3 heads cabbage, chopped
3-4 tbsp. pickling salt
1 carrot, slivered
Caraway seeds
Mash cabbage with mall, not too hard. Layer in crock with salt, carrots and caraway seeds. Cover with plastic wrap. Put a plate on top and push down until water covers the top of the cabbage. Add a brick or rock to hold plate down. Put in cool dark place for at least 2 weeks. Can.
[Make kraut when the moon is growing old, and signs should be in the arms or the upper torso, in the head is the best. Never can kraut when the signs are in the bowels, feet, heart, secrets, or the rains.]
Wow, that sounds pretty easy. I know my grandmother used to make her own kraut, but I don’t remember ever watching her actually make it. I don’t know why I never tried to do it myself before. I have a lot of German ancestry, so sauerkraut is something I have eaten and loved all my life and it should have been something I learned how to do growing up. I guess my mom never made it because my grandmother always gave us some of hers, so I never learned how to make it myself. I do remember her homemade kraut tasted far better than the stuff you buy in the grocery store, but I guess I always assumed it was something that was really complicated to make.
I love the quote you included in your post. I can just imagine that being said in some old cookbook! I remember as a child my German great grandfather got his hair cuts when the moon was at a certain phase, but I don’t remember exactly why or exactly what the phase of the moon was when he got his hair cut.
We are getting ready to start moving to a new residence in the middle of November just before Thanksgiving, so I will probably wait until after the move to make it. I know I have an old crock somewhere in one of the storage rooms here, so I will make sure to remember where it gets packed so I can get a batch started after the move. We can buy cabbage pretty much year round here, so I should be able to make it any time I want some as long as the moon is growing old! LOL!