Playdate Special: Oktoberfest Platter

In honor of Oktoberfest and to celebrate our family’s heritage, I decided to make a German platter for the weekly playdate. Whenever it’s German-inspired night at our household, I serve homemade spaetzle I learned from Mom Hirsch and heat up some store-bought brats, sausages, and sauerkraut. My husband loves it. The kids do too, except they avoid the kraut, even if it “smells like pickles and we like pickles.”

On a recent trip to Solvang, a charming town in Central California, I came across sauerkraut made with red cabbage and figured it'd be fun to try and make it at home. In lieu of the usual meat offering, I experimented with creating a mustard sauce to dress the chicken breasts.

The result: the red cabbage adds a punch of color to an otherwise monochromatic platter. The mustard sauce works well to complement the nutmeg-spiced spaetzle. Everyone ate plenty and the kids actually tried the sauerkraut, or at least, the apple bits. I duplicated the recipe for our family dinner and my husband approves.

Chicken with Mustard Cream Sauce

2 pounds chicken breasts, cubed
2 tablespoons mustard
1/4 cup vinegar
3 tablespoon cooking oil
2 cloves garlic, minced, or 2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 can 10.5 ounce cream of mushroom soup
5 ounces water

Marinade the chicken in mustard and vinegar mixture for 20 minutes. Heat two tablespoons oil in pan and cook the chicken pieces on medium high heat for 10 minutes. Remove chicken from pan. Add remaining oil to pan and sauté the garlic or add the garlic powder. Pour in the cream of mushroom and diluted with about half a can of water. Put chicken back in pan and let simmer for 15 minutes. Serve over spaetzle with a side of sauerkraut.

Spaetzle *

4 quarts water
2 cups flour
1 egg
1 tablespoon nutmeg
a pinch of salt
½ cup or enough milk to mix into sticky dough
1 tablespoon butter, optional

Bring water to boil. Combine flour, egg, nutmeg, salt, and milk until thick mixture forms. Let rest.
Using a spaetzle maker, put dough into water and boil until noodles rise to the surface. Drain and set aside. If desired, put butter in spaetzle.

* If you don’t have a spaetzle-maker handy, substitute with cooked egg noodles.

Purple Sauerkraut with Apples

1 medium red cabbage sliced
1 red onion, sliced
2 Granny Smith apples, skinned and sliced
½ cup apple cider vingegar
½ cup water
¼ cup brown sugar

Put cabbage, onion, and apples in pot and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Once softened, pour in apple cider vinegar, water, and brown sugar. Simmer and stir occasionally for about 45 minutes.

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Playdate Special: Simple Pleasures

I decided we'd have a picnic in the backyard to "bask in the sun" (Arwen's current favorite phrase)and enjoy the last days of summer. On the menu were turkey meatballs, grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato salad, carrots with dip, and the dessert offerings included tea cookies and popsicles. Everything was bite-size, perfect finger foods for the kiddos and moms alike. This menu offers a variety of texture, taste, and even temperature!
Verdict: To quote Felipe, "THIS is awesome, this picnic!".

Turkey Meatballs

1 pound ground turkey
1/2 cup cooked rice
1 slice whole grain wheat bread
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dry basil
Pinch of salt
16 ounces marinara sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Mix turkey with all the ingredients except sauce and vinegar. Shape mixture into 1-inch meatballs. Put in pot with marinara sauce and simmer for 40 min. Drizzle some balsamic vinegar in the sauce, stir, and serve.

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

12 slices whole grain wheat bread
12 slices sharp cheddar cheese

Place bread slices on baking sheet and place a thick slice of sharp cheddar atop each slice. Broil on high for 2 minutes. Place another slice over the broiled slice, flip and broil another 2 minutes maximum. Cut into mini-squares, or use cookie cutters to add some fun.

Tomato Salad

2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Pinch of salt
¼ cup red onion, diced
Dash of freshly ground black pepper

For the kids: Cut cherry tomatoes in half. Dress the tomatoes with the seasoning.
For the moms: Same but add in diced red onions and freshly ground black pepper.

Carrot with Dip

8 ounces baby carrots
½ cup plain yogurt
½ cup store-bought ranch dressing

Microwave baby carrots for 2 to 3 minutes. Bath in ice water. Drain and cut length wise. Mix ready-made ranch dressing with plain yogurt and serve as dipping for the carrots.

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