Memories of My Grandparents, their Basement, Antique Ceramic Crocks and Sauerkraut
86Ah...memories!
Memories of my parents and grandparents making sauerkraut in my grandparent's basement each year in those large old ceramic crocks is embedded into my mind from my childhood days.
I can almost smell that freshly fermenting sauerkraut now as I am writing this numerous decades after the fact!
There is nothing quite like that smell which early on I grew to love.
Oh...and that wonderful fresh and crunchy sauerkraut taste when it is still raw...all I can say is that there is nothing quite like it for flavor.
If you have only tasted jarred or canned sauerkraut you have missed out on a unique flavor profile of cabbage when it is in this state of fermentation.
My maternal grandparents
Antique Crocks
|
Antique Stoneware Crock / Glazed / ORCHARD
Current Bid: $24.99
|
|
Small Antique Stoneware Crock w Iron Latch Dated 1892 Shaker Seeds
Current Bid: $58.00
|
|
Antique Vintage Stoneware Jug Crock in Excellent Condition
Current Bid: $5.99
|
|
RED WING CROCK 8 GALLON W/ BAIL HANDLES SMALL WING ANTIQUE
Current Bid: $149.99
|
|
RARE ANTIQUE 2 GALLON CROCK - GARDINER STONEWARE MANUFACTORY GARDINER, ME MAINE
Current Bid: $50.99
|
|
Antique 1-1/2 Gal Salt Glaze Storage Jar / Crock
Current Bid: $55.00
|
Fermented cabbage & carrots, sauerkraut recipe
As a hobby, my grandfather loved gardening .
He not only grew beautiful flowers, trees and tended his yard with loving care, but he always had a massive garden .
In fact, he had several gardens!
We grew up from my grandparents with a path between our houses in the field.
Later they sold the big house and purchased one next door to us.
It is in that house that I vividly remember the sauerkraut making days!
After harvesting his cabbages in the Fall of the year, my parents would help my grandparents clean and shred the cabbages and put them into some large crocks that they utilized each year for making sauerkraut.
As a child I was not privy to the actual ingredients nor the method as they often did this chore after my parents had my brothers and me tucked safely into our beds at night.
Oh but I remember the great smells emanating from my grandparent's basement each year as this cabbage slowly turned into sauerkraut.
We often got to sample the sauerkraut out of a crock as it was progressing in the fermentation process to determine when it was just right .
It could be kept that way for quite some time as the basements were cool, but at some point the sauerkraut was then canned where it could safely be kept for a much longer period of time.
As I have come to find out, the process is not all that difficult to make sauerkraut if one has the freshly harvested cabbages, a few key ingredients and the right equipment.
Making Homemade Sauerkraut
Antique crocks
 | Amazon Price: $47.95 List Price: $19.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $24.95 |
 | Amazon Price: $39.99 List Price: $28.00 |
ceramic crocks
 | Amazon Price: $23.23 List Price: $49.95 |
 | Amazon Price: $19.95 |
 | Amazon Price: $25.90 List Price: $20.99 |
My grandparents were both of German descent and often made German food dishes.
With German culture as a backdrop and a vegetable garden at the ready to provide nutritious ingredients, there was always something flavorful being made in my grandmother's and also my mother's kitchen.
Pork roasts with brown gravy, homemade applesauce, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes was a favorite meal. Of course there was the fresh garden salad to accompany the meal and some type of homemade dessert.
Desserts were big in the Mid-West where I grew up. A meal was not considered complete without some type of sweet ending.
German bratwurst on the grill was another good pairing for the sauerkraut.
We did not just eat the unadorned sauerkraut out of the canning jars.
My mother always grated some potato or even apple into the sauerkraut after rinsing it from the brine and most often added caraway seeds. The apple gave it a little hint of sweetness to offset the acidity. That is how I still cook sauerkraut to this day.
She also made a wonderful red cabbage recipe...but that is off topic except to say that it relates to cabbage.
My mother and grandmother were both excellent cooks!
Sauerkraut...delicious sounding recipe!
- Sauerkraut and Nutritional Therapy
Sauerkraut offers remarkable health benefits. The fibre and lactic acid bacteria improve digestion and promote the growth of healthy bowel flora, protecting against many diseases of the digestive tract - Sold on Sauerkraut?
- http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=1289433
Health benefits of sauerkraut
Do you eat sauerkraut?
See results without votingCeramic Crocks
|
Ceramic Canister Cookie Jar Crock with Copper Lid and Ceramic Handle - Portugal
Current Bid: $12.00
|
|
CERAMIC CROCK Pottery by Pfaltzgraff Country Collections
Current Bid: $5.99
|
|
VINTAGE STONEWARE CROCK 1 SUNBURST CERAMICS ALBERTA CANADA
Current Bid: $32.99
|
Health benefits of Sauerkraut
In the "olden days" sailors used to carry sauerkraut aboard their ships to avoid getting scurvy.
Fresh fruits containing Vitamin C would have been harder to keep for extended time periods, whereas the sauerkraut maintained a high level of that all important vitamin.
I caught an episode of Doctor Oz on the television set the other day and he was quizzing a couple of ladies as to whether they thought raw cabbage or sauerkraut had more health benefits. Both ladies chose the raw cabbage, and while that is excellent for nutrition...their answers were wrong.
In addition to fiber, vitamins, and a small amount of iron sauerkraut has ingredients called isothiocyanates and sulphoraphanes that serve to fight against developing cancer.
The raw fermented sauerkraut that I used to love eating has even more of those healthy assets! In fact many of the specific health benefits are negated if pasteurized and canned...so look for fresh unpasteurized sauerkraut in refrigerated sections of grocery stores for the best health benefits.
To top it off, sauerkraut helps boost the immune system and is low in calories, about 32 calories a cup.
Be sure and rinse it prior to eating as the sodium content is high and can be lessened by this important step.
Are you ready to start eating more sauerkraut armed with this information?
Raw sauerkraut: a fermented, probiotic superfood
Would you like to see your writings published online and perhaps make some additional money? There is no cost to join Hubpages. Click here and start writing today!
Memories of the past...
The collectible or antique ceramic crocks have all been passed on to others at this point but my memories of my parents and grandparents making that delicious sauerkraut in their basement persists. Do you have similar memories? Did your parents or grandparents make sauerkraut and did you grow up eating that very healthy food?
Even a pretty Sauerkraut Hymn! (Sung in German)
Recipes from my grandmother...
- Treasured Old Timey Sweet Recipes from my Grandma's Past
A little history with photos of the people who shared favorite recipes with my grandmother on this well worn journal with food spattered hand-written pages. Enjoy the recipes! - More Great Old Timey Sweet Recipes from my Grandmother's Journal
From recipes written on examination blanks to cookies called Rocks, see photos and get five more old timey recipes here. All taste tested!
- German Turnverein Club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin & my great-grandparents
The Turn Verein Club in which my great-grandparents were members many years ago in Milwaukee, Wisconsin had it's origins in Germany.
- My Grandmother's Antique Prayer Book
Finding my dear grandmother's antique prayer book recently brought back all kinds of warm remembrances of her.
- Good Old Days of Growing Up in the 1950s
See photos and learn what Wisconsin country life was like for my family in the 1950's. - Pictures of Farming in North Dakota in the early 1900's
- My grandmother and the saying "Idle hands are the devil's workshop."
vote upvote downshareprintflag
- Useful (7)
- Funny (1)
- Awesome (8)
- Beautiful (6)
- Interesting
CommentsLoading...
Reading all the comments brought back memories of going to the smoke house where grandmother had a 40 gallon wooden barrel full Of crout we ate crout almost ever meal!
Hi Thelma Alberts,
One of my favorite ways to eat sauerkraut is with a good old fashioned pork roast baked with onions and caraway seeds...and of course, mashed potatoes to go along with it. I "doctor up" canned sauerkraut by grating apples into it for a little sweetness and also add caraway seeds. Glad you liked this hub about my grandparents (and parents) making homemade sauerkraut. Thanks for your comment.
Hi! I love eating sauerkraut with bratwurst,potatoes and brown gravy. It´s my favorite of all the German food although the sauerkraut comes from a can. As a change I cooked sauerkraut with Kassler, another preserve German pork meat. It´s delicious! Great hub and thanks for sharing.
Hello chuckandus6,
I agree. I cherish these memories of my grandparents even doing mundane things like making sauerkraut. Thanks for the visit and comment.
memories are a wonderful way of keeping those we love close in our heart great story
Hi Tony,
The taste of homemade sauerkraut...especially when it is still partially fermented and still quite crunchy is a taste that cannot be replicated once it is canned and jarred. It is delicious! It was many years ago...actually most of my lifetime...when my parents and grandparents made sauerkraut in my grandparent's basement each year. Those days ended when we moved to Texas from Wisconsin and no longer had the huge gardens.
Thanks for finding this hub. Thought that you would be interested since you also wrote a hub about sauerkraut.
Love and peace to you! Absolutely loved the hub you did about your memories of growing up in South Africa!
I love cabbage and sauerkraut too! Don't believe I've ever had homemade sauerkraut, though. Wish I had.
Thanks for sharing these wonderful memories.
Love and peace
Tony
Hello smarty2pop,
You are correct. Memories of my grandparents, their basement and those ceramic crocks filled with freshly made sauerkraut are firmly embedded. Too bad your try at making sauerkraut was not as successful. Thanks for the comment.
I love homemade sauerkraut, I tried it myself but wasn't very successful. It's always nice to read about family traditions and I'm sure this one will stay in your mind forever. What nice memories.
Hi Cheryl,
My grandparents and parents did work hard at harvesting all those wonderful foods from my grandfather's huge gardens. My mother told me that often my grandmother and mother working together would have just finished canning or working with one batch of vegetables when my grandmother would spot my grandfather coming in with another wheelbarrow full of produce. "Oh, oh...here he comes again!" I can still hear in my memory my mother relating that to me. The sauerkraut is such a vivid memory because of the distinctive smells emanating from the basement AND the delicious flavor! Thanks for commenting.
Lots of childhood memories. We ate sauerkraut in our family. It was very delicious. I admire your granparents for all the love and hard work they put into making this great food. Great videos and illustrations.
Hello minutecreature,
Glad that this hub about my grandparents, their basement, ceramic crocks and sauerkraut brought back happy memories of your grandfather helping you with your homework. Amazing how memories can be generated! Thanks for the comment.
Hi Rose,
Pork roast, apple, sauerkraut and caraway...yum! Making me hungry for that meal. We always had mashed potatoes to go with it and a salad. It is in the low 80's today and will be at least 80 degrees F. tomorrow for Thanksgiving but then the temperatures will get colder after that as a cold front moves through. Time to make something like this! Thanks for coming back and answering that question.
Hi, I like your post because I quickly remember the memories we spent with my grandfather who always helped me do my school homeworks.
Yes, I believe she does add a little caraway. It's a great dish for cold nights!
Hello Rose,
Oh yes...sauerkraut, the homemade kind, tastes ever so much better when freshly made. I relish the memories and can almost smell that sauerkraut in my grandparent's basement fermenting in those large old ceramic crocks that they had. Your mom's recipe is the perfect combination! Does she also use caraway seed with her pork roast and sauerkraut?
I've never even thought about making sauerkraut at home - must taste even better than store-bought! My mom makes a pork roast with apples and sauerkraut in the crockpot - so yummy :)
Hi Hello, hello,
I thought that you would like this hub about my memories of my grandparents, the crocks in the basement and sauerkraut being made! Isn't that fresh sauerkraut taste wonderful! Thanks for the comment.
Oh this hub is right up my street. It brought back all the memories. Sauerkraut is lovely. I can taste it right now. Thank you for a wonderful hub.
Hello agusfanani,
Thanks for the visit to this memory hub concerning my grandparents, and their basement filled with the lovely scents of sauerkraut being prepared in those ceramic crocks. Let me know if you try it and like it. Thanks!
Hello Sally's Trove,
So happy to hear that this hub about my memories of my grandparents, parents, and the sauerkraut crocks in my grandparent's basement brought back happy memories and smells for you as well. Also, thanks for the votes up.
I like pickle very much but I've never tried sauerkraut ( or I may have tried it but didn't realize its name). Considering its benefits I think I should make and try it.
I'm always amazed by your hubs, they are all beautiful and useful ! Thank you.
What a fun video, the song about sauerkraut. I don't understand the words, but the melody and rhythm are just as robust as the dish. That was fun!
Thanks for sharing these memories, Peggy. My family is Polish, and so much of the foods are the same. My grandmother and mother, both excellent cooks, fill my memories with hearty dishes from the bounty of the earth. Cabbage, capusta, was and is almost central to their cooking. I could smell my grandmother's kitchen while reading your words.
Voted up and awesome.
Hi Ethel,
No, sauerkraut tastes different from pickled red cabbage. You'll have to give sauerkraut a try if you like the pickled red cabbage. And the fresh sauerkraut tastes different from the canned. Guess the only way for you to know is to try them. Let me know what you think if you do. Thanks!
Does suaerkraut taste like pickled red cabbage?
Hello samsons1,
Thanks for the comment on this hub about memories, my grandparents basement and sauerkraut crocks. Amazing what comes to mind from the days of our youth!
Hello Micky,
I like cabbage also in addition to that being made into sauerkraut. My mother used to make a red cabbage recipe out of Mader's cookbook (a wonderful German restaurant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) that I thought was the best I have ever eaten. I have the cookbook so will have to make it sometime now that she is gone. Getting through this first set of holidays without her...not looking forward to it!
Hello Pamela,
Sounds like your grandmother and the other women on the porch who were cutting the cabbage to make sauerkraut had some fun. They probably visited the entire time that they were working. Do you remember eating the raw sauerkraut? My grandparents entire basement took on the smell of sauerkraut during that time when it was being made. As a kid I was fascinated and learned to love sauerkraut...especially at that stage of being freshly made.
up and beautiful! Well written, enjoyed the videos also, Now I need to write one...
Hello dahoglund,
We like bratwurst a couple of times a year. When we lived in Wisconsin we learned about grilling them and then putting them in a mixture of beer and sauteed onions. That way they can be kept warm and readied for picnics whenever anyone wishes to eat. That was new to us but tasty.
As to the sauerkraut, that was enjoyed year round accompanying many different meals.
My mother recalled her Dad making root beer in the basement and having it explode like happened to your Dad. I guess it only happened once or twice but surely made an impression. Haha! Thanks for the first comment.
I love cabbage in every way. I love Korean kimchee too. I would love this sauerkraut! Thank you Dear Peggy!
Peggy, I really enjoyed this hub. When I was a little girl I remember a few women, including my grandmother, getting together on the porch and cutting cabbage for sauerkraut all day long. I hadn't thought of that in years. German food is delicious. Awesome hub, rated up!
My wife whose grandparents came from what is now Hungary is more attuned to German foods than I am. I take sauerkraut in small doses with hot dogs. I never saw quite the obsession with brats as there is in Wisconsin. Most of them have too much fat and I don't need to add to my cholesterol, mostly I don't like the taste of things high in fat.
The closest I can recall to your grandparents making sauerkraut was my dad making homemade rootbeer. He made the mistake of putting it in canning jars and when it fermented the jars exploded.
Peggy W Hub Author 2 months ago
Hello C.d. Fojtik,
Wow...40 gallons of sauerkraut! No wonder it was eaten often. So wonderful when made fresh like that. So glad that reading this brought back memories for you and I appreciate your comment. Thanks!