On Saturday, October 27, we gathered with a great crew to prepare an age-old Schmidt Family tradition - sauerkraut. We always help Grandpa Schmidt do the sauerkraut in his basement, but this year, we decided to try it out in Brighton instead. This enabled us to participate (Grandpa's basement isn't exactly kid-friendly)- and we'll be able to more easily help with the canning process, even after Baby Brother arrives. When we were first considering purchasing this home, we saw this room (which had been used as a wine cellar) and new it would be perfect for sauerkraut!
We had two guest sauerkraut makers join us this year - Nami (from Japan) and Moonhee (from Korea).
We started with a lot of cabbage, but the work went fairly quickly with our super crew.
Andy and Grandma peeled and cored the cabbage in preparation.
Next, Great-Grandpa Schmidt (who will be 94 in January) demonstrated how to use the special shredder. It was hand-made by his dad (Micah's Great-Great-Grandpa Schmidt!) many years before. Andy sharpened the blades up so they still worked well for our project.
Then Grandpa Schmidt gave lessons to Moonhee...
And Nami got a turn as well. The ladies were surprised by the amount of energy it requires to shred all the cabbage - which is why it's important to have a crew to take turns!
Next, a layer of the shredded cabbage is put into a crock and "stamped" down, along with a handful of kosher salt.
Great-Great Grandpa Schmidt also made the stamper that we used!
Micah couldn't be a whole lot of help with these steps, but he did enjoy hanging around and watching youtube toddler music videos.
After all the heads of cabbage were shredded, salted, and stamped down, we covered them up with boards and rocks to sit for the next couple of months. Can't wait for fresh sauerkraut!
Our hard-working crew needed some refreshment after all that cabbage. So we headed upstairs for an Amy vs Jacob chili cook-off. And dessert came in the form of birthday cake - shaped as two triangles, for our triangle loving two-year old!
Micah was pretty happy about celebrating again (he sure loves the Happy Birthday song!).
And his cousin Calla came with Aunt Heather as well.
Plus, Micah's godfather Uncle Josh and Aunt Jen stopped by for lunch and cake. They brought Micah a superhero cape, which Daddy has convinced him makes one run much faster! (They are continually racing through the house to "scientifically" prove this theory).
Micah and Calla even dressed up in their cow and kangaroo Halloween costumes for photos.
It was great fun to be able to celebrate with our special guests. Happy Birthday again, Micah!
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