This weekend marked my fourth Oktoberfest. For the past four years Brad and I have celebrated Charlotte Oktoberfest with our friend Riley and for the past three years, Riley’s wife Megan has also attended with us.
While Riley and Megan made the five hour trip Friday afternoon from Greenvile, NC to Charlotte, I made dinner. Brad requested barbecue chicken pizza, which is his favorite pizza, out of all of the pizza recipes I have ever made. The last and only time I made this pizza, I used whatever I had on hand and I fully intended to use this same strategy.
Instead of our typical barbecue sauce, I used Dad’s Recipe. This sauce was sent to me free of charge to review, but anything I write about this sauce is completely my opinion. Besides the free sauce, I wasn’t compensated to give my honest review.
This pizza was slightly different from my original recipe. I used the TJ’s whole wheat crust as usual and similar toppings.
2/3 cup Dad’s Recipe barbecue sauce
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 medium eggplant, chopped
2 small purple bell peppers, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups mizuna (like arugula)
2 cups mozzarella
2 oz. feta
I followed the same directions as the original recipe, but somehow ended up with a little more veggies than one pizza could handle, so we made another smaller pizza with pre-made Boboli whole wheat crust which Brad picked up at the store. We also used an additional cup of pizza
Even though I used slightly different ingredients, Brad thought this pizza was just as good as my first. All of the major taste components were still there. The main difference between Dad’s Recipe barbecue sauce and Stubb’s was that Dad’s is a little less smoky and a little more sweet. Brad prefers Stubb’s because of the smoky component and because it’s a bit spicy. However, sweet is right up my ally. I actually liked Dad’s Recipe better because of this. I was raised on sweet and smoky sauce because that is what my grandfather makes when he makes pulled pork. Of course, his is my absolute favorite, but Dad’s Recipe was pretty delicious and comes in a close second.
I made a simple salad of spinach, tomatoes, and avocado to go with our pizza.
Yum! The pizza was a big hit with everybody.
We turned in pretty early after catching up over dinner and watching the latest Modern Family.
The next day, I showed Megan and Riley the Myers Park area of Charlotte on a seven mile run. Running is my absolute favorite way to see a city and I loved showing friends how beautiful Charlotte is this way.
We grabbed Owen’s Bagels after our run then stopped by Atherton Market where we bought locally made bread and butter pickles, pickled okra, and bread. Megan and Riley bought coffee for a gift, fancy mustard, and a few other things I can’t remember.
After showers and munching on a bit of leftover pizza for lunch, we headed out to Oktoberfest, which is held outside at Metrolina Expo.
The weather was absolutely perfect!
Brad accessorized appropriately with a pretzel necklace, but also kicked it up a notch with a Slim Jim pendant.
Tons of beer, friends, and a gigantic bag of kettle corn. Needless, to say, we had a great time.
Biggest disappointment of the day: this butternut squash ale tasted like dirt. Bitter, bubbly, dirt. It was gross. I tossed it.
There were plenty of other beers that more than made up for the squash beer. My favorite: Big Boss out of Raleigh, NC and Mother Earth from Kinston, NC. Gotta give love to my favorite NC breweries!
Did you attend/Are you planning to attend any Oktoberfests this year?
What’s your favorite beer right now? I love seasonal beers so of course I’m loving all the pumpkin beers that are only available during this time of year.