Making Sauerkraut the Lazy Way

Isn't my new dinning room table centerpiece lovely?  And what you can't discern from this photo is that it has a pungent aroma too.  Not quite the same as a bouquet of flowers, but similar in essence.  I feel bad that you aren't getting to experience it fully. 

Peel back the snazzy pillow case wrapping, and what you find is giant wine bottle full of water weighing down a plate in a crock of homemade sauerkraut.  Ta -da!   

Give this stuff a stir and the krauty aroma will greet visitors at the front door.  I could tell it was getting ready to eat when my normally well behaved cat kept trying to get on the table to investigate the centerpiece.  This is an indicator that wasn't mentioned in any of my research on kraut making.  And let me warn you, if you have never researched making sauerkraut on the interweb, and think you might give it a google, be prepared to meet some serious kraut fans.  There's a whole world out there with folks getting funky with their vegge.  I went so far down the rabbit hole that I now own books about fermenting vegetables.  I'm not sure how it happened really, but it's always a danger when learning about foods with a fan base that I get caught up in the mania and find myself admiring a pot of old cabbage on my table.      

And despite all my research about various technique, and my admiration of all the lovely and diverse jars of multicolored fermented vegetables that I've viewed on-line, my experience has been to just chop up some cabbage, mix in some salt, and let it do it's thing.  I'm even too lazy to store it, so we just eat it up.  The kraut fans insist that it's healthiest when eaten without cooking, which suits my lazy kraut style just fine.  Last night I dished up the bowls in the photo for an evening snack.  Brandon was super excited, as you can imagine.  He did give the complement that it's tastes better than it smells, which it truly does.  I am learning to like the smell too though, which could be problem if I continue to experiment with fermented foods.  There's plenty of room on the table for more crocks!