As I write, it is thundering and lighting.  The kind of storm we haven't seen since June.  It is so cozy in here with squash and porkchops in the oven.  September evenings growing up in North Dakota seemed so crisp with leaves everywhere.  Juicy red apples in boxes sat in our back room, jars of glistening peaches lined the canning room shelves.  They're just getting ready to celebrate Sauerkraut Day in the town I grew up in.  Those memories will be forever etched in my heart.  Getting out of school early to play in the band, getting plates of sauerkraut, sausage, mashed potatoes and a roll.  The Schiemeleski Brothers playing polka music and everyone in town gathering for a community meal and fun.  It's still an important part of that little community, whose numbers have dwindled and faces I remember no longer there.  If I remember right, the tradition began 86 years ago when a wagon rolled into town and the farmers in town were treated to a sauerkraut dinner in appreciation of all their hard work in the fields.  It's now grown to a full day of fun, crafts, food and community.  I still miss going and every year, try to fix a sauerkraut meal.  I made this recipe last year, with a few modifications to my german heritage.  It was amazingly good:

Sauerkraut 'n' Sausage
1 small onion, chopped
1 T butter
1 jar sauerkraut, rinsed and drained
1 pound fully cooked polish sausge, cut into chunks ( I used elk sausage... amazing)
3 1/2 c diced cooked peeled potatoes
1 C apple juice
1 medium unpeeled apple, diced
2 T brown sugar
2 T all purpose flour
1 T caraway seeds
3 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
In a large saucepan, saute the onion in butter until it's tender.  Add sauerkraut, sausage, potatoes, apple juice and apple.  In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour and caraway; stir into saucepan.  Simmer for 35 minutes while your mouth drools in anticipation.  Garnish with bacon.  It really doesn't need the bacon.  I could eat this right out of the pan.  Yum!