Fresh Sauerkraut

Kelley Smith had a dream the other night that she was at her Grandma's house. She was teaching her to make homemade sauerkraut. They were standing in her front yard of her little house. Underneath the branches of the huge shade tree, they shredded cabbage into big aluminum dish pans. In her dream she could feel a cool summertime breeze brush across her shoulder and she could hear the drone of a tractor engine in the distance. An occasional tweet of a bird joined in the symphony of dreamy sounds along with the slow crunch of the cabbage as her Grandma and she chopped away. It was so real it makes her cry just thinking about it. How she wish it hadn't been a dream. She miss her Grandma.

She remember one summer they were eating at "The Provision Company" in Southport, NC. This was before she developed a deadly seafood allergy. She was having a crab burger and her husband was having a fresh flounder sandwich. No words for the goodness. It was one of those food experiences where you loose yourself in the flavor. Your eyes may temporarily roll back in your head and you must be careful not to make inappropriate sounds of pleasure at the table. Her husband asked the owner, "What makes this taste so good." The answer was simple. "That fish was swimming 30 minutes ago." Freshness.

One of her favorite times to eat as a kid was on a garden day, like one of those days she remembered in her dream. On those days vegetables were being harvested, prepared, canned or frozen. And on those nights, supper was no less than amazing. She remember a table full of sliced tomatoes, corn on the cob, slaw, fried squash, cucumbers in vinegar, purple hull peas and a big pan of cornbread. And except for the cornbread, most of it had been growing in the garden only a few hours ago.

In today's society, people have pulled away from the freshness of food for the trade off of convenience. Most moms would rather buy dinner in a bag than take a little time cooking from scratch. They'd rather cook it like "Uncle Ben" or "Betty Crocker" than like Grandma. But in trade for the convenience, we've seen more and more chemicals being introduced into our bodies on a daily basis through our lazy diets. Food allergy diagnosis have risen dramatically. Cancer is almost epidemic. Hormonal systems are all out of whack. And most sad of all..... Kids have no idea what real food tastes like anymore.

You may not have time to make fresh sauerkraut like her Grandma or garden like her mother, but you can take the time to visit a local Farmer's Market or fruit stand, participate in a CSA or just pick up some fresh veggies at the grocery store. Perhaps it's time at your house to introduce your family to some freshness. Show them what real food tastes like.

Sure, we can purchase sauerkraut at the store. But it will always be missing a few key ingredients. One of her favorite parts of the cabbage is the core or the stalk. Most folks leave that out of the sauerkraut, but her Grandma knew she love to crunch on those. So when she was eating from a jar of sauerkraut and found a big ol' stalk, she knew it had been placed there just for her. The other ingredient missing from store bought anything? Love.

cag ah