From the link here we find some background and information about Octoberfest and how it got started.

Crown Prince Ludwig, later to become King Ludwig I, was married to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen on 12th October 1810. The citizens of Munich were invited to attend the festivities held on the fields in front of the city gates to celebrate the happy royal event. The fields have been named Theresienwiese (“Theresa’s fields”) in honor of the Crown Princess ever since, although the locals have since abbreviated the name simply to the “Wies’n”.
Horse races in the presence of the Royal Family marked the close of the event that was celebrated as a festival for the whole of Bavaria. The decision to repeat the horse races in the subsequent year gave rise to the tradition of the Oktoberfest.

The Oktoberfest continues in 1811

In 1811 an added feature to the horse races was the first Agricultural Show, designed to boost Bavarian agriculture. The horse races, which were the oldest and – at one time – the most popular event of the festival are no longer held today. But the Agricultural Show is still held every three years during the Oktoberfest on the southern part of the festival grounds.
In the first few decades the choice of amusements was sparse. The first carousel and two swings were set up in 1818. Visitors were able to quench their thirst at small beer stands which grew rapidly in number. In 1896 the beer stands were replaced by the first beer tents and halls set up by enterprising landlords with the backing of the breweries.
The remainder of the festival site was taken up by a fun-fair. The range of carousels etc. on offer was already increasing rapidly in the 1870s as the fairground trade continued to grow and develop in Germany.
It is today the world’s largest Volksfest, beer festival, held in Munich every year from mid or late September to the first weekend in October. It is still often called the Weisn to locals. This year’s festival has ended, but you can make plans for next year, from September 21 to October 6, 2019.
I saw a display of German themed food in my local grocery store, featuring spaetzle noodles. I asked for tips or recipes over at Stella’s Place and czar was generous enough to give me some tips.
Today I made spaetzle for the first time, and it was a delicious dish. I made it in beef broth and served it with a small roast and the gravy it made in cooking. The noodles were not like any egg noodles I have had before, and I found them delicious and hearty.
If you are looking for a way to stretch food dollars, this would be a good one. I didn’t need much of the meat, I went after the noodles. I think you could add some vegetables to the mix if you wanted, or use them in a soup. Czar has some good tips for how to use the leftovers, and even how to make your own noodles.
I am starting us off with his tips and hope you guys will toss in a few of your own favorite German recipes as we finish the last little bit of October.
From czar:

Spaetzla is a noodle type that’s used all over Europe, cheap and easy – try this recipe:
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/11793/german-spaetzle-dumplings/

What I do is to boil them in a STRONG broth, not water. Ugh. A day or more before Turkey Day I get wings/necks (try tossing a few smoked ones in) and make a strong broth and toss in onions (skin and all) garlic, carrots and celery. I let the broth cool, strain it and refrigerate it to make the fat rise to the top and solidify. When I remove it if the broth is gelatinous I’ll heat it up when I’m ready to boil the spaetzle and thin it with commercial turkey or chicken broth. Ditto the thinning as the dumplings absorb fluid as they cook.

I use whole milk as the fat tastes better, don’t be scared of the nutmeg or pepper – you can use more – and/or use garlic/om\onion powder too if you’d like – the flour literally soaks up flavor and makes it disappear. Get a spaetzle maker, they’re on Amazon, they last forever, aren’t expensive and you can use them year ’round. Make sure to wipe it down with some veg oil when you run the dough thru it, makes the process MUCH easier.

Now the fun part – you can use the broth left in making gravy or turkey soup/stew -or both, I’ve been known to put leftover gravy in my turkey gumbo. Cleaning the veggies left over from the broth you can toss’em, puree them for various uses or just heat and eat as a snack – my fav.

Don’t obsess over cooking them, they come to the surface when they’re ready, just scoop with a spider or slotted spoon. Undercooking is far worse than overcooking as you get that raw flour taste. their main benefit is how they swim in that gravy BUT leftover ones make SUPER mac-and-cheese using the spaetzle instead of mac. Mmmmmmmm….whole milk, cream, butter, sharp cheddar and Gruyere (2 cheddar to 1 Gruyere). And if there’s hot, leftover gravy…..baked spaetzla and cheese. Works well with extra garlic and onion powder in the mix too….

 
 

 

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