Cabbage has limited canning options so making it gift worthy would be a problem. Can't imagine giving sauerkraut or pickled cabbage as a gift although I'm sure some would appreciate it.

Rummage Relish maybe? It is pretty in the jars and has many uses. Chow Chow isn't especially attractive but tastes great.

Dave

I dehydrate shredded cabbage and use it in winter stews and vegetable soups; keeps for years. Not something you'd give as a gift though as a baggie of dried cabbage may be a trifle weird. LOL.

For fresh, we chop it coarsely and steam it together with small potatoes, kielbasa, and a bit of caraway seed. Amazing how sweet cabbage is then. DH makes stuffed cabbage rolls, bakes as usual, cools, puts in plastic and foil wraps and freezes. Really great when you don't want to cook 'cause you just nuke them on 50% until hot (after the foil and plastic are removed, of course).

Nancy

Sauerkraut and Kim Chee would be what I'd do with it. I'm not sure how it would be for gifts but I know my parents love just about any canned items I give them.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I'd never heard of Rummage Relish so I might look that one up (for gifts, pretty does count). I'd found Chow-Chow but never had it before; it also looked interesting with the cabbage, carrots and green beans in it. Thanks again!

Here is the Rummage Relish recipe.

Dave

PS: there are no green beans or carrots in Chow Chow that I know of. Recipe is p. 53 of the BBB. What recipe are you using?

Here is a link that might be useful: Rummage Relish

Sauerkraut can be a wonderful gift item for the right people. I often make sauerkraut adding one red cabbage head to every five or so green cabbage heads. That alone adds a lovely pink color that could make it interesting as a gift. Add some grated carrots, maybe some onion, definitely add apple slices, and a bit of carraway seed BEFORE salting and fermenting, and that crispy fresh sauerkraut can be a taste experience like nothing they've ever had before, particularly if all they've ever had is the white stringy stuff they've gotten out of a can. And if you want to actually can it (which does rob it of some of the crispness) then make sure to use a little of the Pickle-Crisp in each jar. We skipped canning it, just jarring it up with a tight lid and pushing it to the back of the refrigerator - I think it could last that way for quite a long time - but we just keep craving it so it rarely lasts very long around our place. When serving it, my wife would sometimes soften raisins in hot water to toss with it, add walnuts, chives or green onions, dill weed we dried in warmer times, and any number of other things you might include in a salad, depending on what's available. Great stuff.

Here in Virginia I really don't have the cool weather and lack of attacking bugs to grow great cabbage, but I keep a watch out for when prices on cabbage at the store are way down (we're getting close to the best season), and then make as much as I can manage.

Thanks again!
Dave, the Chow Chow recipe that I was considering is on p221 of the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It doea have carrots and green beans, but no cauliflower, which is in the BBB book I also have on p. 49. Never tried either, but since my kids don't like cauliflower but do like gb and carrots, I thought I'd give the other a try. I have never heard of Rummage Relizh either, but it looks good. One question about that though-- do you use light or dark brown sugar for the recipe?

Thanks for the help!

Marcy

p.s. Can (pun intended) you tell that I am new to some of this stuff? New, but having fun and learning fast! Everyone here is so helpful!

When we were first married, 24 years ago, my husbands grandmother showed me how to can.

First it was green beans, which she insisted had to be hot packed - but to which I prefer to raw pack, using my ball book guidelines.

She also showed me how to can cabbage. I have been canning cabbage this way since then and have never had any problems with it.

In fact I just made lazy golumpki with canned cabbage from 2005! (The jar was hidden way in the back of my canning pantry) It looked, smelled, and tasted just like I had canned it last year.

Her recipe is as follows:

Shred or slice cabbage.
Pack into hot jars.
Add 1 tsp. salt.
Fill jars with boiling water leaving 1" headspace.
Take a butter knife and poke/swirl jar contents to get any air out.
Wipe off rims and put the lids and rings on.
Process at 10 lbs for 35 minutes in a pressure cooker.

* You can par boil the cabbage, but it is not necessary.

I have a husband, four children, many family members and dear friends I cook for and would not ever feed them something I canned that I was not sure about.

I have not taken the "Master" canning class. (It is on my bucket list)

So I cannot say that I am a Master Canner, but I have been canning/preserving for 24 years, and have canned hundreds of jars of cabbage with no problems.

Paradisa

When we were first married, 24 years ago, my husbands grandmother showed me how to can.

First it was green beans, which she insisted had to be hot packed - but to which I prefer to raw pack, using my ball book guidelines.

She also showed me how to can cabbage. I have been canning cabbage this way since then and have never had any problems with it.

In fact I just made lazy golumpki with canned cabbage from 2005! (The jar was hidden way in the back of my canning pantry) It looked, smelled, and tasted just like I had canned it last year.

Her recipe is as follows:

Shred or slice cabbage.
Pack into hot jars.
Add 1 tsp. salt.
Fill jars with boiling water leaving 1" headspace.
Take a butter knife and poke/swirl jar contents to get any air out.
Wipe off rims and put the lids and rings on.
Process at 10 lbs for 35 minutes in a pressure cooker.

* You can par boil the cabbage, but it is not necessary.

I have a husband, four children, many family members and dear friends I cook for and would not ever feed them something I canned that I was not sure about.

I have not taken the "Master" canning class. (It is on my bucket list)

So I cannot say that I am a Master Canner, but I have been canning/preserving for 24 years, and have canned hundreds of jars of cabbage with no problems.

Paradisa