The Search for Sauerkraut

Happy New Year!  I hope your first day of the year was everything you hoped it to be.  Ours was glorious.  For almost the first time throughout my two week break, we slept in - or rather I should say, I slept in.  The kids have had no trouble with this on any day!  Of course, not going to bed until after 2 am from our movie-fest probably helped keep my head on the pillow longer than normal.

I treated the family to a big breakfast, to which I got a "9.5" from Tina and "best meal I've had all year" from joker boy, Noah.  We decided to eat in the living room and finish the one movie we couldn't hold out for from the night before.

The rest of the day was a lovely lazy, complete with an afternoon nap.  While we were snoozing, the kids braved the wind to play outside awhile.  When I awoke, I realized it was nearing dinnertime and that I was running behind on loading the crockpots.  Dumping in the ham and black-eyed peas, I turned to the main course.  Layering in the brats, I opened the cabinet for the only version of cabbage my family will eat - sauerkraut.  To my dismay, the pantry was empty!

Having taken the plunge and purchased a "new" car for 2012, of all years, we needed to ingest our fair share of cabbage!  Stirring Tim from his nap, I nudged him out the door to the store with a small list. Minutes later, as expected, he called me.  "Where's the sauerkraut?"

Navigating him through the aisles by memory, he landed in canned foods.  "Beans, corn, mixed vegetables, green beans.....I don't see it," he said.  I instructed him to stand in between the green beans and corn and focus on that section.  "Look on every shelf.  There's some in a jar and some canned."  Promising he'd find it, he hung up.  I continued cooking.

Answering my ringing phone a bit later, he responds chuckling.  "Want to hear something funny?" he asks.  Not sure where he was heading I asked what.  "There's no sauerkraut anywhere."  Knowing my typical male husband and how one glance often results in a "I can't find it" reaction, I prodded.  I visually listed the shelves again, but he sadly informed me the spots were bare.  "There's no sauerkraut in this store," he said.

"Go to the hot dogs," I quickly remembered.  Puzzled, he strolled to the other end.  Instructing him to look for a bag instead of a can we said our goodbyes again.  Determined to have this necessary new year's side, I left him with the words, "Ask somebody.  Maybe they have more in the stock room.  Don't leave the store without some." 

Thankfully, he found one remaining bag.  Thousands of items in the store but only one bag of sauerkraut.  I'll take it!  After he arrived home, I happily added it in the simmering pot as the familiar pungent scent wafted through the kitchen.  By this time, the tiny vultures were circling, as aromas called them out of their rooms.  Tina had lots of questions, not ever having a traditional New Year's feast.  Noah made his annual comment, complete with snarled nose, about not needing health and eating those disgusting beans.  Tim agreed.  Tina decided she could care less about the wealth, as sauerkraut was not something she could stomach.  In the end, I managed to get everyone to nibble a bit of both.

We ended the evening with one of our favorite Christmas movies we never got around to watching, "Home Alone."  Bellies full of laughter, black-eyed peas, and cabbage, er, sauerkraut, I'd say it was a memorable first night of 2012!