October Fest 2009

Lebensmittel Extravaganz 2009



Once again Dave has outdone himself creating a German gastronomic get-together. He used Google translator to help with the menu:




We invited a couple of friends - from left to right: Mark, Lynn, Kris, Carolyn, Sara, Dave and Petra on Dave's lap.


Following in our tradition from last year, Kris brought the beer for our beer-tasting. Last year he thought we were having a huge party and brought about 40 different beers (there were only 5 of us). And this year he knew the party would be small (just 6) but he and Carolyn still generously brought about 40 beers. Ok - maybe not quite 40.

Anyway, we decided to be a little more scientific this year. We made up some charts so we could record what we liked and didn't like about each beer, giving them a 1-5 rating on color, smell, taste, aftertaste, and we added the rule that anyone could add 5 discretionary points based on things like good memory, likes the label, etc.

Once again the "Samiclaus" won (top, center), followed by "Tripel Karmeliet" in 2nd and "Leffe Blonde" in 3rd. The 2nd row descends from right to left, best to worst. We did end up pouring out 2 of the beers - "Left Hand" (#8) and "Rok Porter" (dead last). Petra was very interested in our beer slop bucket but she is not allowed to drink - after all, she's only 10.

This year the home-made pretzels were delicious. (They were wonderful last year too.) They were chewy, hot, salted just right, and necessary to soak up the flavor of one beer before moving on to the next selection for tasting.

Although the pretzels were a big hit, another menu item really made a splash - the German Composed Salad. It was so weird and yet so tasty, no one really knew what to make of it. Ingredients included arugla, new boiled potatoes, blanched green beans, salmon, some fancy Danish cheese with blue mold, cherry tomatoes, and a mustard vinaigrette over everything. 2 very sour tiny pickles were on the side. It was the craziest salad I've ever had. Super filling too. And oddly tasty.

Our table was beautifully set, but once we started on the main meal I forgot all about taking pictures and just ate a ton instead. In addition to the beer tasting and pretzels, we had 5 courses: Composed Salad, Pancake Soup, Pork Roast with a Current Glaze, Carrots and Potato Dumplings, Black Forrest Cake for dessert, and finally, some coffee or Cherry Kirsch after dinner.
Thank you to Dave for a lovely meal and thank you to our guests for such enjoyable company.

Prost!