With COVID-19 cancelling Octoberfest celebrations around the world my parents and I decided to hold our own celebration this year. During the first weekend of Octoberfest my family and I celebrated the occasion with a big German meal. Aldi, a German company, came in handy by providing some yummy shortcuts to our meal.

German Items From Aldi– With Aldi being a German based company the discount food chain offers some limited items during the fall season to make your Octoberfest authentic! I read online that Aldi sells these imported German favorites two times throughout the year, so if you missed buying them this fall you’ll have another opportunity in the spring, usually around Easter.

For our Octoberfest meal I looked to Aldi for their imported dried spaetzle (a small dumpling popular in southern Germany). Another limited favorite is Aldi’s red cabbage with apples, delicious and good for you too. I always get my sauerkraut from Aldi (imported from Germany and found at Aldi year round.) And you can’t have a proper German celebration without a yummy dessert and the caramel apple strudel from Aldi did not disappoint. It was the perfect ending to our meal. The strudel comes frozen and is available in apple, caramel apple and mixed berry.

Schnitzel Prepared Hunter Style– I make pork schnitzel (breaded and fried pork cutlets) throughout the year and usually serve it plain or with a slice of lemon. This time I wanted to make a Hunter Sauce to go with it and my dad and I cooked up the sauce together. Hunter Sauce is a creamy mushroom sauce with onions and it is so good! After pouring the rich sauce over the schnitzel, we garnished the dish with real bacon bits and fried onions. The main dish was delicious and cooking with my dad was fun! CLICK HERE for the recipe.

Big Shark Lemon Radler by Urban Chestnut– I love radlers (beer mixed with lemonade or lemon lime soda) and I found a local radler brewed by a Saint Louis brewery, Urban Chestnut. Urban Chestnut’s radler is hands down the best radler I’ve ever had in the states. During the summer I enjoyed their Big Shark Grapefruit Radler and it was delicious. I wish they brewed them year round! We drank from mugs decorated with my hometown flag, a city founded by German immigrants.

You don’t have to be German or come from a family with German heritage (my maternal great grandmother was a German immigrant) to enjoy Octoberfest! You simply have to love beer, good food and family fun!