Happy Oktoberfest!!

Oktoberfest starts today in München!! Woohoo!

And oddly enough, my blog is quite popular with those searching for "Deutschland" and "Oktoberfest" - they hit my videos of Oktoberfest in Fredricksberg, Texas. Hmm, must be quite a let down for those looking for a raucous time with thousands in a beer tent. :)

Tschüß@

TGIF and Oktoberfest Stories

TGIF -- that's all I can say. Just downed the first Vodka Gimlet (my drink du jour) and looking forward to more.

Spent some time talking with Beth at work, who went nach Deutschland for Oktoberfest. Her brother moved there a while ago, married a German, and now is a musician in a small town. How cool! She told me of her trip to München with her dad, sitting in the Spaten, Franzischkaner, and many other brewery/braüerei tents...we then talked about the different foods. She said her sister-in-law made a Zweibelkuchen (Onion Cake) and it was amazing. I have the recipe and should try it! It was great to hear her reminisce.

I'm ready for the weekend -- we are going to watch "Notes on a Scandal" which I am super excited about. Cooking Bacon-wraped Turkey Breast Filets and Saffron Rice. I need to pull a veggie out of the freezer too... :)

Tschüß!!

Oktoberfests in Central Texas

Funny, I just attended my third Oktoberfest celebration...of course, in Central Texas they take it literally (it really happens at the end of September in preparation for October) so last week's festival in Fredericksberg was just the start!

Central Market, a local grocery chain, had "Oktoberwest" and I happen to shop there every Saturday...I've been eyeing the signs for weeks and today, solo, I went and had some Pork and Kraut, a draft Paulaner Oktoberfest and a draft Ayinger Oktoberfest (they also call it Märzen, because it's brewed in March and fermented until September for Oktoberfest). Ran into Julie, who was over for our dinner last Thursady, and had a nice chat. The second beer, the Ayinger, I took in the store with me and shopped. At first it felt a little strange, pushing my cart around through the vegetable aisle, list in one hand and beer in the other.

Then, I reminded myself that I'm in Texas...that was followed by several minutes of "OMG, I live in Texas..." a phenom that I've gone through many times during the past 3 1/2 years since we moved to Austin.

Anyway, the Oktoberwest was great -- had an Oompa band out front (not as good as the one from Fredericksberg, but I can't pas up waltzes and marches) -- and I have my eye on a couple others coming up throughout the month. Dare I say, Oktoberfest Slut? :)

Off without a hitch

Our Oktoberfest dinner with our monthly Mira Monte supper club went off perfectly! We had such a fun time and I think everyone else did as well. The fun part was everyone did their part to bring a "German" dish and by the end, some were surprised how GOOD german food really is -- no sauerkraut or bratwurst at this meal...nothing wrong with it but this isn't a festival or a picnic.


Das Menu:

• Wienerschnitzel: Homemade, of course. Made 8 of them and timed it well...I was worried that after making them, they would get soggy or the breading would fall off. But I put it in the oven at 200 afterwards and it really kept it warm and dry. Might have dried it out a bit but the Jägersoße (see below) helped.
  
• Käsespätzle: I made a double-batch and had to do it in 4 sets...making Spätzle isn't easy! But it was worth it...they looked authentic, and broiled with Butterkäse and Butter made it sehr, sehr gut.
  
• Jägersoße: Totally used a packet from germandeli.com and it was AWESOME. Everyone could not believe it was from a packet...I will so be buying more of this.
  

Others brought...

• Bretzen: Pretzels...Whole Foods makes some fancy pretzels! Rosemary, parmesan, etc.
  
• Gherkinsalat: Spencer, who told great stories about how his dad's family would run around their Georgia backyard in lederhosen, made two types...American and Deutsch. The former had red onions and white vinegar. The latter was more creamy. Both were amazing.
  
• Kartoffelnkuchen: Julie did a great twist on these, using butternut squash and garlic in the batter -- they were fantastic!
  
• Deutscheßhokoladenkuchen: Totally made that word up -- German Chocolate Cake, a decidedly American dish, that was sooo awesome. Yum!
  

With that large of a party under our belt, I suppose we are ready for more. Sadly, our dishwasher gave out (a short maybe?) the day before so we had a lot of dishes to manually wash. But, it gave us time to talk about dinner and relax. Isaac was a GEM. He knows everyone, but usually only sees them on a one-on-one basis. He chatted a bit, even sat on Dennis' shoulder!



Tschüß!

German Oktoberfest Dinner Tomorrow!

Tomorrow we are hosting our first Oktoberfest celebration at our house and our first large dinner party! The "Mira Monte Originals," our monthly dinner group, are coming over.

OK, I am not smiling because I am a bit nervous -- so much to do, like cleaning, shopping, cleaning, figuring where everyone is going to sit (9 people total!), compiling all of my German music, getting our treat bags ready, and and and...

How neurotic of me -- I suppose eventually this will be a non-issue, easy process to put on these sorts of shows. We had a run-through dinner party with our friends Suzanne and Gary last week -- it was a great success! But prepping for 9 is much different than prepping for 4.

My part of the menu: Weinerschnitzel and Kaesespaetzle. Should be a snap, right?

Tschüß!

Oktoberfest Video #2

Here is the Liechtenstein Polka, which I talk about below.....I love this song!

Oktoberfest Video #1

Hahaa....here is Scott and Steph dancing to the "Chicken Dance." 

They are in the middle circle...Scott is in green, Steph is to the right.

I heart Oktoberfest!

&otI just remarked to Ryan..."I am so happy...today was everything that I hoped it would be!" OK, I know that sounds cheesy, but I had a lot riding on today's event. We were in Germany a year ago and...and...ahhh Oktoberfest in Texas? Hm.

In truth, it was absolutely a blast. Most of it had to do with who we went with -- Ryan, of course, and then his co-worker Kris and her friend Steph. They were fun to be with and completely caught the spirit of Oktoberfest. We ate a ton -- Bretzen, Sausage, Potato Pancakes, Sauerkraut, Struedel, Frybread. And drank a TON of fantastic, draft German beer. (Thank goodness someone else drove!)

We got there a little after noon and left at about 5:30 -- most of the time we sat in the big beer hall and listened to a fantastic Oompa band called "The Swingin' Dutchmen." I heard a lot of songs I knew, including "The Liechenstein Polka" which was a popular American-type Polka in the 50s...but I remember playing it at Grandma and Grandpa Van Horn's house. They had this old CD of different polkas and this was our favorite.

I went up to the bandleader's wife and asked for it and she said many others had...and later they announced they would play it, to great applause from our table. The bandleader picked up on that and pointed to us as if we would come up and sing it with him...we declined, of course, since none of us truly know the words, but we bounced around, clapped, and had a fantastic time.

One of the best parts was the German beer...they had a whole tent dedicated to it and we did our job trying them all out. Ahhhhh it was good!

After a long day, we came back to Austin, went to Molotov and had Frank & Angie's pizza while watching some reality TV on the bar TV. A fantastic day!!

Click on the below picture to see the photo album!

2007-10: Oktoberfest

Tschüß!

Oktoberfest!

As Oktoberfest in Deustchland winds down today, we'll be off to a local Oktoberfest in Fredericksburg, Texas. They have held it for many, many years and I am looking forward to two things: bier and food! Hopefully there will be an oompa band or two!

There is another fest during the first week of November called Wurstfest in New Braunfels; I hope to go to that too.

Tschüß!

Another Sunday

Another Sunday goes by...we bought new plates at Crate and Barrel, thanks to a very generous housewarming present, and are so excited to use them. We host the next "Mira Monte Originals" dinner, which consists of current and old (us included now) members of the neighborhood. It's always a fun event. Ours will be an Oktoberfest theme (go figure!) so now we have 10 new dinner plates, low bowls, and coffee service for four. We have plenty of other cups for espresso service, etc. so we should be just fine. And won't everyone be drinking beer anyways??

I have been savoring a fantastic German wine that Central Market (an Austin central market chain) has been importing...it's a red wine, which isn't the normal German wine you see...mostly you'll find Riesling or Gewürztraminer...but there are some fantastic Pinot Noir grapes from the Baden region.

The wine I've been liking is called Spätburgunder (which translated could be "late burgundy" as in a late harvest of Burgundy grapes but really does mean Pinot Noir). I want to buy a case and I know they have 2 1/2 cases left...perhaps I will have to splurge a bit and do so.

Time to prepare for Monday...

Tschüss!