June's German food experiment update

     Welcome back to the newest installment of the Great German Food Cook-Off! In case you’re new to the blog I throw a gathering every year called Thanksgiving 2. TH2 is way to guarantee that everyone I know who wants a nice Thanksgiving will get one. This year the minor theme is German food. I have been testing out a series of around 20 recipes for this event in December. These last 40 days saw me make 4 very different recipes. I found 1 definite inclusion, 1 possible and 2 misses. I forgot to post about the May “Birthday Day” recipe, so I will include it here.

     I'll go over my first big recipe misfire that I've had. For the May “Birthday Day” at my office I made a Christmas Gingerbread. As with many of the dessert recipes I have tried so far the gingerbread had cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and a citrus component. It was mildly sweet and chewy, but not as moist as I was expecting. It definitely tasted like it was a winter bread/cake, but the texture was hard to identify. I don't know if I would describe it as a cake or a loaf of bread. It was too dense to be called a cake, but not quite chewy enough to be called a loaf of bread. I debated on whether or not to make an icing or try the cake/loaf on its own. I decided to bring it to work and let it stand alone.

     Clearly the gingerbread was not enjoyed as much as some of the other items I have brought into work. I was a bit disappointed that there was some left over at the end of the day. I was hoping that it would be like the nougatkugeln. I didn't care for the nougatkugeln, but several people really liked it, nevertheless it wasn't meant to be this time. I think that the because it wasn’t sweet enough to be put next to the desserts, and not savory enough to sit next to the salsa really hurt the gingerbread’s chances. The lack of butter or some spreadable topping probably didn't help either (I am afraid to bring in butter at work and leave it out all day). Maybe the extra moisture would have made it more appealing to the public. Either it simply didn't taste good enough or no one knew what to do with it. Perhaps, if I had a table set aside specifically for breads and rolls with multiple spreads/toppings/butters during Thanksgiving 2 would the gingerbread would truly be enjoyed.

     In June I managed to squeeze in 3 different recipes, a streusel kuchen, and 2 frikadelin recipes. Frikadelin is the traditional/original German hamburger. The main difference between these and an American burger is the addition of ground pork and a moist Kaiser roll.  I made 2 frikadelin recipes in the last 15 days. The first used 2 parts beef to 1 part pork and added paprika. The second recipe was equal portions beef to pork and marjoram. Both of the recipes have a meatloaf-ish taste and texture. The paprika version was smokier and tasted a bit better to me. The marjoram version used a bit more bread and has a much lighter taste and a fluffier texture. I think the flavor of the second version would become lost amongst all of the other foods at TH2. I am going to test that first frikadelin recipe at Christmas 2 in July. I’m hoping to get a few extra opinions. The streusel kuchen is a yellow cake base with candied pecans and a cinnamon, sugar and butter topping. I made a 9” x  12” pan of this. This recipe got the complete opposite reception at work. When lunchtime came around 75-80% of the kuchen was gone. At 2pm I was given the pan back because it was all gone. If every recipe I make went this fast, I could open a restaurant and start throwing town wide Thanksgiving 2 festivals. My wife and I definitely enjoyed the test batch and enough people at work liked it for streusel kuchen to make the current TH2 menu.
     Whereas May didn’t contribute any dishes to the menu, June finished with a roar hopefully adding 2 recipes.

Official Christmas 2.2 Preperation Schedule

Some of my regulars to CH2 and TH2 who like schedules and lists like I do have shown a mild amount of interest seeing how I figure out what to do for such large undertakings. I will repeat this style of entry as I get the Thanksgiving schedule closer to being finalized. I’m taking what I’ve used for the last couple years and I’ve shrunk it for the Christmas preparations. So here's the Schedule.

Highlights

                Friday July 12^th – Tuesday July 16^th

The first few days of prep are always light. I am hoping that the rainfall is light so the garden work does not have to be repeated. The only food item that gets made in this window is the figgy pudding. I am making this then because it will have an amount of alcohol added to it after it is completely baked. It is similar to a fruit cake in that way. I found out last year that the longer I kept it the better it got. A week beforehand isn’t that long, but I will notice a difference.  The other highlight is the trip to Shady Maple. I am really hoping that I can pick up a couple decorations for the house. It is a long shot, but I would like to add some Christmas decor to the kitchen and middle room.

                Wednesday July 13^th – Friday July 19^th

Now you see the food preparation and actual house rearranging. I’ve learned from TH2 that I should do as much as I can beforehand. The newest/fanciest part of this part of the schedule is the (at this point) possible Pub Crawl. I am really looking forward to this possibility. If this happens I would love to see this become a yearly part of Christmas 2 Eve. If this is half as enjoyable as the St. Patrick’s Day Grub Crawl I’ll be thrilled. Also, if several people join us for the crawl the tent will go up in a few minutes. The newest idea that I will be testing on everyone is the premixed cocktail dispensers. I am making 4 different cocktails, a red, green, white and “gold” one. I am trying to keep them Christmas colored of course. I haven’t decided which 4 drinks I’ll be making yet. I’m hoping that because I won’t be employing a bartender type person at CH2 or TH2 I want to find some way to utilize our ever growing bar. I figure I can put ice in a cooler on the Island with some tongs and have people serve themselves. I’m figuring since my guests aren’t alcoholics that this will work fairly well.

                The final part includes the “Shopping List” and “Drink Section”. The shopping list is something I created last year for TH2 to help me not double and triple buy some food items. I realize this isn’t a new concept.  I used to go shopping several times during the preceding weeks to buy my groceries. I had a tendency to buy way more food and accessories than was necessary.  If I bring a list I feel a bit more compelled to stick to it. The list says 3 turkeys! No More THAN 3!  It’s this reason that I came up with the P.S.M.U. (Personal Single Meal Unit). The second section is the drink poll. I want to try something different at CH2. We have a nice bar set-up, but with no one to man it at CH2 or TH2 it usually goes unused. The premixed drink containers will fix this, I hope. This is the preliminary list of cocktails I want my guests to choose from. Since this is a Christmas themed event I want a green, red, gold and white cocktail.  In a few days I will be putting up a poll asking my guests which drinks they would like to try.

                We are just under one month away from the second Christmas 2: Christmas in July. There is set-up and shopping to be done, but that doesn’t matter. I can’t wait, Christmas anytime is great.

Fan Favorites vs Brand New Recipes: The Foodie Dilemma

Now that Christmas 2: Christmas in July is approaching I have had a question come to mind. Should I have more of the crowd favorite recipes appear in the Thanksgiving 2.6 menu instead of trying to include so many "on theme" dishes? The internal debate of the party goer/thrower, favorites or experiments. What should I do?

This possible predicament first came up as I was figuring out what to make for Christmas 2. Christmas 2 is wholly different from TH2 in almost every way as far as I am concerned. There are fewer people involved because it is a gift exchanging event. It is a potluck gathering where I only make 1-3 dishes for the day as opposed to making 15-30 dishes for TH2. I will usually make a dessert and 1 or 2 main courses or single main and a side dish. This year I'll be making a figgy pudding and boeuf bourguignon, the third dish is to be determined as of today. I have made the boeuf more than once, and every time almost all of it is gone at the end of the event, plus I enjoy it greatly. These 2 facts brought up the issue I'm thinking through. Should I decrease the amount of "on theme" dishes and add in a few of these "fan favorites"? Unlike some of the other decisions I have to make I'm not leaning in either direction. I am stumped.

The other time I run into this worst of party problems is when I am headed to a party thrown by not me. Usually, I will ask the party thrower if they have a preference (what everyone should do, I think) and it is if they have no preference I run into the issue. I run through the 5 or 6 dishes I feel comfortable bringing to someone house for a party. Boeuf, Cajun grilled chicken, barbecue flavored pork loin chops, guacamole are my go to dishes. I have been known to make one of several desserts also. I will take the style and time of day and time of year of the party in consideration. For my own gathering it is significantly different.

The question seems to be a philosophical question. New and experimental or tried and true? Who knew that Thanksgiving 2 could bring about such a large concept. . . .  end interlude

My finished menu will have about 12 "on theme" dishes. The rest of the meal will be traditional Thanksgiving foods. As of June I know it is really early to have any concern about my menu pieces because I haven't tested all of them yet. This fact is what should be the ultimate deciding factor. For example I have 2 sauerbraten recipes left to test. If for some reason I find that neither of those are acceptable to me I will be losing one of my main course recipes. I suppose that with the loss of such a pivotal dish I will have to replace it with either one of my tried and true favorites (boeuf bourguignon) or search for an equally important German dish. At least I have some idea of what to do now. I have some testing to do, but after that I will have either a very easy decision made for me or we will be enjoying some great sauerbraten.