One of the most memorable dishes from our trip to Germany was a venison Gulaschsuppe (goulash soup) in the Bavarian town of Schwangau. Thanks to Stephen Cashman, we now have some venison in our freezer; however, it came a little too late for our Oktoberfest celebration. Instead, we found some elk meat at one of [...]
There are probably hundreds of regional varieties of Wursts (sausages) in Germany. We were limited by what is available here in central Pennsylvania, but we were able to find a few of the more common versions to serve at our party. Weisswurst (white sausage): A true Bavarian Wurst composed of minced veal, pork, and seasonings. [...]
Wiener Schnitzel is a classic German dish that originated in Wien or Vienna, Austria. Although it’s not typical fare at Oktoberfest, it certainly has its place on every German table. We decided to do a bite size variation so that our guests could enjoy it without filling up on the real deal. Traditionally …
Germans like meat almost as much as they like beer. In fact, on the morning of our Oktoberfest party, our fridge was stocked with five pounds of pork for schnitzel, two pounds of elk for goulasch, three types of wursts, and two packages of bacon. And keeping cool in the garage were three cases of [...]
In Munich, we indulged in pretzels as big as our heads. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to make dozens of gigantic pretzels for our Oktoberfest party. So we made 50 mini versions instead. Nick is the bread baker in this marriage, but he was busy buying beer and tenderizing meat on Saturday morning, so it was [...]
Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (Black Forest Cherry Cake) is a dessert commonly found in southern Germany, and one that we made a few months ago. But it would have been time consuming to slice and serve during our Oktoberfest party, so we turned the traditional cake into a cute little cookie. The ingredients are basically the same, [...]
Life is short. Eat dessert first. Or, in this case, blog about it first. I took off work on Friday to bake and cook and clean for our first annual Oktoberfest party. And I enjoyed every minute. Does that make me odd? I hope not. I put on my apron, laid out my cookbooks and [...]
Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte is the traditional dessert of southern Germany. Literally, it means “black forest cherry torte,” and it consists of whipped cream and cherries between layers of dark chocolate cake. Kirschwasser (a clear liquor distilled from tart cherries) is often added, and the cake is typically decorated with chocolate shavings and maraschino cherries. Obviously we had [...]
In just 16 days, we will be consuming copious amounts of Bavaria’s best schnitzel, spätzle, and bier. Oktoberfest officially kicks off on September 18th, and this year the festival is celebrating its 200th anniversary. I am beyond excited to cinch up my dirndl, eat a pretzel as big as my head, and throw back a [...]
We drink German beer: Hofbräuhaus München, Hacker Pschoor, Reissdorf Kölsch, and Schneider Weisse. And we eat German food: Weisswurst, Schweinshaxe, spätzle, and Bauernschmaus. Find out what Bavarian eateries we’ve visited recently.