OKtoberfest/Okie October: Date Night Edition!

The man who buys me food like this is the man for me.

Having two young kids, my husband and I don't go out for dates as often as we should.  Early bedtimes, difficulty finagling a sitter, and better-than-most-restaurants home cooking (so says he, thankyouverymuch) combine to make a perfect storm of reasons why we rarely eat in a restaurant, with or without our kids.

So when my husband spontaneously offered to take me out on the town last Saturday for some much needed couple time, I jumped through hoops to make it happen.  Babysitting services were hastily begged (many thanks to my mother) and we were off with nary a backward glance. 

OK, maybe a little glance. 

Not really.  The neighbors might have heard us squeal the tires. 

I LOVE MY KIDS SO MUCH.

*ahem*

We decided on dinner at one of our favorite places, a local German restaurant and deli called Siegi's.  This place is awesome.  They make their own sausages- bratwurst, kasewurst, knackwurst, and Polish, to name a few- and they have some of the best sauerkraut and hot kartoffelsalat (potato salad) in town.

Neither of us could decide between the sausage platter and the jaegerschnitzel (breaded pork cutlet with mushroom sauce), so it was agreed that we'd order both and share.  We also had an appetizer of giant Bavarian pretzel with cheese spread.  We each only ate half of our food, and took the rest home for later, along with a large portion of pretzel.  Sie gut!

After dinner, we took a little drive across town from Siegi's to a bakery in an area of Tulsa called Brookside.  Antoinette Baking Company has only been open a year, but they've already made quite a name for themselves with delectable handmade pastries.  Every Friday and Saturday night they feature a variety of pies by the slice, and stay open until 10 p.m.  Late hours for dessert in Tulsa were unheard of only a few short years ago, unless you wanted to venture into the culinary graveyard that is Village Inn, but now places like Antoinette fit the bill for sugary cravings after dark.

Saturday night's pie offerings were Mile High (chocolate cream), gluten free Mounds (coconut crust with dark chocolate ganache filling and a schmear of whipped cream), cherry bourbon, and Nutella.  We picked the chocolate ones, natch, and shared them. 

Oh. My. God, y'all.  The pies were to die for.  The Mile High was the favorite of both of us- light yet incredibly rich chocolate cream filling topped with unsweetened whipped cream, nestled in a flaky handmade crust.  Perfect.  Just please don't tell my thighs.

We also took a slice of Mile High home for my mom and the girls to share.  Lemme tell ya, we were pretty popular when we got home.

It was as lovely as a date night could be- my gorgeous husband, good food, good dessert, beautiful cool fall air...and no kids for just a little while. 

Happy girl right here, y'all.

Bratwurst and Polish sausage with sweet Bavarian sauerkraut and hot potato salad.  I neglected to take a photo of the jaegerschnitzel, but it was delicious as well.

Giant pretzel with cheese spread and spicy mustard.

Mile High chocolate pie.  I damn near licked the plate.

Gluten free Mounds pie, with coconut in lieu of regular crust, and a dark chocolate ganache filling.  Not bad at all!

OKtoberfest/Okie October part one: Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show

In case you weren't aware, the lovely state of Oklahoma plays host to the *biggest* and most prestigious cake show in the country.

No, really.  I'm totally serious.

As a cake-maker myself, I finally mustered the courage to enter the competition this year.

Here's my entry, in the Adult Advanced Novelty category:

Awesome, right?  I'm so talented.

Not that talented, apparently.  I got third place.

But still.  THIRD. PLACE.  My first time entering!!!  I'm so excited.  I got a shitload of swag and some cool prizes. 

My six year old daughter, who is a budding caker in her own right, wanted to join in the fun, so she created a fondant cake of her own.

Adding finishing touches.  She did this all by herself!

My kiddo didn't place this time, but every child who entered got an Honorable Mention ribbon and an armload of swag, as well.

We're totally entering again next year!

There were some supremely talented cake artists represented at the show, and the usual group of WTF?s as well.  I don't feel bad at all about getting third place in my category, because 2nd place and 1st place were pretty freakin' sweet.

First Place in Adult Advanced Novelty Cakes

Second Place in my category.  I chatted with this lady when we dropped our cakes off at the same time.  She was from Austin, TX.

There were dozens and dozens of beautiful cakes, and I took pics of most of them, but there are far too many to post here. 

Several of the cakes were done by my good friends in my hobby cake group, T-Town Cake Club.  I'm so proud of all of my buds!  We all came away with ribbons and lovely prizes.

If ever you're in town during the Tulsa State Fair, make sure you come the first weekend to see the cake show!  It's amazing.