One Month at a Time
The Friday Newsletter reminds you that Oktoberfest is actually about September
By the time we get to this part of the year, I’m as ready as anyone for summer to end.
I don’t do well with heat and humidity, and as a lame suburban Dad, I long for the days where my wardrobe decisions can return to “which quarter-zip am I wearing to work today?”
When a little hint of fall breezed in this week, I was overjoyed. It’s over! It’s over!
(It’s probably not over.)
Still, I think we have a habit, as a society, of lurching forward too fast from summer to fall—a sentiment I hadn’t fully be able to put into words until I saw it expressed by Leah Koenig in her excellent newsletter The Jewish Table earlier this week:
Sometime shortly after July 4th, I noticed the creep towards pumpkin spice season beginning. Call me basic, but I live for autumn’s apple picking, cozy boots and scrunchy socks, leaf-crunching vibes. But if we rush too quickly into #sweaterszn, we miss out on the beauty of the moment we are in right now—Late Summer Meets Early Fall.
You know what I’m talking about:
Farmer’s market hauls that include both eggplants and root veggies.
The dwindling (but still kicking!) cherry tomato plant on the terrace.
Mornings that require sweaters and uncomfortably warm afternoons.
I love October. October weather in Kentucky is damn near perfect. I love playoff baseball and conference-play football and Halloween. I got married in October, and my daughter was born in October. It’s a terrific month, and I’m not even going to pretend that I don’t enjoy pumpkin spice lattes, because I do.
But September’s too good to just blow by.
It’s a beautiful time of year—the summer we actually deserve after the summer we just endured. Yesterday it was 53 in the morning and 80 at lunchtime, and I don’t think I could ask for anything better. It’s a time for wearing shorts while thinking about making a stew.
October will be upon us soon. Let’s show some love to September first.
Friends, it is once again Friday on The Action Cookbook Newsletter.
Every Friday, I work to bring you a selection of things that I think will make your weekend better. Today, I’ve got a simplified version of a seasonal specialty, a quick, easy and refreshing cocktail, some great entertainment options, the penultimate round of Where in the #@&% is Glen From Cincinnati, the Internet’s Best Comment Section, and much more!
Wake me up before September ends, because I don’t want to miss a minute of it.
7) In which I immediately contradict myself and talk about Oktoberfest
It’s not actually a contradiction, though.
Oktoberfest—the massive annual beer festival and celebration of German food and culture—kicks off this weekend, both in Munich and in the Munich of the Midwest, Cincinnati. The original traditionally runs for the 16 days leading up to the first Sunday in October.
I love German food—bratwurst, pretzels, spaetzle, schnitzel, potato salad—it’s practically in my blood (and it’s clogging my arteries while it’s in there.)
With an eye toward Oktoberfest this week, I decided to take on another classic German dish—Sauerbraten, a heavily-marinated beef roast—but simplify it to fit my decidedly-American busy work schedule. Instead of dirtying a bunch of pots and pans, I’m doing it all in the electric pressure cooker, with a two-day marinade my only concession toward advance preparation.