Sunday Post: Making Memories

Posted on by BonnieReadsAndWrites

Thank you to The Caffeinated Book Reviewer for hosting Sunday Post.

I spent yesterday making sauerkraut, which also involved finding organic cabbage fresh enough to work with. I finally found some at Fresh Market. Our family’s sauerkraut recipe goes back 100 years or more to my mountain ancestors, who grew cabbage in the summer and fermented it in the fall so it would last all winter. When my Mom taught me to make it, she said to always go by the Farmer’s Almanac, which tells you the best times to make fermented sauerkraut. She said if you make it certain times of the month, it just won’t turn out. That has held true, and I don’t know why, but yesterday was listed by the Farmer’s Alamanac as one of the best days to make sauerkraut, so that’s when I did it.

The FDA will advise you these days not to ferment sauerkraut in the jars, but to use crocks. Since my family’s been eating kraut made this way for my lifetime and beyond, I am not going to change it. It’s a personal choice.

Back in October 2019, my Mom showed a few of us how to make sauerkraut. It was probably the third time she showed me, but this time it stuck. She passed away in March 2020.

The pictures above are my Mom and Dad, Harold Zinser and Dorothy Jenkins Zinser, my Mom making sauerkraut in October 2019, my Mom in her beloved garden, and my Mom when she was only 16, growing up in Bryson City, NC.

Below is the batch of sauerkraut I made yesterday. It will have to ferment 6 - 8 weeks before we can eat it. The little flecks you see are red pepper flakes, which are part of what makes this taste so good.

LAST WEEK ON BONNIE READS AND WRITES

On Monday I reviewed The Foxhole Victory Tour by Amy Lynn Green. On Tuesday I reviewed The Wharton Plot by Mariah Fredericks. On Thursday I reviewed Everyone Who Can Forgive Me is Dead by Jenny Hollander. On Friday I participated in Book Blogger Hop and answered the question: When is the Last Time You Read a Book in One Sitting?

NEXT WEEK ON BONNIE READS AND WRITES

I plan to review The Fortune Seller, and The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard, and I’m still in the planning stages for the rest of the week. 

BOOK HAUL

I picked up three books this week. Click on the cover to learn more about each one.

I hope you have a wonderful week! Tell me about your special family recipes that you are keeping alive.

Published by BonnieReadsAndWrites

I love to read and write book reviews in my free time. I review advance review copies of books on Netgalley for various publishers. I am also a reviewer for Historical Novels Review Magazine, the magazine of the Historical Novel Society. I review books from publishers of all size, large to small. I have a special place in my heart for indie authors. I will sometimes post a little writing that I might dabble in occasionally. I also am lucky enough to live in the Smoky Mountains, so I'll be sharing photos of the beauty around me from time to time.

23 thoughts on “Sunday Post: Making Memories”

    1. My Dad’s side is German, so lots of sauerkraut there, and my Mom’s side has been in the North Carolina Mountains since at least the 1700s, and a lot of sauerkraut is eaten there too. My good friend author Gail Meath is Polish, and she’s shared her recipe for Pierogis with sauerkraut and onions, so I’m anxious to try those.

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  6. Oh, I love this, Bonnie! What a precious story! Grandpa Clabe Wilson made sauerkraut, using a crock with a board cut to fit on top which was weighted with something. I didn’t grow up eating sauerkraut, probably because my half-German dad didn’t care for it, but I sure like it now, even cold! They offer the “real stuff” at the health food store.

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  7. I was raised on sauerkraut! We made ours in big crocks. I still make my mom and grandma’s perogies and case kuchen. They are probably the same recipes great-grandmother used as well. Enjoy!

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  11. Oh wow, thank you so much for sharing a little of your and your mother’s story with us. Legacy recipes are the best, and I’m all for doing it the way you’ve been doing it for years! If it works, don’t mess with it!

    I hope you have a wonderful week ahead! Enjoy all that sauerkraut! I bet it’s delicious!

    Haze @ The Book Haze
    https://thebookhaze.com/

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