A couple of months ago I pulled the last 2 cabbages, sliced them very, very thinly, and mashed them, along with 2 tablespoons of salt, in a large wide bowl with the back of my fist until the cabbage was soft and its water was leaching out into the bowl.  Once it was very soft and watery, I jammed it into a glass jar as firmly as is humanly possible, and made sure that all the cabbage was immersed in the watery broth that came up all the way to the top of the jar.  I picked away any stray cabbage strands, closed the jar firmly, and rinsed away the excess water that had dripped over the sides.  Then I placed the jar in the dark cabinet.  A few weeks later there was sauerkraut; and there was satisfaction.  We ate the jar’s entire contents that evening.