The Barefoot Kitchen Witch

And The Winner of the 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes Cookbook Is...

Okay!

As I indicated when I introduced the contest, the winner would be selected by having my kids write out numbers corresponding to the number of entrants, fold the slips of paper, shake them around in a plastic pumpkin, pick one slip out of the pumpkin, unfold it, and display it to all the world (or at least to the little portion of the world who read this blog.)

So that's what we did last night.  After dinner and bath time, I summoned the children to the dining room and gave them their instructions, and then I stood there, camera in hand, flash on (it was dark, I had no choice) and photographed the excitement.  (Of course, my kids had no idea why they were excited, they just went along with it.  I gave them some pre-Halloween candy as a think you.)

So here we go.

First, I counted the number of comments.  There were 10 this time.  Easy enough for Alex to write out on the 10 pieces of paper I gave him.  And while he numbered, Julia folded.

 

 

 

 

 

(Making sure he didn't skip a number.)

 

 

(shaking the pumpkin)

 

(great job shaking the pumpkin, Julia!)

 

(take my picture, mom!)

 

(remember, Julia, only ONE piece of paper...)

 

(and we have a winner!)

(she passes the secret winning slip of paper to her brother...)

(he unfolds it in a painfully slow manner...and then...the winner is...number....!!!!)

 

(is...?  stupid flash.  I can't even read it...)

(let's move in a bit closer...and the winner is...................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

 

It's number 10!  And that would be...Emily, the Cereal Fairy!

Congratulations, Emily!  Please send me an email with your shipping address and I'll get that cookbook out to you as soon as possible!

And to all who participated - thank you so much - I loved all the different costume ideas and the stories that accomanied them!! 

Let's do this again some time, shall we?

This Year's Oktoberfest Dessert - Chocolate Cake, But Not Just Any Chocolate Cake

I know, it's an incredibly long post title.  But it's also an incredibly good cake and deserving of such a lengthy intro.

Oktoberfest 2007 - Part 5 - The Scary Stuff

I realize I kind of got away from the Oktoberfeast posts.  The first four posts -

Oktoberfeast - Part 1 - The Sauerkraut

Oktoberfeast - Part 2 - The Onion Cake

Oktoberfeast - Part 3 - The Sauerbraten

Oktoberfeast - Part 4 - The Spaetzle

were done, appropriately, in October, and then I got sidetracked by other meals and birthdays and work and kids and all that stuff.

Oktoberfest 2007 - Part 4 - the Spaetzle

In my slowly continuing recap of a meal we put together for Oct 13th, here are the 4th recipe I'm posting.

You can see the others here:

OktoberFeast - Part 1 - the Sauerkraut

OktoberFeast - Part 2 - the Onion Cake

OktoberFeast - Part 3 - the Sauerbraten

Today it's all about the Spaetzle. 

Oktoberfest 2007 - Part 3 - the Sauerbraten

I've been posting about a dinner that my husband and I put together this past Saturday - a big selection of German menu items accompanied by a selection of German beers. 

You can see the menu and read Part 1 - the Sauerkraut - here, and Part 2 - the Onion Cake - here.

Today, I'm writing about the Sauerbraten.

Oktoberfest 2007 - Part 2 - the Onion Cake

As I mentioned yesterday, we had a dinner of German food this past Saturday night.  In my previous post I talked about the sauerkraut my husband made.  Next up is his mother's mother's onion cake recipe.

We found this recipe in one of the notebooks I "inherited" when my mother-in-law passed away almost five years ago.  The other recipes before it were various cookies - such as all the holiday cookies that she made every year and sent out to family.  There were also a few bread and cake recipes - all hand-written.

Let's begin.

Oktoberfest 2007 - Part 1 - the Sauerkraut

At some point in early September we decided that we would, for sure, have an Oktoberfest gathering of a few friends and family.  Bill brewed a Dunkel Weizen (a dark wheat beer) and we had assorted bottles of other German beers on hand.  We also had a couple bottles of wine - a Reisling that Bill made a year ago and a Gewurtztraminer that he picked up along with some of the beer.  No one drank either of the white wines.  Instead, the wine drinkers had some Italian reds.  There was sparkling cider for the older kids, and juice for the younger.

And now...the food.