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Oktoberfest is just around the corner so I thought I would share our Oktoberfest party from last year that I never blogged about! Below, a vintage Bavarian hat sits on a wheeled market basket.
One of the centerpieces on one of the tables is this traditional Bavarian nutcracker! He is surrounded by a wreath I made.
Oktoberfest is held in September ( I know, confusing right?). Here’s a little history: It is a celebration that has been held nearly every year since 1810 in Munich, Germany. It is a 16-day festival that runs from late September into the first weekend in October. It was started on October 12, 1810 to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen on the Theresienwiese (Theresa’s Meadow). To this day, the celebrations are still held on the Theresienwiese! In Munich, an average of 6 million people visit during this festival.
Each year I pull out a few of my Bavarian nutcrackers and use them as decorations for the party. My mom and I made the placemats.
I had printed off these little hearts a few years ago – they are a little worse for wear now. I’ll have to print off new ones next time. I simply taped strings to them, created a little heart sandwich and hung them from the chandelier.
What’s on the menu?? Do you have to ask? Pretzels of course!! These pretzels are homemade and follow a traditional German recipe complete with a lye bath. Yep, lye, and no I’m not lying. You dip your pretzels in lye to crate the beautiful color and traditional taste and outside crunch on them. A baking soda bath will do, but it’s just not the same.
Some were wonkier than others… that’s okay, they all taste the same!
What else did we have? German sauerkraut and potatoes (basically a German hot potato salad). Cucumber salad. Sausage. German red cabbage. German beer, for those that drink. And a Black Forest Cake, no, not German chocolate cake. German chocolate cake isn’t German… but Black Forest Cake is! We’ve had homemade Apple strudel too, get the recipe here.
And we had loads of marzipan, as displayed below.
You can have your own Oktoberfest party too just by having some themed food and pull out a nutcracker or too. You don’t have to wear your Lederhosen and Dirndl, unless you want to.
Danke für Ihren Besuch. Tschüss!
How wonderful. Love the photos! We used to attend Octoberfest when I was young. My Father spoke German and we would get together with some of his German friends. I remember the food being extra yummy. xo
Author
oh that sounds like so much fun!
How fun! I’d love to have a party like this! Do you have the recipe for the pretzels? I’ve always wanted to try, although sort of scared to haha! Thanks for sharing these awesome pictures!
Author
Thanks, it was fun! I’ll email you the pretzel recipe I used here.
What fun and what a great way to celebrate your heritage!
Author
Yes we have fun!