Bear Mountain Oktoberfest

Guten Morgen!

While I was downstate this past weekend, I checked out the Bear Mountain Oktoberfest. First time going, and it wasn't bad. My sister and her boyfriend have been there before and came prepared with an extra stein so I could partake in large amounts of beer consumption. I'm not sure how much beer those steins hold... 2 or 3 pints? Started with an Oktoberfest, and then a wheat beer. Both pretty good, but more in one day than I've had since my trip to Belgium.

You have to pay for parking ($10) which I suppose you can also consider your entrance fee. 16 oz. beers are $7; steins (w/ first fill) are $28; refills $14. I was considering buying a stein for my own, but I'll probably be in Germany in the spring. I'll just wait and get a legit one, along with a ginormous pretzel.

Food is typical for an Oktoberfest - schnitzel, bratwurt/knockwurst, spatzle, reg cabbage, potato salad, pretzels, waffles, and more. The menu, with prices, can be found here. There are also a handful of vendors, so bring plenty of cash because that's all they take (except for the beer and food tents).

If you want to work off all food and beer, I believe there are a few trails you can hit up and enjoy the natural splendor.

Oktoberfest runs every weekend until October 28th.

Prost!

No Fooling Here

How are you doing?

Me? Not bad. But my hip hurts. Could be from CrossFit. Could be from getting old. But it hurts and I am very close to having it checked out.

CANstruction 2015 starts today. This year's theme is heroes. Check it out if you can... it runs until the 16th at the New York State Museum.

There's a Yelp event tonight at Sliding Dirty. I haven't been there since they opened. I hope they fixed the brioche bun issue. And I really would like some avocado fries.

If you haven't been there yet, stop in over at O'Briens in Troy. M and I are slowly becoming regulars. And I do very much like that Terry (Terri?) knows my drink order. Bloody Mary, spicy.

And... that's all I have now.

Rachel's Promotional Event

Last week Rachel's held a promotional event hosted by Pim of Chez Pim. The new product in their line is their take on cottage cheese.

The flavor in the picture above is sun dried tomato. My friend Mike who came with me thought it reminded him of pizza. I kind of agree, but I had a real hard time eating it. I am not a cottage cheese fan. Clumpy soup, yeech. If you're into cottage cheese, you might like this.

 

They also had a sampling of their yogurts, which I have had before and actually like. They are available at Whole Foods and a number of grocery stores (Shoprite and Pathmark downstate, Price Chopper and maybe Honest Weight upstate). Their Pomegranate blends were the best, although the Pomegranate Blueberry was a bit on the sweet side. Vanilla Chai was good, considering vanilla anything outside of baked goods and ice cream aren't my favorite.

My friend Mike and I happily indulged in the drinks and appetizers that were served at the event. In the picture above is the bruschetta shot, I have no idea what exactly is in it, but it was tasty. There was also a Cucumber Collins and another drink I can't remember the name, but it reminded me of sangria. Appetizers included hummus bites, grilled monkfish with red pepper foam, mozzarella sticks with a red pepper dipping sauce, and this grilled grapefruit thing.

It was a great time, and I got to see some bloggers that I follow- although I only talked to one of them, Nichelle Stevens of Cupcakes Take the Cake. I got the fear inducing, "so what is your blog about?" question a few times, along with the "so why Under the Copper tree?" and I felt like my answers weren't good enough. Darn you blogging insercurities!

I am not always like this- throw me in room with pre-meds and med students and I can hold my own quite well. But this... I feel so very noobish. Oh well, even though I may not be very good at this networking thing now, hopefully I'll just get better at it.