Another annual sauerbraten, käsespätzle, und rotkraut dinner

Every year when Tom's mother and brother visit for the Christmas holidays, we gather for our annual sauerbraten, käsespätzle, and rotkraut dinner. Usually we do it between Christmas and New years, but Seattle's weather threw everything off this year, so we ended up having our traditional dinner today.

This year we decided to forego the "quick sauerbraten" that I've thrown together in previous years. Instead, we made sauerbraten the real way, the traditional way -- soaking the meat in wine, vinegar, and spices in the refrigerator for a full two days. Thanks to Craig, who orchestrated it all, dinner was delicious... and oh, so much fun!

Elisabeth brought her boyfriend, CJ, and two of her housemates, Blake and Lauren, making for a grand total of eleven of us.

Here's a little photographic tour of our evening. One of these days, I'll need to post the recipes. Remind me before next year, OK?

Cutting 15 onions calls for "onion goggles." What? You think I'm kidding? Tom swears by these things!

Maybe it was more like 17 onions?!

I'm responsible for the rotkraut. First, take two heads of red cabbage and act like a junior high schooler:

Then steal some onions, add sliced apples, red wine vinegar, wine, brown sugar, and all kinds of spices:

Add the cabbage:

Let it all cook for a long time.

Meanwhile, bug Craig. Take pictures of everything he does as he prepares the sauerbraten:

Hey, Tom's bugging Craig too. But that's the job of a little brother, right?

This sauerbraten recipe is nothing like the recipe I've made for the past few years. First, the meat soaks for those two all-important days.

And this recipe has leeks...

and carrots:

Oh, and onions. Did I mention the onions?

Pretty, eh?

And now for the käsespätzle. It takes at least four hands to make them.

Awwww... brothers! Aren't they cute?

While those four hands are making the spätzle, grate the käse:

Then solicit three cute young ladies...

...to help assemble the käsespätzle.

Wait -- where did all these people come from? We SO need a bigger kitchen!

I think we might have made a little too much food!

Yup, we definitely did!

Now set the table all pretty and holiday-like...

And, after posing for yet another picture, dig in! Until next year, auf wiedersehen, tschuss, und GUTEN APPETITE!

Presenting Our Annual "Sauerbraten und Käsespätzle" Dinner!

Each year, between Christmas and New Years, we create (we don't just cook!) and devour (we don't just eat!) our annual Sauerbraten und Käsespätzle dinner. We look forward to this meal all year long, not only for its deliciousness, but for the great time we have preparing it. This year we got a late start in the day and didn't end up eating until 11 PM, but it was well worth the wait!

Tom's brother Craig is the master of the Käsespätzle and even when Tom and I were in Germany last September, we didn't taste any Käsespätzle that came close to his! Craig starts with 10 huge sweet Walla-Walla onions, over a pound of butter, a delicious mix of Emmathaler and Swiss cheese, and then puts his little brother and his nieces and nephews to work!

In the meantime, I throw together (and it really is that easy) the sauerbraten and get that cooking on the stove for just a fraction of the time (thanks to the red wine vinegar) that original sauerbraten used to cook in German kitchens.

Normally, I begin the rotkraut (also called blaukraut; what's with that?!) at the same time that I begin the sauerbraten, but due to circumstances beyond my control last night (too much heffe weizen beer?!), I didn't get it started until it was much too late and... well, it's still on the stove as I type this the next morning! But I did steal some still-too-raw rotkraut for my final photo!

So here's a bit of a vertical photo collage, beginning with a video that I took of the organized chaos in the much-too-small kitchen. Notice how everyone reveres me and my camera and eagerly participates in my production? (Pfffffft!) But I like this because it shows everyone's personality. Before the scene even really begins you can see Peter leave the room. He had just said something along the lines of, "If you're taking pictures or a video with that damn camera, I'm outta here!" But he does re-appear to get a glass, so HA!. Craig, Elisabeth and Aleks are deeply immersed in the dance that is Käsespätzle, with Elisabeth ignoring me and Aleks admonishing me not to narrate my videos -- so true to their personalities! (And Elisabeth licking the dough -- yuuuk -- is just pure Elisabeth!) Poor Kat is still on pain meds from her oral surgery; can you tell? Tom is washing dishes, which is just where I like him, and sweet Danelle -- well, she speaks for herself!

Tom insists that the goggles prevent onion-induced crying. I just think they look funny! But cutting ten huge onions does require the big guns!

So who are all those people sitting around my gold-accented New Years table? Left to right, that's Elisabeth's boyfriend Scott (yes, the one who brought me roses on Christmas Eve!), Tom's mother Rose (Nana), Aleks, Kat, Tom, his older brother Craig (for whom I am seeking a wife!), Peter, Danelle, and Elisabeth. In my gratitude journal, these guys all rank right up there with air to breathe.

(If Blogger would allow it, I'd post a caption with each picture, but for some crazy-stupid reason this simple task can't be achieved in Blogger (tips, anyone?) and even my geeky brother-in-law Craig couldn't get the html to cooperate enough to caption photos. Please tell me they're working on this!)

Yet another sauerbraten, käsespätzle und rotkraut dinner

Are you bored yet?  We’ve done this every year since this blog began…

over…

and over…

and over…

and over…

and sometimes multiple times per year.  And yet here I am again, telling you about tonight’s sauerbraten, käsespätzle und rotkraut dinner.

I wanted to finally post recipes, but to tell you the truth we don’t have any!  Peter cooks the sauerbraten by taste, adding stuff like red wine vinegar, molasses, ginger snaps, and beef broth a bit at a time until it tastes just right.

Craig (Tom’s brother) is the onion man. 

Would you believe that there are 12 large onions cooking down in that frying pan?

And THIS is how much cheese we bought for the käsespätzle (but we only used three of these packages… the top one is Emmanthaler):

When cooking a German dinner, always drink beer!  Right, Kat?

Once the sauerbraten is cooking, start the rotkraut:

I pretty much just dump red cabbage, apple slices, vinegar, brown sugar and clove into a pot and turn the heat on low.

Let everything cook for a while.

 

Now it’s time to get the spätzle dough going.  I let the guys do this.  First little brother…

 

Then big brother.

Enlist daughters and friends in making the dumplings…

Then it’s time to construct the käsespätzle.  All SIX casserole dishes full of it!

And then, finally, it’s time to eat!

Delish!!

Schmaltzy as it is, there is nothing – positively nothing, like a big, happy, delicious family dinner!