We need some new food

For whatever reason I woke up the other night thinking about of all things sauerkraut. My dream was vivid enough I had half a notion to get up in the middle of the night and get a couple pints of sauerkraut out of the basement and dump it in Marge's old green crock pot. Get a package of dogs and add them, and breakfast would be ready when I woke up. Who knows the smell of sauerkraut might even have woken me up. Couple or three nights later, I made sausage dogs and sauerkraut for breakfast.

When we moved to Scott City, we were told about a restaurant up in Altenburg, Missouri, that served German food, and we were told it was mighty fine. I wasn't real sure what German food should taste like, so our friends hauled Marge and me to Altenburg. It was definitely different. There was a hint of vinegar in almost everything. Seems like the roast had a vinegar taste. Cabbage did, too. There was sauerkraut and dogs, but I guessed they were something like Polish sausages or kielbasa or something like this. Potato salad was different. Desserts were different. It was good enough for us to go back. Then it closed. That was a bummer.

It's been close to 20 years ago some friends of mine planned a trip to Moscow to work on a church over there, so I tagged along. I'd never flown on a big plane and never been out of the U.S. so in getting prepared to go to Moscow we tried to learn some Russian. I didn't. We even ate some of the common dishes in Russia in preparation. Now, these I liked. One I really liked was Borscht, which is a kind of soup made with beets. Mighty fine. Lots of crops like potatoes or cabbages or turnips or radishes and such over there.

But then I think my number one favorite vegie is Brussels sprouts. I think I could eat them 300 days out of the year, but, then, I love cabbage. I like cabbage soup, fried cabbage, baked cabbage, cole slaw, sauerkraut and on and on. Love cabbage. I like fried cabbage fried in butter and fried with a lot of onions. Season them with salt and pepper. Also like a 6- to 8-pound beef roast in a huge roaster with carrots, onions, potatoes, garlic and, of course, cabbage. Cook that until the roast is done, and make some gravy on the juice in the roaster. Now, that's living high on the hog. Several years ago, I sold a couple cabbages to an elderly lady who said she was going to make cabbage soup. She made me some, and I've got her recipe. Darn good. A friend of mine made sauerkraut soup a good while back. I've got to try that.

Now don't get me wrong, because I love Mexican and Chinese or Korean and fish place food or hamburger joint food or even pizza now and then (mostly then). But there comes a time when I'd like to walk into a restaurant and order fried green tomatoes, fried cabbage, mashed potatoes, brown gravy, Schnitzel or some roast or collards and hogback. Maybe even a piece of sweet potato pie. I'm not much of a bread person but maybe the heel off a loaf of sour dough bread like Marge bakes. Or maybe some crackling cornbread like Listle made.

A restaurant like this probably wouldn't make it. Probably not enough old timers around who would eat out enough to support one. Definitely not enough young people around who like this kind of food. Kind of sad really. We take canned whole tomatoes, add some bread, sugar or sweetener and salt and make breaded tomatoes. Or Marge slices up an eggplant and fries it in Andy's breading mix. Or fries up some turnips like you would potatoes.

Today's generation doesn't eat like mine. As time flies by, things have changed. Haircuts change. Clothes change. Even shoes change. Glasses have been replaced with contacts or surgery. Cars have changed for the worse. Homes have changed. Way too much skin shows. People have changed!

But one thing hasn't changed -- God's Word!