
Megan and I were going to go out for Oktoberfest, but with finances being what they are (and the fact that we're kinda old and boring anyway) we decided to stay home and do our own Oktoberfest celebration here. I ran to our local German bakery/deli, picked up some bratwursts, cracked open a bottle of Oktoberfest beer and made a meal that I'd be proud to serve in Munich!
This dish had a wonderful balance of acidity from the cider vinegar, and a sweet flavor from tart apples stewed to bring out their natural sugars. It was the perfect meal to accompany the pretzels and mustard ale dipping sauce I made. I also made Radlers, a traditional German ale drink, and had a selection of German desserts from the aforementioned German bakery.
Megan and I had a fun night of hanging out, playing Jenga (like I said, we're pretty awesome), and watching Sweeney Todd (loved it!). It seemed just gory and macabre enough to be a fitting Halloween movie. It was also a nice night because it was the first genuinely chilly night of the season. I loved walking out for the nighttime dog walk and wanting a slightly warmer sweatshirt. The air was cool and crisp, and I think that this meal was the perfect accompaniment to the dropping temperatures. You've got a little over 2 weeks of October left, so pull out your finest German ales, whip this up, snap on some Lederhosen and pretend you're in the Hofbrauhaus.

Ingredients:
1 lb of bacon
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 small yellow onion, diced
4 (packed) cups of chopped red cabbage
2 tart apples thinly sliced (I did a mixture of Fuji and Granny Smith)
1 lb. bratwursts (or your favorite German sausage)
3-4 yellow potatoes, cut in cubes (about the size of large home fries)
2 tbsp stone ground mustard
2 1/4 tbsp cider vinegar
12 ounces dark German beer
1/2 tsp carraway seeds
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
preheat an oven to 225
in a dutch oven over medium heat on the stove, cook bacon until crispy
remove bacon from pan (leaving fat) and set aside for another use (BLT, soups... you name it!)
add sugar and stir quickly until sugar browns slightly
add onions and quickly sautee
add cabbage and 1/2 of apples
sautee 3-5 minutes
add sausage and potatoes, brown quickly
add remaining ingredients (except for other 1/2 of apples) and stir
cover dutch oven and put in oven
cook for 2 hours
add remaining apples and cook for an additional 30 minutes
serve
Roxie loved it! She had to beg first to get some:

And, she got a little cabbage stuck in her beard.

I had fun taking pictures of the cabbage...




And seriously, folks... seriously. Could I put up an Oktoberfest post without pics of me at the original Hofbrahaus? Of course not! So here you go! Me with a beer as big as my head:

And, me buying my sister (fourteen at the time to my twenty three) her first beer. Don't let me around your kids, because I'll clearly corrupt them.
Did I mention that my parents let me take her to Europe for three weeks of backpacking? By ourselves? Yeah. I can't believe it either.

Look at those those braces. And the spindly little middle schooler arms. She can't even hold up the mug with one hand. God, I hope she never does this with my kids.