summer of

We've been fermenting a lot. There is always one or two jars of something fermenting in the dining room, and garlic sauerkraut is my favorite. This is the easiest thing to do in the world. All you have to do is chop up some cabbage, massage in some salt, mix in some garlic cloves or maybe a chili pepper or something, and let it sit for two week or more. Maybe just a week if you're impatient. 

Sauerkraut

This is a basic recipe, you can add whatever you like. A few carrots, some garlic, ginger, mustard seed, pepper corns, any spices or onions or things you like. My favorite thing to do is to cook kielbasa in a pot full of garlicky sauerkraut with a tiny bit of stock. Yum. 

1 head of cabbage, or two, or three

about a tablespoon of salt per head of cabbage

a head of garlic

maybe an onion if you're feeling like it

Shred the cabbage. I use my Vitamix, Alex does it with a knife, you could use a food processor also. Massage in the salt, squeezing and loving until the cabbage starts to release its juices. Toss in the garlic and anything else and pack into a jar. Now is the creative part! What needs to happen is the cabbage needs to be weighed down somehow. What we usually do is fill up a large gallon bag with water and smoosh it into the jar so there's no air (or good places for bugs to get in). Now you can set your jar somewhere slightly cool to do its thing! Taste it in a week or so and see if its ready. Or leave it alone for a long time. Store in the fridge, I guess.