Food, Glorious Food

Growing up my family would often put together an international night where we’d cook up an elaborate meal from one particular country. We’d also decorate, play music, and use trivia and games to learn more about that country. It was always so much fun that Doug and I have recently been enjoying our own version. We usually try to plan out an entire week of international food – we’ll pick a week’s worth of countries or one ethnic region and plan meals for the week based on those.

This week we’ve been enjoying our own version of Oktoberfest and in my opinion it’s been one of the best international weeks so far. An entire week of just German food wasn’t too appealing, so we allowed recipes from any country that borders Germany. Since the most important part of any international week is the dessert, I baked up a batch of Black Forest cupcakes. Easy to make and quite delicious, the combo of chocolate cake, cream, and cherries really can’t be topped. Doug also picked up a selection of German beers for the week, as you obviously can’t have Oktoberfest without the biere (beer). For our first meal we “traveled” to Germany and had bratwurst with sauerkraut and mustard. Up next was Poland. We tried out pierogie casserole, basically a mashed potato and cheese lasagna, which actually did taste just like pierogies. On night three we dined on Belgian beef stew with frites (fries). Did you know “French” fries actually originated in Belgium? Then we hit Switzerland and tried a Swiss chicken and cheese casserole. Next we returned to Germany and enjoyed apple cider pork chops. Then we finished up the week with one of our favorites – French onion soup.

Our next international week is already in the planning stages and I’m thinking a Mediterranean week is the way to go. I’ve already found some interesting recipes from Egypt, Turkey, and Morocco and some of my favorite cuisine is Greek and Italian.

If you’d like to try your own international night, the best resource for recipes is allrecipes.com – just search for the country of your choice and get cooking!