Wunnerful, Wunnerful

I'm not sure where this came from but in regular rotation and pretty often, before the restaurant, back in the old house my mom would make sauerkraut and sausage with potatoes, beer brats and kraut! This was sort of unusual because she never made classic American stuff like fried chicken or mac & cheese or meatloaf, maybe the occasional burger. But come to think of it, we never missed a Lawrence Welk episode. I thought that might have something to do with the featured pretty young Mexican singer that my dad seemed to be extra interested in watching. But there were a lot of Amish people around that spoke German too, so who knows, maybe she traded a recipe or something.

I just read that 75% of Indiana claims a German heritage and I do remember most of my friends claiming to be half German and the rest was usually a 1/4 Irish or French. But when I was little I didn't understand any of that stuff, I just understood color of skin and there was only black, brown and white to choose from. And that's what you were. So when the french speaking black skinned Haitian boy with green eyes came to town, my world got spun. I think that was the first time I really understood there was a LOT more to understand about nationalities and race. Did that mean not all brown people were Mexican??...rut ro. I had some things to learn clearly.

So anyway, German fare was a big treat for me. She smothered it in black pepper but it was super good. I had a taste for this on Tuesday so I trudged it out in the slushy rainy mess with my trusty grocery cart determined to get my German on. It was a trek boy. I got stuck a few times and a nice lesbian came by that wasn't nice enough to help me get unstuck but she was nice enough to say 'good luck'. Then I finally reached the corner and there stood a three feet wide puddle that looked to be a mix of ice and deep water, so I had to turn it around and head up the other side to cross. It felt like miles, with the wind and the sleet but I finally made it home with my loot. Lots of ideas this week so I couldn't wait to get started.

The brats I would have simmered in beer beforehand but P didn't leave one so I just used water. When the water steamed off and the sausages were cooked through I added onions and sliced granny smith apples. Meanwhile I boiled the potatoes and then cut them up into big chunks. I threw in the kraut in its juices with the potatoes and meat and let everything come together and heat through. I added a good dose of black pepper and that was ready to serve. So hearty and good. If there is some left over I'll eat with pork chops. Good lord, someone turned up the knobs on my appetite this week. Must be the full moon.