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Oktoberfest!

Enjoying This Traditional German Celebration

By Julia Rosien

Many public libraries loan videotapes, audiotapes, books and CDs that will give you a better picture of traditional and modern day Oktoberfest. If you have toddlers in the house, you'll have all the enthusiasm of an Om Pa Pa band. You'll need to teach them a fast waltz to actually polka though. Add an accordion, some German songs, and you're set for an evening of family fun.

For a morning activity, try Jaegerfruehstueck (hunters' breakfast), which is served traditionally with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, assorted breads, coffee and juice. After breakfast spend the day outdoors enjoying the Ernte or harvest with a flurry of activity. The seasonal tasks of a German family would have included duties such as schnitzing, preserving, husking, pickling and brewing. Find an orchard and spend the day picking apples and making applesauce or pies as your modern day celebration of Ernte.

Men wear lederhosen, or short leather pants with suspenders. Women wear dirndls, or over-dresses, with elaborate embroidery and a white blouse underneath. During Oktoberfest, men and women wear these costumes with great pride. The embroidery on the women's dresses is an art form handed down from mother to daughter, generation after generation. A book from the library should give you an idea of what German people wore long ago.

Oktoberfest, like any ethnic event, provides an opportunity to teach while learning something new. Roll your sleeves up and try a new recipe for supper – fried potatoes with lots of cottage cheese piled on top. Try it, you'll be surprised how good it tastes.

Want to see more?

• The Pumpkin Patch: Tips for Roasting and Using These Orange Gems
• Family Cookbooks: Preserve Those Treasured Recipes
• Check out our Article Library.
• Seeing the World, One Dish at a Time: Ethnic Foods and Adventurous Grandchildren Are a Good Mix
• Talk about it!