Get out the lederhosen, the beer steins and put on the ooopmh music. When the leaves start to turn and the crisp days of autumn arrive it must be time for Oktoberfest.

The first Oktoberfest was held in Munich, Germany in 1810 to honour the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig. Oktoberfest, the world's largest beer festival, is held annually in Munich, Germany. The 16-day party attracts over 6 million people every year who consume 1.5 million gallons of beer, 200,000 pairs of pork sausage, and 480,000 spit-roasted chickens during the two-week extravaganza.

We don't need to go to Germany to celebrate Oktoberfest, there are plenty of celebrations right here in Northwest Indiana and the South Suburbs of Illinois to get your fill of brats and beer and all the other tasty foods associated with it.

Since we are a melting pot of nationalities in the region we like to be Irish for St. Patty's Day, Hispanic for Cinco de Mayo and were all German for Oktoberfest.

Case in point, chef Scott Farrell, executive chef at Briar Ridge Country Club in Schererville is a nice Irish lad who was raised in Griffith. But a the club for the last three Wednesdays it has been Oktoberfest at the restaurant.

Farrell credits his love of Bavarian and German foods from his years with chef Jack Mix of Comfort's Catering and chef Nico Luna of Villa DeBruno Restaurant.

"They were my teachers, I didn't have formal training," Farrell said. "I learned the skills of making great food from them."

"These (recipes) are second and third generation of grandma's and aunts passed down through families," Farrell said.

Spaetzle

3 cups of sifted flour

1 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg

4 eggs, beaten

5 tablespoons of butter

1/2 to 3/4 cup of milk

Sift together flour, salt and nutmeg. Beat in eggs. Add 1 tablespoon melted butter. Add enough milk to make a thick dough. Put dough through a spaetzle maker or place dough on a flat plate and with a sharp knife cut small pieces of dough. Place dough into boiling salted water and boil for 6-8 minutes. If preferred, drop small portions of dough from a teaspoon and boil 10-12 minutes. Remove spaetzle with a slotted spoon and place in a colander. Splash with cold water and drain. Sauté in butter until golden. Serves 6-8.

BRATWURST WITH SAUERKRAUT AND APPLES

6 slices bacon

1 sm. onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 (32 oz.) can sauerkraut, drained and rinsed

2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced

1 c. water

1/2 c. dry white wine - apple juice, or apple juice

1 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tsp. instant chicken bouillon

1 tsp. caraway seed

1 bay leaf

1 lb. bratwurst

1 lg. apple, cored and sliced

Cook bacon in large skillet until crisp. Crumble; set aside. Reserve 2 tablespoons dripping. Cook onion and garlic in dripping. Stir in sauerkraut, potatoes, water, white wine or apple juice, brown sugar, dry bouillon, caraway seed, and bay leaf. Add more water, if needed. Score bratwurst. Add to mixture. Cover. Simmer 1 - 1 1/4 hours until potatoes are tender. Add apple. Cook until tender. Remove bay leaf. Serves 5.

GERMAN-STYLE POTATO SALAD

8 baking potatoes, boiled and chilled

1/4 lbs. cooked bacon, crumbled

bacon fat grease/rendering

1/2 Spanish onion, diced

1 small green pepper, diced

1 small red pepper, diced

2 hard boiled eggs, chopped

4 t. apple cider vinegar

Boil potatoes until fork tender. Do not overcook. Drain and cool.

Once cool, cut into chunks and place into a large mixing bowl. Cook bacon. Crumble bacon when cool. Pour bacon fat, while still warm, over potatoes. Take crumbled bacon and add to potatoes.

Add packages of Italian Dressing mix and stir into potatoes. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. Chill salad 4 hours and re-stir just begore serving. Add more mayonnaise if needed.

This salad tastes best when made the day before.