expiration race.

My first question is, is there any way to make me stop posting? I think the problem is that I literally don't have anything else to do except wait for my passport. And obsess about things I might be forgetting. And about things in general.

But really: the apartment is ready for our houseguest. Our webstore is shut down. The fridges are cleanish. I'm packed for my flight. My tooth is stable (fingers crossed). Mentally, I left a couple of days ago. The only thing that is making me unclench are Cameo videos. And online Scrabble. This is no way to live.

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My second question is: when does sauerkraut really go bad? And what are the ramifications? Today I felt like chomping on something sort of healthy yet kind of manly, and as I was mentally searching the kitchen for Things That Needed Using, my mind lit upon an old bag of sauerkraut. Unfortunately, my mind didn't look at the expiration date before it and the rest of my body went to the store and bought some salmon to go along with the kraut. Not really a springtime dish, but...Things Needed Using.

I returned home with my fish. Looked at the kraut. It expired a month ago. Bah. I opened it, it stunk, as expected, but...that's what sauerkraut does, no? I rinsed it, no obvious out-of-place smells. I tasted it, tasted like sauerkraut, still firm, not, I don't know...gross and/or mushy? I don't know, what would the warning signs be? Etc etc etc. So I used it.

And! I'm pretty sure this was the best version of this I've ever put together, I was totally caught off-guard by its nonchalant delivery of complete satisfaction. And, know what else? I didn't use the Bayona recipe that started this whole thing.

I don't feel like writing a recipe right now though. So here are some hints to myself about what I did: of course always rinse your sauerkraut; slow cooking of onions and kraut; beer instead of wine; lots of black pepper, in fact, lots of caraway, thyme, and black pepper, and a little juniper; after onions and kraut done, saute salmon in not a little butter, salt, and black pepper; drizzle/smear two drops of high-quality liquid hickory smoke over each filet as a Bacon Emulator, place on top of kraut and onion mixture in the skillet, put in 200C oven for 10 minutes or however long is right. So much for not writing a recipe.

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