Spooktoberfest at our house

It's the weekend and fall break for me, so I decided to throw a Halloween/Oktoberfest-type party. Things always get interesting when you add kids, food and candy, so this was nothing new at our house. We decided to christen today's party "Spooktoberfest" (if Seinfeld can have Festivus, well...)

For the food, I always like to plan something interesting to see how people will respond. Since kids are usually pretty predictable, I went with the unusual first.

One of my favorite goodies to make for Halloween that is unusual is Monster Eyes. It's all fruit, and not from the slaughterhouse, so don't get any ideas. Here's my recipe below.

2 can whole Lychees in syrup (check your local Asian or international food market)
1 small jar of peach or orange preserves or marmalade
Maraschino cherries, halved or fresh/frozen blueberries, whole

Rinse the lychees in a colander in cold water. Dry on a paper towel. Add preserves to inside of individual lychee. Top with cherry or blueberry, which holds in most of the preserves. Place on an appropriate tray, so everyone can enjoy these fruity treats.

Another thing, for the Oktoberfest part of the party was the bratwurst and sauerbraten. One of my friends brought kraut, so we could add those to the brats with German sweet and regular yellow mustard. I have eaten sauerbraten a couple of times before, so I checked on the net to find an easy recipe. There were lots, but most were similar to the one I used below. It is a modification of one I found at www.basic-recipes.com in the Sauerbraten section. Enjoy!

German Sauerbraten

4 pounds of eye round of beef (I used 1-bottom round roast and 1- sirloin tip roast)

Marinade
2 cups of water
1/2 cup of wine vinegar
1 onion, chopped
6 cloves
1 bay leaf
8 peppercorns
1 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar

Gravy addition
10-12 gingersnaps, crushed

Mix marinade ingredients and pour over beef in a glass or porcelain dish (no aluminum or metal) or add to Ziploc bag that closes easily. Refrigerate overnight. In the morning, turn the meat over and refrigerate for another 24 hours. Repeat this process for 2 more days. At cooking time, drain the meat and pat dry. Reserve the marinade.

Dredge the roast in 1/2 cup flour. Reserve the remaining flour. Brown roast in well-greased roasting pan. When browned, pour remaining marinade over meat and cover. Bake at 350 degree oven for 3-4 hours until fork tender.

Strain drippings to remove bay leaf, cloves and onions. Mix flour into drippings and add water as necessary. When gravy is complete, stir in crushed gingersnaps.

Slice roast and serve with gravy on top. Very good with buttered egg noodles, German dumplings or potato pancakes.