October comes early here

[kc7jty]

Octoberfest today at the local German deli/restaurant. Bockwurst, sauerkraut, German potato salad, and at least 4 imported German beers on tap.
I can get stuffed and feeling pretty good for under $20, and a souvenir imported from Germany glass to boot.

Sometimes there's this woman there who makes Lefse from scratch. Quite good just made & warm with butter.

[NQ6U]

October comes early here

Not really. In Idaho, they're celebrating Oktoberfest, 1990.

[al2n]

Next weekend is our big event. I am working on a set of the Spaten mugs. Last year sucked as they ran out of the mugs on the first night and I had to settle for a Sam Adams mug instead. Nice looking mug, but it does not match the rest of them.

[NQ6U]

In Alaska, they're celebrating Oktoberfest 1890.

[W3MIV]

In Germany, Oktoberfest takes place during the last two weeks of September.

[KG4CGC]

In Soviet Russia, Oktober FESTS you!

[kc7jty]

In Germany, Oktoberfest takes place during the last two weeks of September.

They got it right then.
I like it when Mardi Gras is celebrated on Saturday (that's when most of the country does it). Get around that one Albie.

The fest was about 60% of normal turn out. The weather was perfect but that may have been it, folks doing other things in the 77 degree weather.
The price of the glassware has gone through the roof. $10 to $15 each. Very nice, large variety of made in Germany glasses and mugs but phugh them, got my Franziskaner in a plastic cup.

The potato salad was good, but the wurscht & kraut was so so. The dumbass whities up here are happy with anything.

[WØTKX]

[QUOTE=kc7jty;267848Sometimes there's this woman there who makes Lefse from scratch. Quite good just made & warm with butter.[/QUOTE]

The woman, the Lefse, or both ? Just wondering. :dunno:

[kc7jty]

The woman, the Lefse, or both ? Just wondering. :dunno:

The woman is kinda old and quite chubby. This is the second year she hasn't been there. Maybe the Deutchie that runs the place figured she was cutting into profits?

[KA5PIU]

Hello.

5 days early?
We expect an early October to mean a Winter!

[kc7jty]

to mean a winter for me too, I can't shovel snow anymore.

[NQ6U]

to mean a winter for me too, I can't shovel snow anymore.

Yeah, know what you mean. San Diego winters can be brutal--sometimes it gets down below 50° F.

[W3MIV]

In Germany, the big celebrations and parades for Mardi Gras (in Germany, it is called Karneval or Fasching) are held just before Fat Tuesday -- usually on Rosenmontag, which is the Monday before Ash Wednesday. Technically, Fasching or Fastnacht begins in January, but the real heyday starts usually on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday -- which is the object of the whole schtick.

You may recall that "Fat Tuesday" (Mardi Gras in French) was the last day before Lent, so everyone stuffed themselves on the richest, fattest foods that night knowing that starting Wednesday morning they would have to fast.

[AA0CX]

I love German food. I'm of German ancestry -- both sides. It's not like my ancestors hopped right off the boat in the last couple of generations, but the cooking thing was passed down. And of course the community I grew up in had a lot of German ancestry people too. You were either of German or Norsk descent, so the food specialties were mainly limited. My parents were divorced early, so until my sister and I could cook for ourselves, mom had a woman come over to our place and cook the evening meal while mom was still at work. It seems like she always would crank out sauerkraut and weiners and mashed potatoes on those crisp fall days. Matter of fact, I cook that for myself around fall, and into the winter. Gotta have a big tall glass of milk on the side. And, she would make a kuchen once in a while to please us kids. Prune and peach were my faves. Fargo has a lot of people of German ancestry, but you wouldn't know it. Since we're right on the Minnesota border, the Norsk folks seem to predominate. That's okay. They can keep their lutefisk and I'll opt for the sauerkraut!

[W3MIV]

True German 'kraut is too bland for me. I don't wash my kraut, which I buy either fresh from the barrel in a market or in a plastic bag in the super. Bottled in glass may be OK, but 'kraut from a can is like canned asparagus -- to odious to admit to the pantry. Don't wash it; don't add water without also adding some kosher salt. Plenty of caraway seeds and a few juniper berries, a couple onion quarters and a smoked neck bone or two.

Don't overcook it! Bring it to a low simmer for about five minutes, then keep it hot 'til serving it. Works as well with rippchen as with a bratwurst. Or, here in Maryland and Pennsylvania, with a T'day turkey.

[kc7jty]

Gotta have a big tall glass of milk on the side.
Jesus!? With sauerkraut? You're not as German as you think.

I thought everybody in "Nort Dakota" was German. Knew a gal who now lives in MT who's father was from ND. The family name was Wilke.

[kc7jty]

True German 'kraut is too bland for me. I don't wash my kraut, which I buy either fresh from the barrel in a market or in a plastic bag in the super. Bottled in glass may be OK, but 'kraut from a can is like canned asparagus -- to odious to admit to the pantry. Don't wash it; don't add water without also adding some kosher salt. Plenty of caraway seeds and a few juniper berries, a couple onion quarters and a smoked neck bone or two.

Don't overcook it! Bring it to a low simmer for about five minutes, then keep it hot 'til serving it. Works as well with rippchen as with a bratwurst. Or, here in Maryland and Pennsylvania, with a T'day turkey.

True German kraut is horrible. Extremely bland and cooked to mush. I don't rinse either but usually drain it and add some cheap beer.
All kraut produced in this country that isn't canned or sold in bulk has preservative in it which gives me heartburn. The barrel cured is best, but I often use canned for convenience. Imported kraut in glass jars NEVER has preservative in it. Expensive as all hell though. Sauerkraut has to have pork grease in it to be good.
Brown some greasy German or Polish sausage, remove it from the pot, add the kraut & beer, simmer for 15/20 mins then return the sausage.

[NQ6U]

I'm no expert on sauerkraut but my understanding is that the real deal contains only cabbage and salt and is never cooked during the pickling process. Am I missing something?

[W3MIV]

...then return the sausage.

Who in hell's gonna take it back after that?

[W1GUH]

Jesus!? With sauerkraut? You're not as German as you think.

I thought everybody in "Nort Dakota" was German. Knew a gal who now lives in MT who's father was from ND. The family name was Wilke.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0TSDcPW2Kk

Can you spot the goof in that video?

Now I'm very hungry for German food...I love it, too. There's a German restaurant just block away (http://www.heidelbergrestaurant.com/) that I might finally try tonight! Or....I can just get a Papaya King hot dog "Tastier than Filet Mignon!" (http://www.papayaking.com/)with sauerkraut .

[AA0CX]

Jesus!? With sauerkraut? You're not as German as you think.

I thought everybody in "Nort Dakota" was German. Knew a gal who now lives in MT who's father was from ND. The family name was Wilke.

Jesus! Yes!!! God, I can't have my kraut, potatoes, and weiners any other way. BTW, the best sauerkraut I have found yet is a brand called ZerGut. It comes in a jar. I don't eat the canned stuff. No, not everyone here is German. We have lots of Scandinavians (mostly Norwegian), some Germans from Russia, Icelanders, Finns, some Poles, but mostly Germans and Norwegians.

[KA5PIU]

Hello.

Non-pork Sauerkraut for me!
Coleslaw is also good.
I can do a Ruben or Rachel sandwich but prefer roast beef over corned, go figure.
I follow an Islamic diet, that means that the Jewish feast will work for me.

[W3MIV]

Make your own 'kraut; easy enough to do. I used to have a hand-me-down ceramic crock, but it got dropped in a move a bunch of years back. Dropping a crock is not a good thing. Now I use a wall-board spackle bucket (five gal) -- make sure you clean it out. ;)

You can make a big batch, but I usually chop about a half-dozen medium heads of cabbage. My mother used to use a mandoline (no, not the lute thing), but my grandmother used a heavy chef's knife and did it all the hard way -- she was a tough ol' Greise. If you choose the mandoline, watch your fingers -- blood and kraut are not a good mix. I use a Cuisinart with a shredding disk.

Simply layer the shredded cabbage in the crock (spackle bucket) and sprinkle each layer with kosher salt. About three or four tablespoons of salt will season about five or so pounds of raw kraut. A little too much salt will not hurt, but don't go bananas. Pack the kraut tightly as you build the layers, and finally cover it all with a closely fitting lid -- over the kraut, not the crock/bucket/whatever. The object is to cover the cabbage as it works, and if you trim the spackle bucket's original lid so that it fits fairly closely INSIDE the bucket, it will work (but be a bit flimsy). A close-fitting dinner plate works well. A friend of mine had a kitchen renovations guy make him a circle cut from an acrylic counter-top material. Way classy.

At any rate, press the cover down on the cabbage and weight it with a rock or pair of bricks (cover them with foil just to preserve appearances) and then cover the crock or bucket with a dampened cloth.

The salt will work the water out of the cabbage and turn it into brine. The brine will cure the cabbage and turn it into sauerkraut.

A scum or foamy gluck may form on top of the kraut as it works, so take the cover off and check on it every few hours at first, every other day as it begins its magic. If you see the scummy foam, merely skim it off. It is harmless, but if left may begin to weaken the kraut and make a mush of it.

Depending upon temperature -- warmer is faster, but not as good; cooler is slower, but makes the best kraut -- the kraut will be ready to start devouring in about a month or so. Maybe a bit longer. If you have an old-fashioned root cellar, that is the best spot for the crock. Out in the garage, far enough away from the house not to be too hot (but also not to freeze) is also good.

A final note: If the brine evaporates and starts to uncover the kraut, add more water. When you first made the batch, you added enough salt for the process, and the salt does not evaporate with the water. Be careful about adding more salt. Taste. Taste. Taste. But be sure to leave some for when it's finished. I think I luv raw kraut even more than cooked!

[kc7jty]

To get the bulk sauerkraut I have to drive 30 miles into the shity, and it's quite expensive.
When I visit PA I go to this Polish butcher called Czerw's. They have the best bulk sauerkraut and assortment of fresh made right there sausages.

http://www.kielbasyboys.com/

[W3MIV]

To get the bulk sauerkraut I have to drive 30 miles into the shity, and it's quite expensive.
When I visit PA I go to this Polish butcher called Czerw's. They have the best bulk sauerkraut and assortment of fresh made right there sausages.

http://www.kielbasyboys.com/

Billbo: Try the recipe just above. You'll have fun doing it. And you'll have bulk kraut just as good as that pollack.

[kc7jty]

Never made it myself but knew many who did. Yes good stuff, but I'll pass. We used to buy it here made locally years ago but the place is gone, shut down, kaput.

Used to buy fresh, unpasteurized, unhomogenized milk here too but the state shut them down. That's what you make REAL cheese from.

[al2n]

2.5 hours till Oktoberfest.

I may break with my limits and have more than one beer tonight.

[al2n]

Fun time had by all last night. Best part was watching a group of 20 somethings come in and try to order Miller Lite. They just did not understand why they only offered German beers. :lol:

[kc7jty]

Another Octfest in Coeur d'Alene to go to now. Will report on my return.

[kc7jty]

Mission ABORTed!
$15 for 24 ounces of mediocre beer & a generic mug.
There were places to get your beer scattered all over the downtown area but:
Gigantic signs that read NO beer allowed on sidewalk/outside of roped off areas!

Reminds me of anal sex. We know it goes on but out of sight is out of mind.

Got to see the faux culture of the regular, non fest, Coeur d'Alenenses while in town. They all sit at tables in ROPED off areas on the sidewalk, in the sun, drinking Bud light from the bottle (no glass) eating their, from the 5 gallon plastic bucket, rotini salad and thinking they are way cool.
What a bunch of jerk offs. There IS no American culture, we are pathetic. :vomit:

[W3MIV]

Mission ABORTed!
$15 for 24 ounces of mediocre beer & a generic mug.
There were places to get your beer scattered all over the downtown area but:
Gigantic signs that read NO beer allowed on sidewalk/outside of roped off areas!

Reminds me of anal sex. We know it goes on but out of sight is out of mind.

Got to see the faux culture of the regular, non fest, Coeur d'Alenenses while in town. They all sit at tables in ROPED off areas on the sidewalk, in the sun, drinking Bud light from the bottle (no glass) eating their, from the 5 gallon plastic bucket, rotini salad and thinking they are way cool.
What a bunch of jerk offs. There IS no American culture, we are pathetic. :vomit:

I feel your pain.

I must disagree about there being "no American culture." The sad fact, Bill, is that this IS American culture. The even sadder fact is that it is getting worse, not better.

[kc7jty]

I posted this on Ratebeer:

Saw advertisement for Octoberfest in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho to be held Oct 1 & 2 on Sherman ave. They often close off this main street for their various shindigs so I decided to go. Upon arrival I see everything as usual, and after asking a few, no one knows anything about it.
I finally get some info, and get directed to the ticket table, where I'm told it's $15 for 6/4oz tastes of tap beer scattered all over town and a "free" beer mug.
OK, not to be taken I scope the mugs sitting on the table, generic glass. Take a hike around to all the beer sources and mediocre describes them best. 3 industrial offerings from Spaten, Red Hook, Hoptober, a few boring regional breweries had their version of Octoberfest and some other unremarkables to round it out.
I noticed the areas that dispensed the beer were roped off with big signs that read:
No beer permitted on the sidewalk/outside the roped off areas. I thought of it having a parallel to anal sex, we know it goes on but out of sight is out of mind.
I'm sure a hefty fee had to be paid to acquire the approval for those areas to be designated beer drinkable.
After deciding participating would be about as much fun as a TSA search at the airport it was back to the car time. On the outbound I couldn't stop thinking Octoberfest, Puritan N. Idaho style.

[al2n]

Up here it is $14 for a half liter of Spaten in a glass mug, refills are 7 bucks. Usually they have the Spaten mugs, but the last couple years they have been selling the Sam Adams Oktoberfest mugs instead. They also have Spaten Pils glasses if you are not a mug fan.

[W3MIV]

Shameful. Every June I used to travel north to Adamstown, PA, just south of Reading, to Stoudt's Brewery for the annual Micro-Brewery Festival. It used to be regular as clock-work before my blood-starved striated muscles put me on the floor. But I diverge...

Used to cost about twenty to enter, and everyone was given a six-ounce, logo-decorated glass. Inside the hall were assembled about fifty or sixty different micro-brewers from all over the nation, each set up to give out samples of their wares. They ranged over the full gamut of beers. There was an afternoon session, from noon to about four, and an evening session from six to ten or so. The crowd was raucous, of course, but friendly.

We'd run into the same groups year after year, grayer but no wiser. The restaurant was open, food good (except the kraut, which was imported in cans and awful -- but the bread and bratwursts were always superb, especially the weisswursts) and the obligatory ooom-pah band always a riot -- Eins, Zwei, Gsuffa! -- until the last year I went, when they unaccountably switched to some pop-band bullshit.

No limit. They'd always start by gossing just an inch in the bottom of the glass, but a good line of bullshit always got a fast refill. As the afternoon wore on -- we always went in the afternoon due to the difficulty of navigating back to the hotel under the freighted onus of so much alcohol -- they were less hesitant to fill the glass up. Fortunately, Stoudt's always supplied a school bus that made regular circuits to the local motels and restaurants. Nobody knows drunks better than a brewer, after all. There's a camaraderie that is important to the full enjoyment of beer, indeed it is crucial.

Never got really snot-flinging drunk, but always needed a helping hand to find the way home, so to say. Still have a handful of tee-shirts acquired then.

[ki4itv]

... called Czerw's.

How the heck do you pronounce that?
I've been trying...'bout decided my head isn't capable of producing that sound.:lol:

[NQ6U]

How the heck do you pronounce that?

Just like it's spelled, of course.

(I'm guessing it's something like "Cherv's")

[W3MIV]

How the heck do you pronounce that?
I've been trying...'bout decided my head isn't capable of producing that sound.:lol:

"Chairv's" is as close as I can tell you.

[kc7jty]

I don't know if it is accurate or if it's the easy for Americans to pronounce version but when you call them on the phone they say Chev's (Ch as in chop).
The hottest, wildest pork sausage I ever tasted was from there. Tasted like spic and span with lots of hot hot hot. They have lots of different sausage made there and some woman makes the pirogies, stuffed cabbage, etc.
http://pictures.polandforall.com/images/polish-pierogi-pierogies.jpg

some of their ready to eat semi dry sausage is hard to stop eating once you start, kabanosi I think is one.

Pierogies stuffed with mashed potatoes are quite good with sauerkraut & beer. They have a wonderful al dente chew on the teeth.

[KG4CGC]

October 3rd. October got here.

[NQ6U]

October 3rd. October got here.

As usual, San Diego is a little behind the times. It's still only October 2nd here.

[KG4CGC]

Our friend in Oz, Bob, is probably experiencing the fourth. Springtime in Aussiland!

[kc7jty]

Of Stoudt's in Adamstown. A friend & I went there pretty regularly until they refused to supply us with another Belgian beer one early evening. We could have a lesser alcohol beer but not the Belgian again (my friend had one and I tasted it and wanted one for myself).....SCREW U!

[KG4CGC]

Of Stoudt's in Adamstown. A friend & I went there pretty regularly until they refused to supply us with another Belgian beer one early evening. We could have a lesser alcohol beer but not the Belgian again.....SCREW U!
Clearly they employed an IDIOT! for their barkeep.
Part of the ad campaign when a new liquor comes out around here is they limit it to two drinks of that brand in an effort to convince drunk patrons and uneducated, inexperienced drinkers that the stuff was special, potent and would make you hallucinate. That gold schnapps with the gold flake in it? Yeah, you shouldn't drink that anywhere except at home. Short circuit time! Lights are on but nobody's home.

[al2n]

Shameful. Every June I used to travel north to Adamstown, PA, just south of Reading, to Stoudt's Brewery for the annual Micro-Brewery Festival. It used to be regular as clock-work before my blood-starved striated muscles put me on the floor. But I diverge...

Used to cost about twenty to enter, and everyone was given a six-ounce, logo-decorated glass. Inside the hall were assembled about fifty or sixty different micro-brewers from all over the nation, each set up to give out samples of their wares. They ranged over the full gamut of beers. There was an afternoon session, from noon to about four, and an evening session from six to ten or so. The crowd was raucous, of course, but friendly.

We'd run into the same groups year after year, grayer but no wiser. The restaurant was open, food good (except the kraut, which was imported in cans and awful -- but the bread and bratwursts were always superb, especially the weisswursts) and the obligatory ooom-pah band always a riot -- Eins, Zwei, Gsuffa! -- until the last year I went, when they unaccountably switched to some pop-band bullshit.

No limit. They'd always start by gossing just an inch in the bottom of the glass, but a good line of bullshit always got a fast refill. As the afternoon wore on -- we always went in the afternoon due to the difficulty of navigating back to the hotel under the freighted onus of so much alcohol -- they were less hesitant to fill the glass up. Fortunately, Stoudt's always supplied a school bus that made regular circuits to the local motels and restaurants. Nobody knows drunks better than a brewer, after all. There's a camaraderie that is important to the full enjoyment of beer, indeed it is crucial.

Never got really snot-flinging drunk, but always needed a helping hand to find the way home, so to say. Still have a handful of tee-shirts acquired then.

That sounds like the Alaska Beer and Barleywine Festival held in January. Great place to try all the new and award winning beers and meads made locally. Designated drivers get free admission and free food, the drinkers still have to pay.

[KA5PIU]

Hello.

Oktoberfest 1975, San Antonio.
Pearl Brewing would open the Jersey Lilly hall up early Saturday morning.
You got a wrist band and 3 tickets, red, white and green.
One was for hard liquor but all could be used for beer.
The wrist band allowed you access to the "rides" where you won prizes, things like a kewpie doll or an envelope with more tickets.
Most went for the tickets.
Now I am not saying that the beer was unlimited, but it was real hard to run dry. ;)

Oktoberfast 2009, San Antonio.

This is now in the Hemisfair park area and you can still get tickets, $15 for a set and a wrist band.
The beer gestapo has taken over and it is all yuppies!
You have to "qualify" for more beer, to make sure you are not intoxicated.
One lady who was on the soda and food line wated to send me to the qualify table saying I looked "out of it".
I pointed out that the only thing she could sell me was strudel and a pepsi and no matter how hard I tried I could not get drunk on that!

[W1GUH]

How the heck do you pronounce that?
I've been trying...'bout decided my head isn't capable of producing that sound.:lol:


"Czerw's"

The "P" is silent, as in "Swim."

[n2ize]

The great thing about October is the increased consumption of alcohol. Although intelligent people increase their consumption of alcohol all year long.