Oktoberfest! (& embracing my inner German)

I'm a few days late getting this post up, but I can promise you that this German household had our traditional Oktoberfest meal on Monday, October 1st! By my husband and I were born to German fathers, and thus we have a 50% German household that will continue on to our own offspring! I went from one German last name to another. I was never overly proud or "underly" proud of being German, but that all changed this past spring. Before I get into our delicious feast, let me tell a short story about how I met an amazing man last May.

I taught 6th grade World History, and our final unit for the school year was on the Holocaust. My students were taught about the Nazis, the Germans who were not Nazis, the Jewish people, the concentration camps, and all of that horrible things that happened, honestly, not long ago. Given that we had been learning about ancient civilizations all year, this was a lot more "real" to the kids. It became even more real when they got to meet Alex Moskovic, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor. He was one of the many young boys who was at Buchenwald, a death camp, during WWII. His story is told in part through the documentary Kinderblock 66. A colleague of mine had met him years before, and he continued to bring him in to speak to our students. What an incredible opportunity it was to meet this man; I felt so blessed to be able to sit and talk to him one on one. I remember looking into his eyes and all I could think was "What have those eyes seen?" I can't even began to fathom it. I told him how I had always loved learning about WWII and the Holocaust, my favorite period of modern history to learn about. But what was most important, was my hesitation to tell him that I was German. There was no denying it in my name, but I avoided telling him until he asked. Then he told me another story. He often got letters from students he spoke to, and he received one from a German girl. She asked him "What do you think about Germans now?" Alex looked me straight in the eyes and told me "We cannot be held responsible for what our ancestors have done in the past". I felt such a weight lift from my shoulders, as I faced this man who had seen untold horrors firsthand. He had every right to hold animosity, but he had none. From then on, I have embraced and loved proclaiming that I am German.

Now on to our very German Oktoberfest meal! Growing up, my mom (surprisingly, as she is Scots-Irish) made us a very traditional meal of German meatballs and spaetzle. For those of you who don't know what spaetzle is, think of it as a pasta or potato substitute. It is your starch. This is my "go to" meatball recipe, but I usually don't go full out German with the spaetzle as...my *coughbadGermancough* husband doesn't like it. Well...it is Oktoberfest, so he just has to deal with it! I started off by mixing my meatballs.

We only buy a higher quality of ground beef (as we don't like high fat meats as a part of our diet, particularly with a history of heart problems on my husband's side). My mom's recipe calls for parsley, but I never use it just because I never have it on hand. Forming the meatballs is always fun...nice and squishy! I line a baking pan with wax paper for forming the meatballs, then pop them in the fridge until I'm ready to start cooking (I always form them a few hours before).

You want to start cooking the meatballs about 45 minutes before you plan to eat. Start by heating oil (I switch between olive and canola, whatever pleases me in the moment) in a large saucepan over medium heat. This is so extremely important. Several years ago, in my first attempt to make homemade meatballs, they fell apart in the pan because the oil was too hot. Test the oil by putting one meatball in. It should only sizzle a little in the first second, then sizzle more. If it doesn't sizzle, the oil isn't hot enough. If it sizzles TOO much...its too hot. Move the pan and let it cool down some. If its perfect, add the rest of the meatballs. I let them all brown on one side, then flip them all. Once they're browned on both sides, I'll start shaking the pan to let them cook all over. Don't rush the cooking. I even turn the heat down a little sometimes while I'll cooking. When you think they're done, test one by cutting through. If its done, remove all the meatballs to a plate lined with paper towels to drain the oil. Pour the cooking oil out of the pan, and return the meatballs to the pan.

Now, the sauce!

Chop up your onion and your mushrooms if you're using fresh. I've made this both with fresh and canned mushrooms. Usually I use a 3 oz can of mushrooms. This time I had fresh, so I measured out three ounces and chopped them to bite size pieces. Frankly, I HATE mushrooms, and the only reason they stay in this recipe is because my husband loves them.

Time to make the sauce creamy...in goes the sour cream.

Mmmmmm, by this time the smells in the kitchen are absolutely amazing. Time to make the spaetzle. This is the trickiest part. This is why this was only a special occasion recipe, because my mother found it so tricky to perfect. The recipe is basic, and this time I decided to add in some chopped sage (but you can leave fresh herbs out entirely or try another if you're adventurous or have something else on hand). You really have to figure out the best way to make the spaetzle. You get a dough that is thinner than biscuit dough but thicker than pancake batter. My mom used to run it through a colander over boiling water. I used a cake decorator. I have the Wilton dessert decorator, and one of the attachments makes a long thin strand. I fill the decorator up with the dough while the water boils. I add about a teaspoon of salt and olive oil to the boiling water then I start squirting the dough into the boiling water. Stir with a slotted spoon to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom or the rest of the spaetzle.

When its done, drain it out and return it to the bowl or divide onto plates. At this point, my hubby came home with his contribution to the meal...

Ahhh as instructed! Such a dutiful man ;) (Of course...this was for his enjoyment, not mine...!)

And there you have it! Our incredibly delicious German Oktoberfest meal! (With me picking out the mushrooms and my hubby actually starting to learn to like spaetzle!)

German Meatballs and Spaetzle

Ingredients

-Meatballs

1 lb lean ground beef

1 egg

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup milk

1 TB parsley (I omitted this)

1 ts salt

1/4 ts poultry seasoning

dash of pepper

Oil for cooking

-Sauce

10.5 oz condensed beef brother

3 oz mushrooms (canned or fresh)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup sour cream

1 TB flour

-Spaetzle

2 cups flour

1 ts salt

2 slightly beaten eggs

3/4 cup milk

2 TB finely chopped sage (or other fresh herbs)

1 ts olive oil

1 ts salt

Making the Meatballs:

1. Combine the egg and milk in a large bowl.

2. Add the ground beef and combine

3. Add the bread crumbs, salt, poultry seasoning, and pepper; combine.

4. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat.

5. When hot, add meatballs and cook thoroughly.

6. Remove meatballs from pan, empty oil, and return meatballs to the pan.

Making the Sauce:

7. Add condensed beef broth, onion, and mushrooms to the pan with the meatballs. Allow to simmer until onions are tender.

8. Add sour cream to the pan and mix thoroughly.

9. Sprinkle 1 TB of flour over pan and stir. Allow to continue simmering until the sauce thickens slightly.

Making the Spaetzle

10. Beat two eggs slightly in a bowl.

11. Add the milk, flour, salt, and herbs.

12. Boil a large pot with water, and add in the olive oil and salt.

13. Fill a pastry decorator with the spaetzle dough (or fit a colander over the pot to drain batter into the water). Squirt the dough into the water.

14. Stir the pot gently so it does not stick to the pot or the rest of the spaetzle.

15. Cook for 5 minutes, then drain.

16. Top the drained, cooked spaetzle with the German meatballs and sauce.

YUM!

Breaking into Fall baking

The saddest thing about my baking endeavor today is...I don't get to taste the final product. However, I can tell you the batter tastes AH-mazing! The hubby and I were invited to our new next door neighbors' house for a housewarming party. Given that we barely know them aside from over the fence chats about landscaping and our dogs, we didn't know if they need any house "stuff" or if they did, what they could possibly use (not to mention that with me not working, we're quite frugal). Not wanting to be a horrible guest by showing up empty handed (and making for awkward over the fence chats in the future) I thought "Hey house-wife-extraordinaire...bake something!"

Now that we're in fall, or as close to fall as we get in Florida, I wanted something that smelled like fall to fill my house with that wonderful fall smell of spices. But I also did not want to go shopping, and I have run out of pumpkin (which is a huge tragedy in my house...). So I decided to make cinnamon bread. No, I had never made this particular recipe before, so I simply hoped it would turn out well!

It was a pretty simple recipe...

Combine the dry ingredients...

Mix the dry ingredients together with a whisk until its all consistent. This is a super important thing I do in all my baking just so make sure the ingredients that cause the baked good to rise is fully incorporated through the entire batter. I also mix my dry ingredients together with a whisk, in any recipe, before adding the wet.

I added all the wet ingredients in my liquid measure first, so no wet ingredients got to the dry first...I like to have a nice even combination of all the ingredients to ensure a uniform batter. The order I added was the vinegar, milk, oil, eggs vanilla.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and get mixing! The recipe I used said to beat on medium speed for 3 minutes...I just used a hand mixture until it seemed well mixed. Little bubble started to form, and that seems sufficient to me (just a minute or two).

Then you're going to pour the batter into the pain. I used a butter flavored cooking spray on a glass Pyrex loaf pan. Then, a little trick I learned from making Amish Friendship Bread a million times (yum yum yum!), I coated the pan with cinnamon sugar as well. It helps the bread not stick to the pan (yes, I know the cooking spray does this as well) but it also gives it a little extra crunch when the sugar caramelizes while baking. You can leave this out if you want, but I love doing this with sweet breads.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. The original recipe I used called for adding a crumbly topping on it. It was 1 TB of butter, 1 TB cinnamon, and 1/4 cup of sugar, combined until crumbly and sprinkled on top. I did this for the first loaf I made, and honestly it was kind of a pain. The butter was softened, as the recipe said, and it became more pasty then crumbly. It didn't sprinkle nicely on top. So when I made the second load (which I HAD to after the first one was baking and making my house smell awesome) I simply sprinkled about 1/8 cup of sugar on top to get that extra crunch you sometimes get on top of cobblers. Try it either way you prefer.

Then into the 350 degree preheated oven it goes! 50 minutes exactly worked perfectly both times. And, if you're like me and have a happy little "helper" in the kitchen, allow her to lick the sugar from your fingers you'll undoubtedly get if you sprinkle it on before baking!

And voila! Cinnamon sweet bread :) You can thank me later for how awesome your house will smell!

Cinnamon Sweet Bread

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 cup white sugar + 1/8 cup

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk - 1 tablespoon*

1 tablespoon vinegar*

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

*Milk and vinegar in recipe can be subbed out for 1 cup of buttermilk

1. Add all the dry ingredients (minus 1/8 cup sugar) to a large mixing bowl and whisk together.

2. Add all wet ingredients to a liquid measure.

3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine with a hand mixture on medium until small bubbles start to form.

4. Grease a loaf pan and coat with cinnamon sugar (1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon).

5. Pour batter into prepared pan.

6. Sprinkle 1/8 cup sugar over the top of the batter.

7. Bake for 50 minutes in a 350 degree preheated oven.

8. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan to wire rack; cool completely before storing.

Move Over Panera!

The minute I saw this recipe posted on Pinterest, I started salivating. It looked absolutely amazing. So I decided I was going to make it. Usually when I make a recipe from Pinterest I make small adjustments, typically just to change some nutrition factors, like skim milk instead of whipping cream in the Zuppa Toscana I made last night. With a salad though, I thought "Hm, here is my ticket to creativity!"

Our grocery shopping trip this weekend happened with this recipe in mine, so I picked up some obvious choices from the original recipe: chickpeas, avocado,corn, and cilantro (oh my gosh I just love cilantro!). I pulled out those ingredients, along with a typical bag of pre-bagged salad (anyone else enjoy a good short cut?). Next question, what else is in the crisper? Peppers? Sure. Red? Yes, I love the sweetness. And a green one for me to munch on while I'm chopping (or there would be no salad left for the hubby...).

I get to chopping. Sweet red pepper slices, mmmm. One chopped slice in the bowl, another in my mouth. What cook doesn't eat while they cook...? After I chopped the red pepper I thought half a green pepper would add that extra crunch. Since the recipe called for a chopped salad, I tossed the bagged salad and cilantro (...I'm going to mention the heavenly smell of cilantro quite often...) in the bowl and used the non-cooking school method of sharp knife and fork to hold in place to chop my salad.

At this point, I've got peppers and salad, and continue on to the corn. Now the recipe called for grilled corn. I only had a can of corn. But I still wanted that grilled flacor. So I decided to saute the corn with a little (seriously, VERY little) amount of olive oil until they started getting those telltale "grill" marks on them (and by grill I of course mean saute pan). I seasoned them with a little bit of seasoned salt and popped them in the fridge to cool down. (Here is where I decided, oh, I should be taking pictures...)

(I am so breaking a Food Safety rule here, and yes I am actually food safety certified. Technically hot food [and I mean hot, not just warm] should not be cooled in the fridge as it can put other food items at risk. Since I knew it was only for a short time, I broke the rule. But please, if you will put hot food in to STAY in the fridge, get it to a cooler temperature first or at least keep it away from high risk foods like milk.)

To recap, I have chopped salad and cilantro, red pepper, green pepper, and grilled corn. I then drained half a can of chickpeas and added it to the salad as well. I love chickpeas on a salad, and bonus, it adds fiber! Then I looked very sadly at my avocado...and was 99% sure I couldn't use it. I had accidently stored it in the fridge, rather than the counter, and it didn't soften the way I needed it to. It took me cutting it all the way around and my strong *coughhotcough* hubby had to twist it open. Sure enough...not nearly ripe enough to use in my salad. Bummer.

True genius then came out. Without an avocado, I tried to think if there was anything else. Apple. Is there anyone else out there who just loves sweet fruit on a salad? I absolutely love it. And now that it is fall, apples are finally on sale again! I found these absolute beauties in the produce section of Publix.

Are these not gorgeous? Bright green, shiny, huge! I think I fell in love a little...

I chopped them up in bite size pieces and mixed with a tiny bit of lemon juice before adding them to the salad (I was making this a few hours in advance and didn't want them to brown).

Meanwhile...I had marinated my chicken earlier in Lawry's Balsamic and Herb, but you could really use any marinade you wanted for whatever flavor you were looking for. This one was just open in the fridge already, and went with my "vision" for my salad. My chicken was Sanderson Farms strips (BOGO at Winn Dixie this week!) and I threw them on the grill. One of the rare perks I find during fall in Florida...we can still grill on the patio.

And finally...the assembly. This happened about two hours after all the prep, which gave the chicken time to cool down so the whole salad was crisp and cold (I'm not a big fan of warm protein put on top of a cold salad).

We were trying to decide what type of dressing to use, and my amazing (and did I mention "hot" yet?) hubby suggested mixing ranch and BBQ like they do at Panera. He is so smart ;) And thus, the birth of my most incredible salad creation ever. I am dubbing this the "End of Summer Salad", as it mixes crisp summer flavor like barbeque with the incoming fall flavors, such as the apple. And the best thing about this salad? You can adjust it to whatever flavors you like more or whatever salad fixins you have on hand! Enjoy!!

End of Summer Salad

Ingredients
Prepackaged salad
1 bunch of cilantro
1 red pepper
1/2 green pepper
1 bunch of green onions
1 cup canned corn
1 tsp olive oil
Seasoned salt
1/2 can of chickpeas
1/2 Granny Smith apple
1 tsp lemon juice
1 package chicken breast
Marinade of choice
Ranch dressing
BBQ sauce

1. Marinate chicken a minimum of one hour before grill time. Pierce the chicken with a fork to better absorb marinade.
2. Create the base of your salad by chopping the prepackaged salad and cilantro (use amount to accommodate your tastes).
3. Prepare your vegetables. Cut the peppers into bite size pieces and add to chopped salad.
4. Chop half a bunch of green onios (or adjust to your tastes).
5. Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a small saute pan on medium high heat. Add the corn and saute until small saute marks begin to appear. Remove from pan, add seasoned salt to taste, and cool.
6. Drain and rinse the chickpeas and add to the salad bowl.
7. Cut half a Granny Smith apple into bit size pieces. Mix with lemon juice and add to the salad bowl.
8. Grill marinated chicken until done. Chill, if desired. Cut into bite size pieces and add to salad.
9. Drizzle ranch dressing and BBQ sauce (or dressing of your choice) over the salad.

ENJOY!

Melting my way into blog world

Welcome to my (very bad) blog. I really don't have a club about blogging, but here we go. As I sit here watching yet another episode of the Ellen Show, because I have no job and my classwork is too easy for me, I am melting. Yes, melting. As in, I live in south Florida, it was September (not as bad as August, but still a ridiculously evilly hot month) and our air conditioner is blown. The worst part about not having a job is the money the hubby makes goes to pay bills...and I get stuck in the house with a busted air conditioner. And a hot, whiny, 8.5 month old Labrador puppy (who is still perfect, btw).

Anyone want to fix my air conditioner? Because despite the wicked heat in the sweatbox, I still decided to set the oven to 400 degrees and make sweet cornbread. Wow, I really do live in the south don't I...?

Recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com

Golden Sweet Cornbread

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2/3 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Spray or lightly grease a 9 inch round cake pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder. Stir in egg, milk and vegetable oil until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Not going to lie, I definitely didn't pour all the batter into the pan because its sweet and ooey gooey drippy deliciousness...finger lickin' good. Literally. Savannah apparently thought I missed some, because she thoroughly enjoyed licking my fingers, even though I was pretty sure I got it all.

Remind me to thank my wonderful savior husband, who unbeknownst to me, sent over a guy he works with to fix the air conditioner. As I wait for that to start working, I shall finish enjoying the Ellen Show. Ellen, you always keep me company when my hubby is busy winning the big bucks and melting in the beginning of time-stealing soccer season. I love you Ellen.