Almost Thanksgiving

Wow, how did that happen? Two weeks from today, we’ll be gorging ourselves on turkey and all the trimmings. My sister is hosting my family’s big meal, and, of course, we’ll bring various side dishes to help out. And being native Baltimoreans, we certainly will have a big bowl of sauerkraut on the table.

Locals know they can thank our city’s German immigrants for adding fermented cabbage to our turkey meal. But I appreciated my heritage even more after reading Martha Thomas’s story about our Baltimore food tradition recently in The Washington Post. Martha is a regular contributor to Baltimore magazine. I think you’ll find her story hits home, so to speak.

It also brought back memories of me trying to serve sauerkraut to Thanksgiving dinner guests in Ohio and Florida when I was living there. To say they were shocked is an understatement. But then the Ohioans thought it was weird we ate steamed crabs. And the Floridians had no clue about using Old Bay on seafood.

I’ve been making my grandmother’s recipe for years. It’s not fancy, but my family loves it. And it’s a way to honor Grandma, who died many years ago. I hope you enjoy it.

Grandma’s sauerkraut
1 small package refrigerated sauerkraut
1 pork chop
1 apple
I onion
2 tablespoons sugar
Place sauerkraut in a large pot. Cut pork chop into fourths. Peel apple; core, seed, and cut into quarters. Peel onion and quarter. Add pork chop, apple, and onion to the pot with sauerkraut. Add enough water to see it come through the sauerkraut (that’s such a grandma kind of direction). Bring to a boil. Add sugar and stir. Cover pot and simmer for two hours. Remove apple and pork chop before serving.
Note: Sorry! I have no idea how many it serves. We always have a big crowd for Thanksgiving dinner, and everyone seems to get enough.