What I Had for Lunch Today: Chef's Salad

This is just my usual "chicken" chef's salad, the recipe for which I've blogged before. Party at night with lots of good food expected, so I didn't want to go crazy. Oktoberfest menu at Amy and Warren's included homemade sausages, bottom round, gravy, cabbage, cheesy spaetzle, kartoffelsalat, and two kinds of cucumber salad: German-style and Polish. Also beautiful bread, a selection of cheeses, and a cute little pâté. Oh, and lots of beer, of course.

The cucumber salads were my contribution, a request by Amy. For the German one, I tossed thinly-sliced cucumbers with rice wine vinegar, salt, finely-ground pepper, dill, and a pinch of brown sugar. For the Polish one, I tossed the cucumbers with soured cream, salt, pepper, chives and parsley. I brought home two empty bowls.

Dessert was German chocolate cake, a chocolate ice cream cake, a marble cheesecake, and little raspberry tarts. Plus a cappuccino made in Amy's spiffy-looking espresso machine. Afterwards, we got Amy's sister Gretchen to play dorky German--and other--music on her accordion.