German Night

Tonight was particularly hectic; within a the same 15 minute time span I was frying up beer brats, making spaetzles from scratch, making sure the bottle my husband was giving to the baby was warm enough, and selling my old TV to a guy from craigslist. PHEW! Thank goodness my husband was home to help out a little bit! I ended up in a dirty apron mixing spaetzle batter when the guy showed up on our doorstep, and I was still in the apron when I sat down to eat. Oh well, the food tasted great! Too bad we ate dinner while watching the god-awful GI Joe movie after the baby went down for a nap.

The only original food tonight really was the spaetzels, but I will make the other ingredients into links for your researching pleasure.



Johnsonville Beer Brats
1 12 oz. bottle of Guinness
Place these in a large frying pan together and cook on medium-low for about 30 minutes, flipping the brats frequently. Cut open with a knife to make sure they're no longer pink inside and are well cooked before you eat them. Add more water to the pan if the beer evaporates and the bratwurst still aren't done. Serve with a dip of Whole Grain Sweet and Spicy Mustard

Gundelsheim Red Cabbage
1 jar, poured into a small pot, heated on medium-low and stirred until heated through.

Spaetzle Recipe:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk

Stir together flour and salt. Combine eggs and milk then stir into the flour mixture, making a soft, wet dough. Either use a spaetzle maker or a kitchen utensil (spoon, spatula, etc.) that has round holes in it, and push the dough through the holes by rounded spoonful into a pot of boiling water. In another small bowl microwave 2 Tbsp of butter til melted. Let them cook 2-3 minutes or until floating at the top, then remove to butter bowl. You will need to do this process a few times, because you will overload the pot of water if you do all the dough at once. Once all the spatzle is done, mix with a wooden spoon to coat all in the melted butter. Add a few shakes of table salt if desired.

It was only the two of us eating this so we had plenty of leftovers; this makes enough to feed 4-5 people about a 3/4 cup serving of spaetzle.

This meal, although mostly store-bought, was freakin' delicious! And as long as you start frying the brats and making the spaetzle at about the same time, it all finishes together.
Extra bonus: you can see my daughter's head in the bottom photo. Since my husband had to help me watch the brats and reheat the cabbage while I was making the spaetzle, we just put her in the Baby Bjorn bouncer (which rocks her socks, by the way) and let her watch us cook. Babies LOVE watching you do something interesting!