Oktoberfest 2011 - Chicago

Oktoberfest, Oktoberfest.....oh how American’s will adopt any country’s tradition or annual festivity in order to drink and be merry :) This one is a little be more dear to my heart. Why? Well, it’s a German festivity of course! Although, I so wish that I was writing this from Munich right now, I will have to settle for Chicago and it’s Americanized version.

Oktoberfest is a 16-18 day beer festival that is held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It runs from late September into the first weekend of October. As one of Germany’s most famous events, it has typically more than 5 million people in attendance every year. The original Oktoberfest, starting in 1810, was more of an agricultural show, promoting Bavarian agriculture. Not until 1887, did Oktoberfest Staff and Breweries come into the picture. Now it’s all about the beer; from 120,000 litres of beer poured in 1910 to now around 7 MILLION liters served. Traditional food is also widely available such as: sausages, pretzels, potato dumplings, potato pancakes, sauerkraut, and cheesy noodles. (See my post on Germany for more on beer and food at http://thyme2travel.blogspot.com/2011/07/germany-beer-bread-and-sausageor-is.html)

BUT.....as I said early, we American’s are well capable of adopting popular worldly traditions and Oktoberfest is no exception. You don’t have to be Germany to take in the experience, although it can never live up to what takes place in Munich. We’ll do what we can! There are hundreds of Oktoberfest celebrations all over the United States, with the largest one, surprisingly, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Chicago does it’s part by putting on a a couple 3 day celebration with beer, brauts, music, and family activities. Last night some friends and I went to one up in Southport. Much to our disappointment, it felt more like we were at a carnival as they served funnelcakes, deepfried twinkies, cheese fries, crab rangoo....oh but they did have some Super Pretzels and Oscar Meyer Weiners. The beer wasn’t even Oktoberfesty. Uninterested in just an excuse to drink and eat horrible food, we decided to skip the overpriced outdoor activity and head over to Lincoln Square where the more authentic German culture resides. We made our way to the Chicago Brauhaus and were able to get a seat to drink our litre Oktoberfest beers and sample some pretzel, sausage, sauerkraut and german mustard. I recall us saying several times how it made us REALLY want to be in Germany at that moment. It made my heartache as I was reminded of all that I loved about being in Germany, and it wasn’t even the beer, sausage, or pretzel. Maybe the mustard tho ;)

P.S. Apple picking has yet again been postponed due to the gloomy weather. I promise it's coming though!

Blackberry Peach Tart

After picking all that fruit at the farms this last month, I had to freeze some since I couldn't use it fast enough. Today I pulled out some peaches and blackberries...a perfect day for baking. It's rainy outside and the cool, fall air is flowing in through the open windows. I LOVE FALL!!! I love the smell, I love the colors, I love the ambiance, and I love the food.

With a little butter from the freezer (because I RARELY use it), some coconut oil, stone ground flour, and sugar in the cupboard, I concocted a shortbread-like tart shell. I used about 2 cups of flour, 1 cup sugar (maybe a bit much), 1/2 cup butter, and 1/4 cup oil. After mixing it together I pressed most of it into a pan and baked it on 350 for about 10 minutes. Next I placed the peaches and berries on the crust and crumbled the rest of the shortbread mix on the top and baked it for another 45 minutes. Turned out delish! A few things I would change next time? - Bake the crust a little longer first and maybe use an egg instead of the butter and oil so the crust would bind a little bit better. All in all, still good stuff and super pretty! The best part.....I picked the fruit myself and got to create a special treat with it to share with friends! I love Farm to Table! More to come!

Extraordinary Berry Farm

Here is the product of my very first editing project in iMovie. You are not allowed to judge my abilities or shall I say, inabilities. This is the first of hopefully many mini video blogs on local farms and foods. Don't expect video professionalism just yet but it will come :) Hope it makes you smile as much as it does for me!

NOW POSTED TO YOUTUBE WITH BETTER QUALITY @:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKmHeMxfn4w

Filmed Sept 2nd, 2011

What's Next?!!!

Last weekend Sari and I hit up the Berry Farm again and had a blast. We did some filming on the farm and are hoping to post a little video some time soon. Although I’m not doing much traveling for the rest of the year, there are still plans to film some little local food videos, so be ready! We are working out the logistics of how to quickly piece the videos together and post them to the web, so thanks for your patience.

At the Extraordinary Berry Farm in Michigan, we were able to set up a little station in the field and I did a food demo with the fresh berries we picked. The owners of the farm were awesome! They let us do whatever we wanted and were very informative both on and off camera. I loved their philosophy on fresh farm in-season food and how they love providing their farm as a “U Pick” farm so that people can come for the experience and bring their kids and have a great time. I absolutely recommend a visit if you are ever in the area near Benton Harbor, MIchigan. Such a beautiful area and a wonderful farm. I will definitely be back there again.

*** The Berry Demo

*** Fresh peaches from the orchard across the road

*** Jokes with my buddy, the owner - such a fun, cute, man

So what’s next......Later this month we will be doing an apple episode on a orchard near Chicago and the following month we’ll be hitting up the pumpkin patches. Also, watch for my Wisconsin Cheese Tour in October. Lots to come so be sure to stay tuned......local, in-season, fresh, fun food. Love it and hope you do too!