Oktoberfest 2018

Another year, and time for another Oktoberfest at Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah. This year, my parents came to visit and my husband and I were able to bring them with us. We had lots of good food, heard lots of good (loud) music, and even caught a live Alpenhorn performance!

I ate a lot, including Rouladen, which is effectively thinly
sliced beef stuffed with bacon, onions, mustard, and pickle.

I also had Spätzle (egg noodles) with gravy.

...and the obligatory Weißwurst on a pretzel roll.

We took a tram to the top of Hidden Peak Summit (elevation:
11,000 feet) to catch the Alpenhorn performance. The
restaurant atop the Summit has only been open since 2015,
and I hadn't been to the summit since before it opened, so
I tried some Käsespätzele (cheese noodles) with bacon and
onions.

And...there may have been a giant soft pretzel with beer cheese.

Oktoberfest 2016

This year marks the 44th annual Oktoberfest at Snowbird Ski Resort, and the third year my husband and I have attended.

My husband had his usual: Weißwurst on a pretzel roll.

I tried the beer and cheese soup; not too bad, but it was
very rich.

I also had the Jägerschnitzel, which came with potato salad
and sauerkraut.

My husband had a glazed Belgian waffle, which was really
excellent.

I tried the Belgian waffle that come with fruit, Nutella,
iced cream, and whipped cream. Not too bad but the glazed
waffle was better.

And of course there was a lot of music.

Salt Lake Greek Festival 2016

This was the fifth year my husband and I attended the Salt Lake Greek Festival. We didn't stick around as long as we had in years past - we had some lunch, and admired the dancing and the items for sale in the little shop - but once again, there were no cooking demos to observe, nor did we take in a tour of the church or listen to a choral performance. The dancing was lovely, of course, and the food was, as usual, good (although we noticed a slight decline in the quality of the gyros). 

I had a gyro, spanakopita, pilaf, keftedes (meatballs), and
chicken souvlaki.

We both brought home some lamb, which came with an
excellent salad and feta, for dinner.

We had to get some desserts, too, of course: baklava,
baklava cheesecake, and galotoptia (custard).

The pasta flora (jam tart) and almond cookies were excellent.

Oktoberfest 2015

This year marks the 42nd annual Oktoberfest held at Snowbird Ski Resort. My husband and I attended last year, and had such a good time, we attended this year as well. We scaled back on what we ordered, though, especially since we didn't see a good way to get any leftovers home.

Ed got a Wurst platter, which came with Weißwurst
and sauerkraut.

I had some Bratwurst and Spätzle, which was gravy-ified.

Ed also got some apple strudel.

Salt Lake Greek Festival 2015

This weekend was the 40th anniversary of the Salt Lake Greek Festival; this is the fourth year in a row my husband and I have attended. We primarily go to the food but the festival features dancing from various Greek troupes; tours of Holy Trinity Cathedral and performances from the cathedral choir; and the Hellenic Cultural Museum of Salt Lake City.

This year we happened to go between dancing sets, so we didn't stay as long; we also didn't go on a tour of the church or listen to a choral performance. (And it's been a few years since we went to the Hellenic Cultural Museum.)

We noticed a few changes this year: There were fewer vendors - we remembered that last year, there were also many fewer than in previous years; for the second year in a row, we didn't see any art for sale. This year, for the first time, we didn't see the cooking demo stand set up. And the tchotchke shop - where we scored some feta and Greek coffee - had many fewer items than last year. There were also fewer food stands outside the food line; the sausage-and-fries stand had sold out, and there was no second gyro stand. Since both this year and last we went on a Sunday, we weren't sure if our timing had something to do with these differences.

But still - Greek food!

I did not eat all of this in one sitting: pilafi, spanakopita,
souvlaki, gyro, and calamari.

Some of the desserts we took home galaktoboureko,
galatopita, poutika, and a macaroon.

If we could have bought all the baklava,
we would have. We also brought home a
bag of koulourakia and some baklava cake.

We also took some loukoumades home.

Oktoberfest 2014

Every year since 1972, Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort has hosted an Oktoberfest celebration - generally held on weekends from August to mid-October. This year, my husband and I went.

Live bands played constantly (featuring lots of oompah and polka music and the obligatory chicken dance). Alas, I didn't get any pictures of the bands...except for Salzburger Echo, who played their Alpenhorns atop Hidden Peak.

There were some truly gorgeous views atop Hidden Peak, which has an elevation of 11,000 feet.

And, of course, we ate a lot of good food (alas, we were too full to go back for the Rouladen):

Bratwurst with Sauerkraut and a pickle

Weisswurst with Sauerkraut and a pickle

Spaetzle with gravy (because gravy!) 

potato pancakes which came with butter,
apple sauce, and sour cream

We also shared several of the desserts.
This was German chocolate cake.

Schwarzwald Kuchen  

Apfeltorte

Salt Lake Greek Festival 2014

This weekend was the 39th annual Salt Lake Greek Festival, hosted by the Greek Orthodox Churches of Greater Salt Lake; my husband and I have managed to attend the past three years (the first festival I could have attended, four years ago, I hadn't known about; I had been living in Utah for less than a week at that point). Last year, we discovered that Sunday afternoon was a good time for us to attend; the food lines are much shorter, which suits us better.

In any case, we saw some wonderful dancing; saw a cooking demo, in which fried feta was prepared and shared; and heard the Holy Trinity Cathedral Choir perform.

We also ate a lot of great food.

While waiting in line, we bought and ate Tyropita, a cheese
triangle wrapped and baked in phyllo.

My husband had the Keftedes (meatballs); a gyro; pilafi (rice
 boiled in lemon and chicken broth); pork souvlaki; and
Pastitsio (baked pasta with a filling of ground meat and a
béchamel sauce on top). He also had a salad and feta.

I had some spanikopita; a gyro; some feta; some Keftedes;
and chicken souvlaki. 

I also had Stifado, a beef stew with pearl onions, vinegar,
red wine, and cinnamon.

While I wasn't able to eat everything, before we left we
stopped off for another gyro and Greek fries to take home. 

Among the things we took home were the Loukoumades, which
are similar to donuts; they're fried balls of dough coated with
honey and sprinkled with cinnamon.

Many treats were bought; some was eaten, but some was
taken home. We ate some baklava and melomakarona
(cookies soaked in syrup of diluted honey, then sprinkled with
crushed walnuts).

Baklava is one of our favorites, but we also ate or brought home
a galotopita (custard pudding baked in phyllo) and some
flogeres (walnuts, butter, and spices baked in phyllo and topped
with chocolate syrup).

Nihon Matsuri

Despite the cold, rainy weather today, my husband and I went to Nihon Matsuri, an annual Japanese Festival held between the Japanese Church of Christ and the Sale Lake Buddhist Temple in downtown Salt Lake City. It was cold and raining pretty hard, but we had a lot of fun: Lots of good food was available, and everyone was very friendly. One could go to a tea festival, and there were multiple tours being held at the Buddhist Temple; there were also historical and artistic exhibits.

sushi plate

teriyaki chicken wings

gyoza (very good indeed!)

noodles, served chilled

Salt Lake Greek Festival 2013

The weekend after Labor Day, the Greek Orthodox Church of Greater Salt Lake throws a big festival: the Salt Lake Greek Festival. It's a four-day event that starts on Thursday afternoon and goes until Sunday night, and it's monstrous. My husband and I went this afternoon, which was a great time to have gone; the food lines were quick (in years past we've waited up to an hour or more).

We had some great food, trying much of the food I know little old Greek church ladies had spent a lot of time preparing. We even saw a whole lamb cooking on a spit, which I wish I had gotten a picture of.

My husband had a Greek salad, gyro, calamari,
pork souvlaki, and Keftedes (baked meatballs) 

I got a lot of the same things my husband did (although I
got spanikopita instead of salad, and didn't get an order of
calamari), but we both got an extra gyro.

I also ordered Loukaniko, pork sausage flavored with
fennel seeds and orage peel).

And aside from a tray of pastries we took home with us,
we had fresh Loukourmades, fried balls of dough coated
with honey and sprinkled with cinnamon.

Thanksgiving Point

This afternoon my husband and I went to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point. Despite having started out cold, gray, and rainy, by the afternoon, the weather had cleared upL was sunny, breezy, and cool, yet warm enough to go without a jacket (or to only go with a light jacket). Lots of families and young kids running around, chasing each other, rolling down grassy hills, lots of magnificent flowers - and good fair food.

I ordered a 9-inch pepperoni pizza from the
Brick Oven Pizza Co.

I may also have eaten some French fries
that Ed had gotten from Grandma Mini's.

I also wound up ordering some freshly-made
doughnuts from Grandma Mini's.
They turned out to be really delicious.