp but I have quite a bit more experience with knives, so I wasn't too worried about getting cut. The crock that we used holds up to 10 gallons and is over 100 years old. It is a family heirloom and is extremely heavy when filled with sauerkraut, I might add.

My dad mixing up salt with the cabbage.

 Making kraut is actually pretty easy. All we did was shred the cabbage and mix it with salt. The salt draws the water out of the cabbage and helps to preserve it so it doesn't mold. You want there to be enough water to completely cover the cabbage (You may add water if you need to, but there should not be a need for it if you add enough salt). You cover the crock and let it ferment for about 7 days, storing it in a cool place. Then, we put it in gallon bags and freeze them. My dad commented that this may not follow USDA regulations, but that this is the way he has always done it and no one has ever gotten sick. In other words, if you try this at home using our method then you are doing it at your own risk. I would also not recommend doing this with small children around, as it could be very dangerous.

We made the kraut at a friends house who has made interesting changes to his garage since the last time I was there. The pictures below are simply for your entertainment only. My dad's friend made this porch swing and hung it up in his garage:

I have never seen a porch swing hanging up anywhere other than a porch before, so I thought it warranted a photo! He also has a vending machine in his garage that was a little different than other vending machines I have seen before...

I don't drink beer, but found this kind of hilarious, and a little inspiring. I never knew that you can program the machine to charge any amount that you wanted (in this case, 5 cents). I had also never thought about putting different drinks inside the machine.  They were out of Dr. Pepper, so I had a Coke instead, which is what I usually drink anyways.  Technically, it was free since there was a change jar next to the machine full of nickels. Now I want a vending machine! Haha!

Until next time, 

-Miss Ellaneous