Colonial Meal

Well, I didn't eat dinner at the hotel. I am still being charged for it, but at least I avoided a tasteless, dry chicken breast. I ended up chatting with a very pleasant woman and her daughter who were staying at the B&B, and we decided to eat together. They already had plans to eat at a historic tavern across the street, so I joined them. I guess the place was a bit of a tourist trap, but the menu looked promising. The tables were set with pewter goblets (probably not real pewter, at least I hope not), and the place was lit mainly with candles. The wait staff wore period costumes, and I felt for them. They did not look comfortable, to say the least.

Interestingly, the chef of the colonial-themed tavern was German and there was a special for the evening called Schlachtplatte, which tranlates into "butcher's plate." It was a plate of sausages and a boneless pork chop served with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. I'm sure you are well aware of my fondness for pork products, so it comes as no surprise to you that I ordered it.

The sausages were good, but not outstanding. Surprisingly they came with no explanation of what type of sausages were on the plate. I think one was a weisswurst due to the light color (weisswurst means "white sausage"). It was fairly spicy but the flavor profile was unfamiliar. The other two were emulsified sausages. That's a fancy way of saying they were like hot dogs. One was indeed a frankfurter, but a good one. The other was Schlachtplatte2 larger and I don't know what it was supposed to be. It wasn't a bratwurst, but I suppose it could have been a knackwurst. The pork chop was very tender and juicy, not overcooked in the least. This is difficult to find due to fears of undercooked pork among the dining public.

The sauerkraut was good, especially since it wasn't Bavarian-style, which you often see in German restaurants. Bavarian kraut has caraway seeds in it, which to me is just awful. I like caraway in my rye bread, but leave it out of my sauerkraut, please. (My Alsatian roots are showing.)

My dining companions ordered the turkey pot pie and beef tips with noodles. They were quite pleased with their meals, and we shared a very nice Riesling to accompany the food. All of us were too full for dessert, but the dessert cart didn't look half bad. I believe they made the desserts in house - at least none looked like Sysco offerings. Kudos to the chef for that.

The meal and the company were miles beyond what I would have endured at the hotel, so I consider it worth paying for two meals but eating one.

Hopefully I will be able to cook and bake again soon. I'm suffering severe withdrawal at this point, but unfortunately I have to drive 325 miles for a funeral tomorrow, then tackle cleaning up the house before I can even think about baking.

However, at the end of next week I am traveling to North Dakota and should be able to do some tag team baking with my mom when I get there. I'll keep you posted.